Printing for Dummies

Hello. My husband and I are planning to start a small printing business this year. we saw the potential of the business. i am into layout right now, while he's into sales.

Are there any seminars for newbies like us? Or maybe a one on one tutorial? Printing for Dummies? I have seen/read a few tutorials online but i still have a ton of questions.

We're planning to print mostly wedding invites. We are planning to buy (for now, these are vague ideas as we still need to learn more) a digital printer with high quality printout, a gold stamper, and a letterpress machine (1. since its vintage appeal is in right now in the wedding invites world 2. it's very affordable [albeit hard to maintain] 3. we were advised against purchasing an offset machine since we're only starting 4. the maximum number of invites we're probably print per client is 300-500). I understand that to have the letters embossed on paper, one should use a different ink and heat it, so we're buying a machine for that as well (thermal machine?)

We really do need some help. Thanks in advance.

Quote :

Hello. My husband and I are planning to start a small printing business this year. we saw the potential of the business. i am into layout right now, while he's into sales.

Are there any seminars for newbies like us? Or maybe a one on one tutorial? Printing for Dummies? I have seen/read a few tutorials online but i still have a ton of questions.

We're planning to print mostly wedding invites. We are planning to buy (for now, these are vague ideas as we still need to learn more) a digital printer with high quality printout, a gold stamper, and a letterpress machine (1. since its vintage appeal is in right now in the wedding invites world 2. it's very affordable [albeit hard to maintain] 3. we were advised against purchasing an offset machine since we're only starting 4. the maximum number of invites we're probably print per client is 300-500). I understand that to have the letters embossed on paper, one should use a different ink and heat it, so we're buying a machine for that as well (thermal machine?)

We really do need some help. Thanks in advance.

I pointed out in my earlier post that investing in the printing business is generally not a good idea at this time, especially if you're on a tight budget, but I believe having a niche market, like wedding invites and similar jobs, is something else. Moreover, I think you and your husband make a good combination because creatives and sales make a lot of difference in that niche.

While I do not also advise you to purchase an offset machine, you might want to consider a baby offset -- multilith, ryobi, davidson or similar brands. The price of a second hand baby offset is slightly higher than letterpress, but it produces better quality prints, including colors. The only advantage of letterpress over a baby offset is that the former has a numbering machine which you can use for receipts, tickets, etc.

Before buying a machine, you might want to attend one of the seminars being sponsored by the PPTF, especially the introduction to printing and cost estimating. You can likewise ask the instructor, usually an experienced industry practitioner, some other questions pertaining to your operation. I know one of them to be very active in this forum.

By the way, you can still emboss prints even with the use of an offset machine. You use an embossing powder for this. Since offset runs faster than letterpress, you can use a slow drying ink. If you have the budget you can, of course, buy a thermal machine for heating purposes. But I have seen a lot of printers use an ordinary electric stove for this.

Well, I hope this helps. Good luck!

Kofi Baracko wrote:

But I have seen a lot of printers use an ordinary electric stove for this.

I agree, electric stove should be sufficient for the time being.

*we'd

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thanks for the input. we're looking into that baby offset machine idea. i have been browsing websites and found one for USD500 (AB Dick). the shipping cost is not yet included, of course. i'm not sure if they ship here in the philippines. we might check out recon pieces at star paper. we were told we could look there. if there are other places that sell printing equipment, kindly let us know. thanks in advance.

by the way, when does PPTF usually conduct these seminars? i checked the website, i didn't see any seminar coming up this year. i hope they conduct one. =)

with regards to acquiring an AB Dick machine, I think my friends at GAKKEN Phils. can help you on this.. you can contact them at (02) 7445450.. you can also check their web site for other printing and finishing solutions.

www.gakkenphil.com

ciao!

The trend in wedding invitations is moving towards full color work. An AB Dick will not be suitable for full color printing. Furthermore setting up an offset process requires a long learning curve.

I suggest that you look into the market for the newer non-traditional type of invitations which utilize full color designs. Black and white invitations with embossed text are old style. You should offer something new and better to the market. This will give you an advantage over your competition. For this market, I suggest the small digital A3 size color laser press such as Konica Minolta, Canon, Fuji Xerox, etc. In addition to the digital press, you will need to invest in a small cutter and computer. With a digital press, you can get your business up and running in a short period of time. Considering the small order quantities, the digital process is ideal in terms of speed, cost, quality and ease of production. With a digital press, you can operate the machine yourself; you don't need to send your files to Manila for film output; you don't need a platemaker; and you free yourself from the messy ink and chemicals of the offset process.

