It would be a big relief if all your printing needs were to fit into standard sizes, have the usual shapes and look like other conventional printouts.  But chances are, if you are a frequent print customer, there will come a point or two that you would have to request for a custom job.  The printing industry is well aware of this, and in fact, some of online printing companies have actually made this a staple service to give customers online print solutions for such cases.

Letting customers customize

Given all the specifications that come with a printing job, there is bound to be one that does not exactly fit into these.  Here are common examples of specs that often require special online print solutions in the form of customization — an option that printers have become more open to in order to accommodate the needs of their clients.

o    Custom Shapes

A square postcard. A business card cut into the shape of a fruit. A greeting card that comes with patterns cut out in the middle of the front panel.  Of course, there are the simpler ones like requests for rounded corners in business cards.  You name it.  There are loads of possibilities, or rather exceptionalities, in the physical designs of just about every print product.

Die cutting has now, therefore, become more common, even with short run orders.  People have developed ways to give their printouts a quick appearance upgrade simply by changing their shapes.  But the more fastidious your design is in terms of die cut requirement, the more expensive your bill gets.   You can choose the design you want but it would be easier and cheaper if you stick to the simpler custom shapes.

o    Custom Sizes

Such printing requests are relatively easier to process.  The big advantage of getting custom sizes is that if you need a smaller size than the standard Quantity of printed materials needed measurements, you would not have to forego your dimensions, and pay for the additional ink and paper if your printer would accept the job.  Another case is when specific dimensions are required because the printed materials need to be posted such as window signs and posters.

Compared to die-cuts, custom sizes are more readily available and usually cheaper.

o    Custom Designs

There is more than one way to enhance the look of your print products and/or marketing tools.  You can alter the coating, request for a specific stock; or ask for a different ink type.

For the coatings, you can request for matte, gloss and UV which create flat, shiny and high-sheen effects, respectively.  As for the stocks, you can opt for thicker ones such as cover stocks or those with regular paper thickness like text stocks.

Inks are another aspect of design that you can play with.  You can request for metallic or pearlized inks.  You can also ask printers to do special techniques related to inks such as embossing letters and logos, and using thermography which gives the letters a raised and smooth surface.

Looking for online print solutions can sometimes be difficult, and if you do find one, they can be expensive.  Try to look for printing companies that have managed to provide ways to make custom jobs possible without sacrificing certain elements of your design, and without draining your pocket.