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How do you go about choosing the right print company to handle your requirements from all the printing companies in the UK?

Here are a few hints and tips to help you answer this question, and help you prepare yourself for working with them.

For any printers you are considering using, ask to see some recent examples of their work.

Go and meet with them at their printing premises. Talk with the people that will be doing the work, account or technical managers you will have to work with.

Good printing companies should be able to explain the different printing methods that can be used for your job in a way that outlines for each method, the production cost versus quality of the finished article.

Be specific in articulating what you want. Be prepared to talk about colours, paper type and types of print. Once a brief is agreed with the printer, make sure it is captured in writing and both the printer and yourself have copies.

Get some quotes based on the brief. To ensure you are getting best value get no less than three different quotes, if possible go for 5. When checking the quotes, make sure you are comparing like for like in terms of quality of output, time-scales and terms on things like corrections.

In determining which one to work with price is just one dimension. Consider the value to you of the previous experience of each of the companies you spoke with, also consider how you took to them when meeting them at their premises. Take into account the fact that different printers often specialise in different jobs. It could be that one printer is most suited to producing your brochures and another your T-shirts. If this is the case you need to weigh up the cost of using just one printing supplier, versus the quality of the final output by using two different specialists.

Don't be frightened to negotiate on the price, especially if you have a particularly large print order, or are able to commit to a regular flow of work over a period of time.

Make your decision and let the printer(s) you have chosen to carry out your work know they have been successful.

Make sure you fully check all the proofs for your printing job before signing off. Unless you have agreed otherwise the printers job is normally to reproduce the signed off artwork to produce the output you require. The printing companies cannot be held responsible for any design or typing errors which later come to light in a previously signed off proof. The only errors a printer will be responsible for are things such as missing pages or not using the right paper or colours agreed in the brief.

If you do have any questions or complaints about your print job inform the company in question as soon as possible, explaining what the problem is and what you require them to do to resolve it.