Marketing Toolkit

There are several options for printing brochures, posters, flyers and other pieces. We’ll break the options down into the following categories:

• Printing in-house on your own laser printer
• Working with a local printer
• Using an online printer
  

Printing on Your Own Laser Printer

Most office laser printers, whether color or black-and-white, are capable of printing fairly well. If you need a relatively small quantity of printed pieces, this may be a cost-effective solution.

Advantages:

• Printing yourself may be cheaper than sending out to print, if the quantity is low.
• You can experiment with colors and design to see how it looks before printing your full quantity.

Limitations:

• Most office laser printers are limited to letter (8.5 x 11 inch) or legal (8.5 x 14 inch) size paper.
• Most office laser printers will not print all the way to the edge of the paper (this is known as a “bleed” or “full bleed” when the printed image extends all the way to the edge of the paper). 
• If printing a folded piece like a brochure, you’ll have to hand-fold them.

Tips:

• Design your piece without a “bleed” (leave white space around the edges).
• Once you hit “Print,” make sure the document is set to print at full size, not scaled down to fit the paper (as you’ve already built in white space around the edges).
• Colors may look much different on the screen compared to printed, so do some experimenting to get the printed colors you want.
  

Working with a Local Print Shop

There are likely local printing shops in your area that can take the PDF file of your final design and print the sizes and quantities you need. Most printing these days is done on digital presses, unless you are printing many thousands of pieces.

Advantages:

• You can usually talk directly with someone to help determine the best printing options and paper type.
• Most local printers will be able to produce high-quality prints.
• Full-bleed designs can be printed.
• The printer may be able to show you a test print before running the full quantity, so you can make sure the quality is acceptable.

Limitations:

• Local printers might be slightly more expensive than online printers. You may want to compare prices.

Tips:

• Ask the printer if they’ll run a test print so you can check quality before they run the full quantity.
  

Using an Online Printer

There are many online printers that you can upload your files to, and they will print and ship the final product. A few such services are Printplace.com, 48hourprint.com, Vistaprint.com, though there are many others. Canva also offers printing services that you can order within Canva (you may see a printing option pop up on the right side of your screen when working on a design within Canva). We are not recommending any particular printer, so explore your options and compare prices. Many of them will mail you sample packages that show printing examples and paper options.

Advantages:

• Online printers may be lower-priced than a local print shop.
• The entire ordering process can be done online: upload your PDF, place the order, pay for it.
• Turnaround time is typically pretty fast, though price usually increases for faster turnaround and faster shipping.

Limitations:

• An online printer may offer a limited selection of sizes and types of paper.
• There may be additional shipping costs.
• You won’t get to see a printed sample before ordering the full quantity.
• Must pay online with a credit card, not with invoicing options that a local printer may offer.

Tips:

• Check to see if you need to set up your files in any particular way for your chosen printing service.
• When placing the order, ask to see a PDF proof before they print (this is usually an optional checkbox).
  

Saving Your File from Canva to Print