Letterhead: preprinted or are desktop printers ok now?

[DavethePestMan]

Ten years ago, I'd never have dreamed of trying this but printers have got better and before I splash out on a new one, I wanted to ask: is it now practical to print the letterhead AND letter content to plain paper?
Yes, I know it's technically possible - it always has been - but is the quality of colour printing (and the 'feel') now good enough to use without the customer noticing it for everyday paperwork?

My letterhead has a solid strip of blue over the bottom 2 inches of the sheet with white lettering within. When I tried it in the past, this strip would 'band' and the white lettering never looked very good so I gave up on the experiment and bought in pre-printed. However, I wonder if technology now offers a viable alternative.

If you do it, what kind of printer do you use (the technology, not a roll-call of printer vendors, please!) and do you think the results rival the 'real thing'?

 

[Deleted member 162294]

It's feasible and I would use a laser colour printer just so there isn't any soggy patches where there's lots of ink. If the letterhead uses a lot of one colour then its easy to swap out because laser printers store all the toners (inks) in separate cartridges.

The downside is without getting your letterheads commercially printed you cannot have your letterhead printed all the way to the edge.

If you're using an inkjet printer then usually it will have 2 cartridges one for black and one for colour, so if your letterhead uses a lot of blue then its going to run down faster than the other colours.

 

[Billmccallum]

it's easier if you use a printer with separate colour cartridges, you only have to replace the one that runs out first...

you can always use better quality paper than the standard 80gsm....

IMHO its better to use professionally printed if you use large quantities.

 

[patientlady]

Glad all going well Dave, I think I remember you starting up.
For me always original letterhead, business cards etc. as it represents a first impression of what a customer can expect from your service.

 

[SetupaCompany]

Preprinted will always look much better quality-wise but I guess a lot depends on what you use your letterheads for and how much you feel your clients will even notice.

If it's just for occasional correspondence then I think home printing is fine, but if it's for regular communication, invoices, etc then I think preprinted creates a much better impression.

 

[columbo]

Dave, do yourself a big favour. Get a professional litho-printed letter head done up.

As as business owner, I like cost cutting, it has to be done these days.

But, one of the areas we never scimp on is printing or graphic design.

If your a pestcontroller and you use a letterhead done up on your home /office printer. Unfortunately, I am going to think that you use the cheapest materials and tools in your job as well. This would be me right off (even though I could be totally wrong) But in business perception is reality.

As for your specific question, I work in IT and I think inkjets and lasers have remarkable quality these days. But, in something like a letterhead where there is borderless print - litho-printing is still king for a feel of quality professional letterhead.

 

[DavethePestMan]

Thanks everyone - I forgot about the edge-to-edge printing problem and that alone is enough for me: pre printed is a requirement 'cause it'll look totally naff otherwise!
Also, I've seen some sample print now and I can confirm that even good lasers (i.e. expensive ones) do leave a 'sheen' on large areas of colour; it just doesn't look so great when the light catches it!

 

[HGSecurity]

Our letterheads don't need to be edge to edge printed so we started doing our own on 100gsm Conqueror paper with an OKI colour laser printer - can't really see the difference between those and the ones we used to get commercially printed at twice the cost.

 

[columbo]

can't really see the difference between those and the ones we used to get commercially printed at twice the cost.

With online printers, the cost of professional print has been cheaper than ever before.

The cost of ink cartridges for printers, well that's another story.

 

[redrosephotos]

I think with good quality affordable printers out there and the right paper there's no reason why you can't print your own. I always make sure I buy a good quality paper to print on though - not that cheap feel bulk pack rubbish.

 

[Printer_Expert]

DavethePestMan

It can actually be much much cheaper to print your own letterheads these days. It all depends on how much you are printing and what else you are printing besides.

There are payment plans these days similar to mobile phone contracts whereby you just pay a standard price for every page regardless of whether you're printing a simple letter or a full colour photograph.

If this sounds too much, even inkjet printers are changing. You can print fairly large volumes very cheaply these days. More and more inkjet ranges are appearing that actually challenge the running costs of laser printers.

Again it really depends on the volume/content that you produce.

Have a look at Printerland.co.uk

There is a text link at the top of the page for the managed print services I mentioned.

Hope this helps.

 

[printnneds]

it's very easy if you use a printer with separate colour cartridges, you may also better quality paper than the standard 80gsm.

 

[Jason Mageehan]

I can supply 1,000 Letterheads on 120GSM premium paper for just £78 - SO, that's 2 reams of paper premium paper and about 5 ink cartridges....that's a saving as well as looking great. HTH.

 

[Ashley_Price]

As someone who rarely needs printed letterhead paper I generally print my own. They come out very well on my colour inkjet (Canon Maxify MB5050). I also use 120gsm paper, so that customers can feel the difference when they handle the paper.

However, I still get my business cards printed professionally. You can buy packs that allow you to print your own business cards (and I sell them!) but the card is significantly thinner than professionally produced ones (270gsm against 350 or 400gsm).

As for how they look, it also depends on the design of the letterhead. A financial advisor I know has them printed professionally, but the letterhead is just his name and address in Times New Roman font, so it looks as though it has been printed by himself anyway.