WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO PRINT A PLAYBILL?

This is a question that deserves some investigation. Some of the other questions that first need to be asked are the following:

1. What is the quantity? Will the playbill be used for an entire Season or just a few events?

2. Will the pages change or will it be static content?

3. What is the budget?

So now that these questions are answered, the next big question is what printing process to use? If distribution is small, 1000 or less, digital printing may be the way to go. For the higher distribution, offset printing is the most cost effective way to print the playbill.

OFFSET PRINTING VERSUS DIGITAL PRINTING

DIGITAL PRINTING
Digital printing, on the surface, looks like the most efficient way to print a playbill. Digital printing presses look exactly like an oversized copy machine. In theory that is exactly what they are. Like copiers, they use toner based inks. The set-up and operation of the digital presses are relatively easy and do not need a pressman or technically trained operator. If a quantity of playbills is low, the cost of printing digitally makes sense. Some of the drawbacks to digital printing are the “click charges”. The click charge is the agreed upon cost of running a piece of paper through the digital printer. The hook, if you will, is “agreed upon”. When leasing a digital printing press, the “click charge” is negotiated up front. This can be good, it can also be bad. As print jobs grow in size the click charge is not dynamic. Therefore, small quantities are more cost effective. The other drawback is the service contract that one will sign with their equipment provider. Although the digital press is much easier to operate than an offset press, they will break down more frequently than an off-set printer. Another nice advantage is that a digital press can accommodate changes to pages with a single print job. This is called variable data.

OFFSET PRINTING
If high quality with high quantity is needed, off-set might be the way to go. The off-set printing companies have been hit hard by the economy. One simply needs to type in their Google search PRINTING EQUIPMENT LIQUIDATION and BOOM, there you have many choices to pick up a cheap 5 color press, plate makers, folding machines and saddle stitching machines. The drawback is that the cost will come from the initial set-up of the process. With off-set, one will need a controlled environment to “manufacture” the program books. One will also need the Pressman / operator for this equipment. The benefit is that as quantities go WAY up costs go WAY down. The other big benefit from using off-set is the quality. When a comparison of viewing an offset print job and a digital print job, the quality is evident.

There are some pretty scary costs involved with both processes, but it if the quantity is right there is a solution. OR feel free to give us a call. We are the folks that provide FREE playbills to performing art groups.