I Need Help Ordering Printed Products

How to Order Printed Deliverables

Vendor List

Here is a spreadsheet that includes all of the vendors (both local and online) that we've worked with in the past. Feel free to use this list as a helpful reference, but it is by no means extensive. 

Glossary of Helpful Terms 

Below is a list of terminology you might find useful to reference as you order everything from flyers to shirts to branded water bottles! 

• Print-Ready File: the PDF file a printer needs to print a high-quality asset. It always has bleeds and sometimes also has crop marks.
• Printers Marks: a print-ready file with crop marks and CMYK values
• Spreads: a PDF file of a resource, laid out in book-style, so you can see the left and right pages next to each other
• Pages/One-Ups: a PDF file of a resource in which you can only see one page at a time
• Grommet: the small metal eyelet placed in a sign (usually coroplast) to allow a string/cable to be passed through it.
• Saddle-Stitch: a popular book binding method in which folded sheets are gathered together one inside the other and then stapled through the fold line with wire staples.
• Tape-Binding: a thermal binding method in which pages are placed between a front and back cover and then bound tightly using a strip of heavy tape.
• Bleed: In printing, bleed is printing that goes beyond the edge of where the sheet will be trimmed. In other words, the bleed is the area to be trimmed off.
• Trim Size: the final dimensions of your printed deliverable, not including bleed.
• Uncoated Paper: paper that has no extra coating or paper finishing. Since there is no coating, there is no glare on the surface, which makes it ideal for prints that have a lot of text or reading materials.
• Matte Paper: a lightly coated paper that provides a smoother presentation than an uncoated sheet, (yet softer than the appearance of a glossy sheet).
• Coated Paper: paper that is glossy. This is good for magazine-type resources, but it is not ideal for writing on.
• Coroplast: corrugated plastic (this is the material we use for most of our temporary signage, and it can be cut to any size).
• Tension Fabric: a stretchy fabric sign that fits around a free-standing frame. This can be used for information or decoration.
• Gatorboard: a type of display board with a dense inner core made of foam and a rigid exterior made of wood-fiber veneer. The exterior is water resistant and will not break or warp as easily as coroplast might. 
• Pounds (#, lb.): refers to the weight of the paper. The thicker the stock, the higher the weight. 
• Points (pt.): indicates the thickness of each sheet of paper. The higher the point value, the thicker the paper. 
• Vintage Print vs. Bright White (on garments): "vintage print" is a term used by screen printers to refer to one layer of ink (resulting in a vintage-y look/feel. "Bright white" is a term referring to two or more layers of ink to create a bright and bold imprint.