01
DIY laser printing price chart
► Posted under DIY projects, tutorials & resources by Heather
As you can imagine, I get asked about printing at Kinko’s, Staples, etc. a lot – and with good reason! Print quality is very important for special DIY projects, and the difference between, say, an older-model home inkjet and a shiny new industrial-size laser printer can be pretty significant. It can be a great idea to go to a copy and print center to handle the printing for your most important projects. But which print center should you use?
I like to give the best possible advice I can (that’s what I’m here for!), so I did a little legwork so you don’t have to.
I called the four largest copy and print centers (FedEx, Staples, OfficeMax, and Office Depot) and asked them three simple questions:
1. How much does it cost to laser print onto your heaviest sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ white cardstock? (One-sided printing, in color.)
2. How much does it cost to laser print if I bring my own paper? (Still one-sided printing, in color, at 8.5″ x 11″.)
3. If you cut out what I print, how much do you charge?
And then, just to be sure that the prices weren’t local, I called the same four copy centers on the opposite side of the country and got their prices, too.
Without further ado, here’s what I came up with:
So! The prices vary a little bit because I got different answers at the different stores (except Staples, which apparently really has its act together). And this is the point where I have to say, just to cover my butt: I can’t guarantee pricing anywhere, and you should inquire about pricing at your local store if cost is an issue. This is just for informational purposes to get you started (and to try to save you a little hassle, and a couple bucks!). : )
Now that that’s out of the way, I can explain the cutting fee a little bit. At first, I thought that the stores might be charging per cut, per sheet of paper. That would get expensive SO FAST. But that’s not the case! Each store can cut hundreds of sheets at a time (the number varies per store, but it’s far more than the average person would ever need for personal printing). So, let’s say you print 30 sheets of thank-you cards, and you need them to be cut out. It would take five cuts to make the cards. Diagram time!
That is the ACTUAL set-up of the DIY file that you would get if you purchased it from me, crop marks and all. So this really is what you’d be dealing with!
So, with a price of $0.75 to $1.49 per cut, depending on where you’re printing, it would cost you $3.75 to $7.45 to have ALL the cards cut out for you. That’s a pretty good deal to save that amount of time, I think!
I hope my little charts are helpful! And please feel free to leave a comment and let me know about your experiences with printing at any of these stores. The more info I can pass on, the better! : )
Comments
Trackbacks
PartyMom says:
This is such great research! When I was getting married, I designed my own save-the-date inserts. It was definitely useful to have them printed and cut by a professional printer. I actually had them done by a smaller, regional printer and the prices really weren't that bad (I think I paid around $25 or $30 for what ended up being over 200 individual cards after cutting)
I wonder, however, how these prices would compare to an online service such as Snapfish or Shutterfly?
Heather - Chickabug says:
GOOD QUESTION! That'll have to be round two of my investigation! ; )
Anonymous says:
After I emailed with you this morning I looked at Shutterfly (we do a LOT of stuff through them and have lots of coupons!) and I couldn't figure out how to do just a cardstock print. I'll keep searching (probably won't use them this time) but wondered what other people knew about them.
Dallasite says:
Thank you for this!!
Heather - Chickabug says:
Aw! YAY! You're so welcome!! : )
Stacey says:
Thanks so much! I had gone to FedEx online, but I couldn't figure out which category I needed. This is a HUGE help. Good think I turned to one of favorite blogs for answers!
Heather - Chickabug says:
I'm so glad my chart helped! Thanks for letting me know, Stacey! : )
Heather - Chickabug says:
That's a good tip! Thank you! : )