Dealers of digital presses normally have a program wherein the client invests about P500,000 and then pays a monthly fee based on the number of prints. The dealer takes care of all maintenance and consumables except for the paper/board. This makes it very easy to estimate jobs since most inputs are direct cost.

If you go to www.philprinting.com, there is a Suppliers Directory. You can find a list of digital printer suppliers there.

My son just got married last Saturday. His invitations (below)were printed on a digital press. The important thing is to have good designs printed on specialty paper and board.

once again, thank you for the ideas.

my husband and i got married only december of last year. we found a lot of digital printers. although almost all of them are good, there's still a special something missing in their samples. I do believe that embossed invites still have qualities "digital invites" do not possess. digital invites are very modern, and less elegant, at least in my opinion. This is the reason why after having digital save the dates, we decided we wanted a more elegant and traditional invitation. it's just different when you touch the paper and feel it. i dont know, i guess weddings are very special to me so i think about even the tiniest detail. and i do believe invites are very important. after all, it's the first thing the guests would see, giving them an idea as to what kind of wedding to expect. that's why this wedding invites biz is very appealing to me. being a part of an important event in a person's life is amazing for me.

would you believe that we went to several printers before we found the perfect one? and we figured the wedding invites industry needs a printer that could provide the needs of different kinds of couples. marami kasi sa printers na digital ang gamit na process ay ang daming kulang na requirements. offset printers naman, kahit stamping may add-on na 10-15php/invite. ang daming hassle sa mga printers: they charge for metallic ink, charge for metallic envelope, their envelope won't close so you need to buy a sticker---which you have to label yourself, there is a layout fee for each item, etc. sakit ng ulo talaga. until we found a printer na walang hassle---walang add-on ang embossing, free na ang extra insert, walang lay-out fee, through email lang okay nang i-approve ang draft, walang add-on ang lining ng envelope, metallic ink, metallic paper, jacket, etc. our invitation was simple and elegant. my family guesstimated the price and said we probably got it for 300-500php. we got it for 150php.

we know a lot of couples prefer modern invites with pop-ups, etc. it's in. so we thought, we need to start a biz that would cater to whatever the couples want. if they want digital, we have that. they want something classic, we have that as well. best of all, hindi tipong umabot na sa P300/invite sa dami ng add-ons! You wouldnt believe the racket some printers have with add-ons!

so that's our plan, one stop shop, that provides a reasonable price. hindi yung tulad ng nangyari sa amin na iba ang gumawa ng save the date, iba ang gumawa ng invite mismo.

i also plan to mix both process in one invite. like felixdoolittle invites, or maybe like other wedding invite companies in the States who provide digital invites but also have a so-called "letterpress collection." letterpress invites are catching up, thanks to the vintage hype. iba-iba talaga ang mga tao.

by the way, i am a member of an e-group for brides, with thousands of members. the printer who did our invite did not advertise once, did not give any special promo, but it's one of the most popular. word of mouth lang. kahit ang hirap hanapin, kahit hindi nila forte ang wedding invites, sila ang dinadayo ng mga brides. and i know why---all-in prices, hassle-free, and very friendly ang owner. you feel like he cares for your wedding as much as you do. i plan to use these weapons when we start on our own. pero matagal pa siguro. may adjustments. we really have to learn so much more. this forum teaches me so much. thanks. i'd consider everything i learn from here.

Hi. Congratulations and best wishes. I also have a son who got married last December.

I can see from your posts that you're detail-oriented. That is a welcome quality for any printer or printer wannabe. We can only make suggestions, but you still make the final decision because only you know what your needs are in terms of budget, perceived market, etc. If you decide to purchae a letterpress machine, it really does not mean that you close your doors to offset jobs. No ma'am. You can always outsource your offset jobs (or your letterpress jobs if you decide to purchase an offset).

In this business, you can outsource practically everything -- running, gold stamping, numbering, embossing, lamination, scoring, etc. It's kinda difficult at first because you have to establish the credibility and reliability of your service suppliers, but once you develop a reliable list of suppliers then everything else is easy.

