Booklet printing is a great way to show off a marketing piece or create an informational guide into the products and services of your company.

Take advantage of booklets to display photographed samples or walk customers through the company process or journey.

Booklets can also work as simple marketing pieces that touch on points that you want to draw attention to regarding your company's products or services.

Now that you see the power in booklet printing the question comes down to how to pull it off easily and affordably. Here are 5 ways to print marketing booklets on a budget.

5 Tips for Affordable Booklet Printing

1. Use Standard Booklet Sizes

While unique sizes may seem like a great way to entice readers to your booklet design, aside from designers and printers, most people won't notice a booklet that is an off size because they are probably unaware of what is standard.

By using standard sizes, you will save money and have less waste when it comes to the paper cost and reduced labor as the machines will often be set to run standard sizes. Double check with your printer, but the most common standard sizes in booklet printing include:

• 5.5" x 8.5"
• 6" x 9"
• 8.5" x 11"

When designing your booklet for a standardized size, it will cost you less if you avoid photographs or graphics that bleed as they will not have to go through another trimming process if printed on demand.

2. Stick with Standard Page Counts

Using standard booklet page counts will make your book easier for the printing company to layout and will cost less than odd page counts. With on-demand printing, this means sticking to even page amounts. Otherwise, the printing company will most likely have to add blank sheets in somewhere to get it to print properly.

For booklet pieces that will be printed on an offset press, the booklet will be printed in signatures. A signature is a set amount of pages that can be printed and then put on a folder to be folded into the final book size. When you are using an odd page count, the printer may have to print multiple forms or use a non-standard size which can add to the final cost.

Typical page counts for printing are in fours, such as 12, 16, and 24, although the best fit will depend on the size of available press and paper. For a standard 8.5x11" catalog, page counts that are divisble by 16 are typically the most cost-effective option on a per-page basis (for example: 16, 32, 48, 64).

3. Use Colors to Make an Impactful Message

Many years ago, printing a portion of your catalog in black and white would save you money. However, nowadays most printing companies have streamlined their processes to allow full-color printing throughout a booklet without incurring an additional charge.

Take advantage of this full color printing by creating vivid graphics and rich text to captivate your readers. Use a scale of colors for your headings to create hierarchy in your message. For paragraph or body text, use a slightly bluish gray color instead of 100% black, as this is shown to be less tiring on a reader's eyes.

By creating a balanced and vibrant design, your statement becomes more remarkable and impactful.

4. Consider On-Demand, Short Run Printing Services

Many printing companies offer some form of on-demand printing services often by utilizing a digital machine.

Traditional offset printing often requires longer runs to be the most cost-effective since the time and effort that goes into setting up an offset press and the time it takes for quality checks will be significantly longer than with a digital machine.

Additionally, when booklets are printed on an offset press, they may need to go through additional processes for trimming, folding, and booklet stitching.

Companies that offer on-demand booklet printing can often produce your booklet from start to finish. Since there is much less setup of machines in on-demand printing, you can often order smaller runs of booklets without paying a premium for each. This makes it an excellent option for those who do not have the need for large volumes or do not want to keep an inventory of the booklets.

Recent studies have shown that digital on-demand options are grabbing an increase of the market accounting for up to 16% of all printing services due to the high quality it can produce in the shorter amount of time.

5. Invest in a Quality Cover

The cover of any marketing piece is the first impression that you get to make with your customer or prospect, so making a good one is essential.

If you are looking to save some money on your booklet printing but want your piece to stand out, you can use standard (text weight) paper for the interior pages and use a thicker paper for the cover of the booklet. This can be especially effective for booklets where the information is mostly informative.

Select a thicker cover stock with an eye-catching finish, and design it with a graphic or photograph that will draw the reader in to read or learn more.

Just be careful not to make too much of a contrast between the thickness of the cover of the book or the internal pages otherwise the booklet may not lay as flat as you would like.

Design and Print Affordable Marketing Booklets

It’s possible to design and print a marketing booklet on a budget that showcases your company, your products, and your services. Simply follow these printing and design tips to create a standout marketing booklet without breaking the bank!