Everything You Need to Know About Magazine Printing

Printing your own magazine can be a great way to grab the attention of your customers, clients or even passersby. Think about it! When a magazine arrives in your mailbox, what do you do? You pick it up and look to see what it’s all about, right? After all, if someone took time out of their day to create a whole magazine about something, it might be worth a read. 

Each magazine that you print has the potential to reach a large part of your audience. 

However, creating a high-quality magazine can be a tedious task. This is why we’ve put together this helpful guide with everything you need to know about magazine production. 

As with anything printed, you need to make sure you get everything right the first time. This is why the most important phase of producing a magazine lies in its prep stages. 

Choose Your Printing Company

It’s important that you choose commercial printing services that can handle the job efficiently and correctly, even before you start to design your mag. Consider the printer’s run capacity and how busy they are in order to determine the timeline of your magazine. Many magazines will contain time-sensitive content, so any long delays in production can reduce their effectiveness.

You will also want to select a direct mail printing service that has superior customer service and communication skills. The dialogue between you and your printing service will go a long way in ensuring your magazine’s success. 

Request a Template

Professional printers can provide you with the guidelines for the graphic requirements of your magazine. Features such as trim lines, margin areas and fold lines will greatly help you to figure out the graphic design and layout of your magazine. Most printers are able to adapt your graphics to their requirements, but sometimes that results in undesirable graphic distortion. 

The best way to ensure that your magazine emerges how you want is to work from a template provided by your printer or one made based on their instruction. 

Type of Paper

The type of paper you choose for your magazine depends on a few factors, including budget and marketing objectives. The weight and finish of the paper you choose should depend on what kind of magazine you are printing, and what marketing goals you want to achieve with its publication. 

If you plan to create a magazine that focuses on providing a lot of information and text, you can save printing and distribution costs by choosing a lightweight and uncoated paper. Newsprint is a great option if this is the case, as it makes for a convenient writing surface. 

If you need to create a magazine that showcases many photos, you should choose a glossy or matte finish. Glossy paper can add that luxe finish to your magazine, while matte allows the colours and detail on the page to stand out more.

The cover of your magazine can also be a different paper type compared to the inside pages. You can add creative touches by going for unique finishings like a soft-touch varnish or adding embossing to the cover.

In addition to paper type, you’ll also need to consider what type of stitching you want for the perfect binding: saddle stitching or perfect binding. Saddle stitching can only be produced on magazines that have a page count with a multiple of four.

Types of Magazine Formats

Magazines can come in all shapes and sizes. The following are three examples of the most common:

• The Combo Book: At 8.25” x 10.75”, this format is great for showcasing both text and imagery. By going for glossy cover pages and uncoated inside pages, you can still make your magazine pop while saving a few bucks. 
• The Glossy Magazine: Usually 8.5” x 11”, this format will feature high-quality image-rich content with an upscale feel. This type of magazine will have a heavier paper stock with treated pages. This is best for magazines that have smaller page counts. 
• The Tabloid: Typically found in a larger size, 10” x 13” or bigger, these are efficient and cost-effective because they tend to use a newsprint paper which staples can bind.

Consider the Costs

Four characteristics will determine the cost of your magazine: quantity, size, paper weight and finish. Changes in size and paper weight will also affect your distribution costs.

If you choose to add an address box on your magazine’s cover, we can print the address directly onto the cover for mailing. This “self-mailer” option is usually the cheapest. You will not be charged any extra cost for envelopes or polybags, making this an attractive choice for most businesses. 

Designing Your Graphics and Layout

Once the production elements of your magazine have been decided, you can begin the design process of your magazine. Be sure to discuss how your graphics should be placed on the sheet with your printing company. Things can get pretty complicated, especially if you are producing a larger magazine. Some printing companies will require that you send them the print layout ready to go, and others can rearrange your graphics during pre-production. 

Distribution

Consider how you will be distributing your magazine. Skids can be costly to ship, so you might want to look for a printing company that can send out your magazines directly to your mailing list. This means you will save on the costs of transporting your magazines to your office or business by avoiding it altogether. Direct distribution can also cut down on the time it takes for your magazine to come off the press and into your customers’ waiting hands. 

Make Your Magazine Printing Process a Breeze

Developing a relationship with the perfect direct mail printing company can make all the difference in making your printing experience a breeze. 

For more information on hiring a commercial printing service, call Troi Mailing Services in Canada at 1-866-486-9350 or contact us here.

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