Insight
Printing industry notes and trends
Industry notes cover the business side of printing: how to start a t-shirt, photo or print-on-demand business, which products sell with web-to-print, labels, invitations, signs, marketing a print shop, managed print services and copyright, written for print shop owners and print-on-demand sellers.
16 articles
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Web-to-Print Products You Can Sell: From Tote Bags to Promotional Pens
Tote bags, business cards, business stationery, hoodies, personalized mugs and promotional pens all sell well with web-to-print: customers choose the product, personalize it from a template or their own artwork, preview it and order. Success depends on test prints, good templates, clear product photos, realistic previews and simple imprints suited to each product.
Read articleA Brief History of Printing: From Woodblock to Digital
Printing began with woodblock printing in China, followed by Bi Sheng's movable type around 1040 AD. Johannes Gutenberg's mid-15th-century press combined movable type, ink and a screw press to print books faster and cheaper. Industrial-era rotary and offset presses added speed and scale, and digital printing later enabled on-demand, short-run work straight from digital files.
Read articleManaged Print Services: A Guide to Cutting Print Costs
Managed Print Services (MPS) means outsourcing management of an organization's printers, supplies, maintenance and monitoring instead of handling each separately. Many businesses underestimate their real print costs. Moving from reactive to proactive management, through audits, ongoing monitoring and clear print policies, is the usual way to reduce waste and control spending.
Read articleHow Web-to-Print Helps Control Digital Printing Costs
Digital printing cuts costs mainly by removing the plate-creation step and supporting shorter, on-demand runs, so businesses print closer to actual need. Further savings come from knowing a print provider's capabilities, using standard house-stock paper instead of specialty stock, planning a piece's final use, and ordering through a web-to-print storefront with pre-set, costed options.
Read articleWeb-to-Print for Invitations and Greeting Cards
A web-to-print invitation store lets customers pick a template, personalize text, photos, fonts and colors online, then order printed cards or send the invitation by email. Two Printcart projects show how: a German card printer customized the product designer and its PDF output, and another client built an invitation maker that sends by email or post.
Read articleWeb-to-Print for Product Labels
Web-to-print lets label customers design and order online: they pick an editable template or start from a shape, set size, material and finishing, add text, images and logos, or upload a finished file. A label printer can start from a ready Printcart store or build a custom site with the Printcart designer, as in the label project described here.
Read articleHow Web-To-Print Works With Custom Sign Design
Businesses that sell standard and custom signs online need a web-to-print solution with built-in signage design software. Customers choose shapes, materials, sizes, colors and styles, then preview the sign before checkout. Admins set up templates, fonts, clipart and custom pricing. Printcart also built an optional 3D text effect for sign letters for partner Ion Multistore.
Read articleImproving Print Shop Productivity: A Breton Print Case Study
Breton Print, a print shop on Cape Breton Island, needed an easier way for customers to design products online and product pages that matched its brand. Printcart built a custom online design feature and redesigned the product pages. Printcart's project write-up reports a smoother design process for customers and product pages that better reflect Breton Print's brand.
Read articleInnovating Invitation Card Printing for WIRDRUCKENKARTEN
WIRDRUCKENKARTEN.de, an online invitation card printing company, partnered with Printcart to rebuild its web-to-print design tool and backend. The project added more customization options and streamlined production. Printcart's project write-up reports higher customer satisfaction, faster design times, quicker order processing, and higher conversion and retention rates afterward.
Read articleHow to Start a T-Shirt Printing Business
Starting a t-shirt printing business means picking a niche and target customer, choosing a platform such as Shopify or WordPress, deciding between print-on-demand and printing the shirts yourself, sourcing or commissioning designs, pricing with a clear margin, and promoting through branding, social media and search.
Read articleTips To Succeed In An Online Printing Business
Growing an online printing business comes down to five habits: build a strong network through events and online communities, maintain good customer relationships and service, use social media marketing with regular posts, offer targeted promotions, and add value by improving services based on competitor research and customer feedback.
Read articleMarketing Strategy for Print Businesses
A marketing strategy for a print business combines its value proposition, target customers and the four Ps (product, price, place, promotion) into one plan. From there, tactics such as social media, video tutorials, blogging, SEO, email marketing and paid retargeting help a print business reach new customers and keep existing ones ordering again.
Read articlePromoting Online Printing Designs On Instagram
Promoting print designs on Instagram starts with an optimized business profile: a bio link, a consistent name and photo, and a clear bio. From there, post creative, non-salesy product and lifestyle photos sized for Instagram, use relevant hashtags and geo-tags, run contests to build engagement, and track metrics like reciprocity and posting times to keep improving.
Read articleT-Shirt Copyright and How to Avoid Copyright Infringement with T-Shirts
Copyright protects an original creative work, not the idea itself, so using someone else's T-shirt design without permission can lead to a cease-and-desist letter, a takedown notice, and civil or criminal penalties. To avoid infringement, use public-domain or royalty-free material, pay for a proper license, hire a designer under a clear contract, or design your T-shirts from scratch.
Read articlePrint-on-Demand Explained
Print-on-demand (POD) is a fulfillment model where a product is printed only after a customer orders it: the seller uploads a design, and a POD partner prints, packs and ships it directly to the customer. It avoids holding inventory, in exchange for a lower margin and less control over fulfillment.
Read articleStart a Photo Printing Business with Web-to-Print Software
A web-to-print platform lets a photo printing business offer custom photo gifts, wall decor, invitations and other personalized products online. Customers upload and edit their own photos using templates, clipart and visual effects, see live pricing, and get warned about low-resolution uploads, while the admin configures templates, pricing and options separately for each product type.
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