Local Print Shop vs. Online Printing Service: Which Is Better?

You drive past on your way to work every day; your local print shop. As a fledgling entrepreneur you wonder if they can provide your new business with the marketing products that you need every day; postcards, flyers and business cards, just to name a few. Let’s compare services and see if they can help you succeed.

Printing Services Differ

Each print shop will be able to provide different products based upon the equipment they have in house. If the storefront is large they may have a digital machine, some copiers and a cutter or two in the shop. If it is small you may have to settle for a few copiers and a single printing arrangement. Everything else will need to be sent out for completion.

An online printing service isn’t restricted by the size of a storefront. The project that you create and send online arrives at a warehouse filled with equipment – offset printing machines, offset printing presses, copiers, laminators and much more. As soon as your project is approved, it is placed in line for production.

What about Printing Flyers?

Flyers are a mainstay of many businesses. Whether they are handed out on the street, tucked into bags or mailed to potential customers, they must look professional and proper.

Your local printer will be able to take a hard copy you bring in to the shop and make bulk copies for you. That will save you money since ink used in an office printer is considerably more expensive per page. On the other hand, chances are they won’t really be able to help you design a flyer, and if you want to carry the flyer over on a thumb drive you better make sure that you are using the same software as the shop does.

An online printer will offer you a number of templates to use in the creation of your flyers. Templates exist for the most common software packages used in graphic design. Staff is available to help you design and develop flyers for different purposes. Once you have generated the flyer you want it will be printed in short order and mailed to your door.

Digital Printing – Both Can Supply It

It is more accurate to say that both can supply it if the print shop has invested in digital printing equipment that it holds in house. Most printers do have this kind of machinery because a majority of the jobs they do are relatively small – less than 1,000 copies, and that is the forte of digital printing. But what happens if you exceed that number of copies? A local printer will simply run several batches.

Clearly an online company will have digital printing facilities. The difference is that they will also have available offset printing machines which are ideal for larger projects and a greater number of copies.

The Conclusion?

When you compare the services a local print shop can provide with those provided by the average online printer there really is no comparison; you get much more online. The only time you would opt for your local printer is if you have a small job that can be completed while you wait or during the same day, otherwise the smart money is spent with online printing services.