If you have been to PPTF's website, then you call its office numbers and inquire about the schedule.

thanks so much, sir kofi baracko. and congratulations to your son too po.

a friend of mine also suggested outsourcing for those job we wouldn't be able to do ourselves. we would most likely do that at first.

i really do hope this would be a nice start for us. it's nice to read the entries in another topic about how you people started. hopefully, one day i could write an entry there too. =)

As Kofi mentioned PPTF (Phil Printing Technical Foundation) offers some seminars. They have a seminar called "General Printing Orientation" for beginners. This seminar which is 5 days x 3 hours gives an overview of the whole printing process from prepress to post press.

You may call up PPTF for the seminar schedule. If there are no scheduled seminar, I am sure that they can refer you to one of the resource speakers, who may be able to give you more information and advises. The number of PPTF is 7132671. Look for Cristy.

Hi Presstech. I am overwhelmed by your commitment to the industry. I have long known you as a hardworking and competent industry leader, although maybe you do not know me. I'll be here to support you and the industry in whatever way I can. I haven't met Larry Sison, APC, and the rest of you guys but already I can feel the strong bond of brotherhood by our shared passion and love for our work.

While suppliers are indispensable partners in the industry, printers must unite to determine the best practices/technologies there are in the market through information sharing. So far, this board has been the most effective medium for this. Prospective printers, like writer-wife, are fortunate to have this forum to guide them in processing their ideas and putting them action.

i totally agree with mr. kofi. it's seldom that we find people willing to help others, especially in sharing what they know to newbies like me. to think that you are already established po. it's very inspiring.

i would definitely call miss cristy. thank you.

just to update. we found someone who could teach us the technical aspect of this business idea we have.

@ sir presstech - the program that one printer distributor has is the one for the toner of the printer. one would pay a fixed rate for every page printed, regardless of the coverage, which is very practical. thank you for the info.

i'm now looking for a local cotton paper supplier. something like http://www.bellafigura.com/ uses. parang sa crane's. i'm pretty sure we have one here in the Philippines. saan po kaya mayroon nito? maraming salamat in advance.

gud pm mam,

hi my name is vincent and im a system consultant of AKINTO MARKETING CORP., we are engaged in selling of digital duplicators and digital id printers
in the phils. you might get interested to avail our free use promo of digital duplicators (RISO) kindly give me a txt message or call me at 09236578100 for details. good luck po for your starting business in printing best wishes po. you can check out po some testimonials at buy and sell section in this forum regarding po dun sa FREE use program namin.

best wishes

god bless

vincentheat16 wrote:

gud pm mam,

hi my name is vincent and im a system consultant of AKINTO MARKETING CORP., we are engaged in selling of digital duplicators and digital id printers
in the phils. you might get interested to avail our free use promo of digital duplicators (RISO) kindly give me a txt message or call me at 09236578100 for details. good luck po for your starting business in printing best wishes po. you can check out po some testimonials at buy and sell section in this forum regarding po dun sa FREE use program namin.

best wishes

god bless

if we'd need a digital duplicator, we'd definitely call you. baka po mayroon kayong A3 color laser printer na may free use promo?

if we'd need a digital duplicator, we'd definitely call you. baka po mayroon kayong A3 color laser printer na may free use promo? Cool



mam, naka type up po sa amin ang fuji docuprinter na c2100 na capable in a3 printing na full color. when they purcahse our duplicator may kasama na din po fuji docu printer and srp po ng model namin na rd3108c ay 157,000.00php payable in terms upon credit approval.

vincentheat16 wrote:

if we'd need a digital duplicator, we'd definitely call you. baka po mayroon kayong A3 color laser printer na may free use promo? Cool



mam, naka type up po sa amin ang fuji docuprinter na c2100 na capable in a3 printing na full color. when they purcahse our duplicator may kasama na din po fuji docu printer and srp po ng model namin na rd3108c ay 157,000.00php payable in terms upon credit approval.

the fuji c2100 could not print A3 po, according sa specs na nakita ko online. baka po ibang model?

the fuji c2100 could not print A3 po, according sa specs na nakita ko online. baka po ibang model?

mam mali nga po ako ng specs. send ko po yung details.