Printing your promtional materials

Hi everyone! Monkey, after ordering samples and actually using some of these services, has put together a review of large printers in case you are interested in printing business cards and postcards. We haven't really looked into posters, or other printed materials, and we're comparing based on business card prices and postcard prices. Originally made for the SF Etsy Street Team, we decided to share it with you!

-www.PSPrint.com has a good selection of cardstocks, and are cool because you can order small quantities (like just 50) while most other printers start at around 100 or even 500. They also have rush options for same-day printing (although they ship out the next business day), and you can pick it up in Oakland. Their most expensive quantity/time frame (only 50 cards, same day printing) you're looking at 42 cents per card, and if you order 500 cards with a 3-day turnaround, it drops to 7.5 cents per card. We can't stick with a design long enough, but if you're in an identity for the long term, you can get 10,000 cards printed the same day for only 2.7 cents per card. They're also printing business cards and postcards on 100% recycled paper now with soy-based inks, so there's not a whole lot to be worried about. They're so good, we signed up to be their affiliates, and are the Monkey + Seal local printer of choice.

The one thing about PS Print though - they'll say "omg, we're having a huge sale!" Don't freak out and buy right away, the prices aren't really any different from any other day.

-Moo.com - Our 2nd go-to printer. Moo has really high-quality cards that are thick, satiny, and you can have different designs on the face of every card. This make getting choosing what image you want on the face really easy, as you can have them all! My only complaint is that the back side of the cards all have to be the same, and they're a quite a bit more expensive (~35 cents each), but you're paying for the high quality and customization. (They're also amazing, so we're also affiliates of moo as well).

-As other handmade artisians, however, you may want to check out www.1984printing.com. They're woman owned and operated, local to Oakland, and even though they're a *bit* more expensive than PS Print, you can know you're supporting a small press that's pretty punk rock.

They do have higher minimum quantities, however. I haven't worked with them personally, but they hooked up the SF Zine Fest on poster printing deals two years ago, and seem to be really cool.

-GotPrint.com has the best prices around for stuff printed on heavier cardstock. They offer really nice matte finished, heavy cards. I'd say their quality is very similar, but not quite as good, as Moo's. However, they do not have rush services available for the nice premium paper stock, and their customer service (if something goes wrong) isn't that awesome (it's actually pretty craptastic) - they're very big boxy, and seemed to care less to lose my business when something went wrong and they couldn't meet my deadline You definitely have to stay on top of them to make sure your order goes through, but if it does come out okay, the product is awesome and the prices can't be beat. They're based in Southern California, I believe.

-GreenerPrinter.com has some good product, but they're slightly more expensive than PSPrint, but I also have not worked with them very much. They are eco-friendly, but most other printers are going pretty green, so unless it is super important to be 100% green, I'd say there might be better options.

-Vistaprint = says stuff is free, but tacks on little fees that add on for custom printing, 2-sided, getting rid of their logo, etc. However, if you need super cheap and you don't have design skills or friends with said skills, they are pretty cheap, but the quality is also such. I don't recommend them at all, to be honest, unless you're absolutely devoid of design capabilities (but then you can always go to Moo.com, so I guess I don't recommend them at all unless you have absolutely 0 capital).

-Overnight prints.com - PS print is still cheaper for overnight printing. I did the price comparisons, so I'm not sure why I'd ever choose them.

-Rocketpostcards - They're almost 3x as expensive as PS Print. Not sure why I'd ever go here, besides that they're located here in SF rather than Oakland.

-Logos Graphics - If you have the budget and want to go the custom letterpress route, I could very well refer you to our affiliates over at Paper Source or at Minted.com, but Paper Source doesn't do printing over the internet for business cards, and I think you'd probably have to call Minted to see them. Thus, I've worked with the ever-helpful and talented Lars and John over at Logos Graphics. They recently printed up some wedding invitations I designed for a friend, and did an awesome job for a great price and I couldn't be happier with the entire experience.

Here you go! I hope this helps, and if you have any other opinions on printers, please let us know!

Wedding Invites Day 2: Ajalon Printing & Design + Paper Source

Hi all! So today, as part 2 of our wedding invitation week, Monkey + Seal will be doing a quick review (as requested) of Ajalon Printing & Design, a letterpress, offset, and digital printing and design studio located in Santa Rosa. Additionally, we will be taking a look at Paper Source, and the wedding invitation printing they have to offer.

After looking over the samples he was sent, Monkey was definitely impressed with the printing quality - sharp edges, good registration, nice color. Monkey was a big fan of the Sakura invitation, which at first glance looks like something digitally printed with a gradient, but upon closer inspection is actually a half-tone gradient letterpress printed. Nice!

Their website is also pretty smooth and easy to navigate around. Finding quotes was quick and easy - just how we like it. You can pick a card size, number of ink colors, quantity, and printing method and get a quick quote like that! Definitely cool.

Another big plus to Ajalon is that they have tons of paper options to choose from, including Monkey's favorite letterpress paper, the duplexed 600 gsm 100% cotton Crane Lettra paper. Ooooh, such sweet papery goodness! Granted, printing on the 600 gsm Lettra is more expensive, but woof, if you can afford it, it is definitely worth it!


Our other review for the day is Paper Source. Based out of Chicago, Paper Source is now 33-stores wide and growing. They offer letterpress, digital, and engraving printing services, as well as thermography through Crane & Co., William Arthur, and Vera Wang.So full disclosure on this one: Monkey's day job is for Paper Source (but he doesn't get any commission for invite orders). He won't say which one, but he does sell these wedding invitations day in and day out, so he's super familiar with them. That said, Paper Source's website for invitations is pretty comprehensive in terms of being able to completely order online (assuming you're going with one of the designs without too much customization).
Monkey really likes the fact that they started printing in Beet ink (with Black, shown below in the Victorian Garden design) and it looks pretty damn good with some of the darker colors like Black and Night.
Paper Source is one of the cheapest print shops Monkey has found if you are a customer interested in buying a design, so if you are on a budget, PS is pretty tough to beat. That said, there are other letterpress shops that are less expensive, but that also assumes that you are a designer with the ability to do things like color separate, etc., etc.

Paper Source prints on a 20% cotton, 30% PCW, 300 gsm paper that is pretty nice and environmentally friendly, but also doesn't feel quite as nice as Crane Lettra or Rives BFK.

If you want envelope printing, depending on what paper stock you choose, can go from affordable to completely ridiculous, so that's one major issue PS has going against it. Other than that, Monkey will admit that Paper Source has a good balance of value, design, and quality.

So there you have it, round 2 of Wedding Invitation Week here at Monkey + Seal. See ya on Friday!