Picking a printer: the local print shop or a commercial printer?

• Author: Held, Shari
• Position: Printing & Graphics

Technological advances and a very competitive marketplace have blurred the lines among printers today. Everyone from quick-print shops to the largest commercial printers offer a wide, and often similar, array of services, making it difficult for businesses to determine the best printer for their needs.

Traditionally, small one- or two-color print orders (two boxes of letterhead, 500 business cards), quick-turnaround or on-demand orders and copying have been the bailiwick of the quick-print shop.

"People coming in with floppy disks in their hand that need documents printed for a meeting--we do a ton of that," says Michael Connolly, owner of a Sir Speedy franchise in Terre Haute. "That's probably our niche."

But quick-print services vary depending on the demands of the geographical marketplace. "If you are in a small market like us, you have to do a little bit of everything," says Connolly. Besides traditional services, his shop prints wide-format posters and provides graphic design and mailing services.

Commercial printers that specialize in smaller runs, such as Richmond-based Paust Printers, compete with quick-print shops for business. "We have color-copying equipment here as well as black-and-white high-speed copiers," says Ken Paust, CEO and owner, "so we will do that type of work the same as a quick printer."

One consideration is four-color process printing. Here commercial printers have the edge: the potential to provide higher quality and taster turnaround at a better price. "If you are looking for a specific color range then you will probably want to go to a commercial printer," says Paust.

Quantity is another factor. Paust says a larger commercial printer is likely to be more efficient in quantities of five or six digits or more. Also, special features such as UV coating, oversize paper and variable data (individualized) printing narrow the printer selection.

The quality of print today is not as much a variable its it has been in the past. Technology and the demands of the marketplace have helped to even the playing field. "You have to be a quality printer nowadays to stay in business. Quality is a given," says Randy Steenbergen, CEO of Indianapolis based Print Communications Inc., a large commercial printer with 180 employees.

"What's very important in printing today," says Randy Roberts, president of Lincoln...