Calendar printing is one of the smartest ways to make sure your business or brand is seen by dozens, hundreds or thousands of people each and every day. That's why many businesses give away free wall calendars to customers. When you consider how many people see your ad every day to the cost of calendar printing, it is one of the least expensive ways to advertise your company. The following is your guide to Calendar Printing 101:
As with all professionally printed materials, make sure the colors on your computer screen match the actual ink colors that will be used when designing your calendars. Invest in a good printed color swatch chart to see what specific CMYK values will look like on paper. Another good way to make sure your colors match is to have your graphic design program and computer screen calibrated.
The layout of your calendar is critical to its function. Get a calendar template from your calendar printing company so your design matches up with the bleed lines, cutlines and safety lines. Also, make sure you're designing your calendar to fit the printed size, and that you design for a drilled nail hole if the printed calendar will have one.
If you want your business to be viewed by your customers every day of the year, you will need a calendar that can withstand the stress of hanging from a nail for 365 days straight. Go with a robust 100-pound gloss cover stock with aqueous coating for maximum stability. The paper on the inside of your calendar should be easy to write on such as a 70-pound to 100-pound text stock in gloss or matte.
Before you design your calendar, decide whether it will be bound with a saddle-stitch or Wire-O. Saddle-stitch refers to folding your calendar and stapling the closed end to keep the pages together. A Wire-O will require the paper to be cut, drilled and bound with a ring of wire.
Always get a hard copy proof of your calendar before you have the entire job printed. This will help you catch any errors or last-minute typos. Even if your printing company offers electronic proofs, if you're concerned about your company's image it's worth the extra money to make sure your calendars look exactly as intended. Imagine printing 10,000 calendars with the wrong website URL, which means you would have to get the entire batch reprinted, otherwise thousands of people would see your calendar but nobody would see your website! Calendars have added value, so they're prime real estate for getting your business viewed by thousands of people every single day. Plan your calendar printing right, and you'll end up with inexpensive ad space on the walls of thousands of targeted prospects for years to come.
An important factor in printing is the paper. We offer a variety of papers, some thick and others thin. Some glossy and some matte. How do you decide which paper to use?
Your browser does not support the audio element.First, let’s get technical. There are some terms that will help you to understand the different options available.
Cover VS Text
A cover weight paper is going to be thick, similar in feel to cardstock. Text weight papers are thinner, more similar to catalog and magazine paper. A paper labeled “cover” is always going to be thicker than a “text” paper. For example, 100# Gloss Cover is going to be much thicker than 100# Gloss Text. You can also tell the difference in thickness by checking the “point” or “pt” thickness. For example, a 100# Gloss Cover is 9pt while a 100# Gloss Text is 5pt. If you had an instrument called a micrometer you could measure the paper thickness yourself.
Gloss VS Matte
Gloss paper is shiny and is very popular for most print projects. Matte paper has a “flat” look to it. It doesn’t shine and reflect light the same way that gloss paper does.
UV Coating
The Gloss and Matte paper are both coated, which means they are not like the paper you would put in a home printer. Gloss paper is shiny but if you want something to really “Pop!” you will want to add a UV High Gloss Cover finish. This coating can only be used on Cover paper and is very popular for calendar projects and presentation folders.
Uncoated Paper
This paper is similar to the paper you would put in a home printer because it is uncoated. It is easy to write on and would be used in a project such as a journal or coloring book. If your project requires an uncoated paper we recommend our 70# Uncoated Text because it is thicker than regular paper that you would put in a home printer, which means that the ink won’t bleed through the page.
Below I am going to recommend different papers for different types of projects. These are simply suggestions; your project may or may not fit into these recommendations. I would also highly recommend requesting a free sample packet from us. When you get a sample packet from us we send you our Paper Sample Guide. It’s a small booklet that has an example of all of our different papers in it so you can see and feel the weights of each. You can determine which papers you like best using this Paper Sample Guide.
For Booklet projects, which includes Catalogs, Magazines and Programs, the paper will sometimes depend on the page count. If your booklet has 8-20 pages a good choice is to use 100# Gloss Text for the cover and the inside pages. When you have a higher page count, 24pages and up, we recommend using a Cover Weight paper for the cover sheet and using Text Weight for the inside pages. This isn’t required, you can use a Text Weight on the cover and inside pages if you want. Using a Cover Weight for your cover paper is nice because it gives you booklet a little more thickness and heft, which is nice.
Of course, if you have any questions about the type of paper to use feel free to call us or request your free sample packet so you can see and feel these different papers.
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Graphic DesignerMeet Ricky Hale, the multi-talented graphic designer at PrintingCenterUSA who brings a vibrant and eclectic skill set to the table. With a diverse background in photography, illustration, and videography, Ricky’s creative genius knows no bounds. He’s a visionary artist who sees the world through a unique lens, infusing his work with a fresh and innovative perspective that sets him apart from the rest. Connect with me on LinkedIn here.
Ricky’s passion for art and storytelling is evident in every project he takes on. He’s a master at bringing ideas to life and crafting visually stunning designs that capture the essence of a brand or message. His attention to detail and unwavering dedication to his craft make him a force to be reckoned with in the world of graphic design.
But Ricky isn’t just a design wizard. In his downtime, you can find him jamming out to music, lounging in his trusty hammock, or battling it out in a fierce game of board games with his wife (who, we might add, beats him every single time). With his infectious energy and magnetic personality, Ricky is a true Renaissance man who brings joy and creativity to everything he does.