Article

Printing Calendars

Once you have designed your calendar there are various ways and methods to get it printed. If you are only producing something for the family and only want a small quantity, or even want to make a point that it has been hand produced lovingly by yourself then you can print it out on your own printer. Obviously it would be advisable to make sure your printer has been calibrated so that the colours in the photographs come out exactly as you want. You could also get it produced professionally and this can be done in at least 3 different ways.

• Online

• Local High Street Printer

• Specialist printers

Online via either Specialist Printers or Online Photo Print Outlets

There are a number of calendar printers online who will produce calendars for you in any quantity from 1 up to 1,000 plus. They usually have two ways of getting your design to them, the first is using a fully online service where you go through a number of steps and at each step choosing the layout, style, font size, picture position that you want, uploading the images to them and then paying for your order. The printed result will then arrive through the post at a specified delivery time i.e. usually somewhere between 7-14 days. As long as you have researched their styles beforehand and decided both which you want to use and you have chosen which of your images you want to include and have them ready for upload then this system can be pretty painless. The only thing you're not sure about is the quality of the product and you won't know this until it arrives. There are a number of companies providing this type of service and their prices vary enormously. We have listed some to get you started under Calendar printers in Calendar Further Information.

Local High Street Printer

In most high streets there are printers who produce colour brochures and some of these will also produce calendars, but you can also walk into your local Tesco or Jessops and with their point of sale photo points you will be able to upload your pictures and select to have a calendar printed. Printing takes time so with any high street retailer you won't be able to take the finished product home with you then, you will still have to wait for it to be printed and then collect it or have it delivered to you. You can get the entire calendar produced or you could set up individual pages and get them printed, in the article on Producing Calendars at home we look at completing the job. See under Calendar printers in Calendar Further Information.

Specialist Printers or Promotion Companies

The two methods mentioned above are suitable options for one off's or where quantities are not too large. However if you want to produce a large quantity or want to sub-contract the entire production process then you will need to look at using printers who specialise in producing calendars. They will have all the necessary skills, and equipment to produce the high end quality product you require. Some of these printers have an online presence and you can see samples of what can be produced, and take a look at their templates etc and in some cases get an idea of price.

In most cases they will be able to print the calendar exactly to your design specification and at the quantities you require, and for this reason will give you a quotation for your particular job. You can also ask them to see samples of what they have previously produced for others and in a lot of cases you will be able to provide the artwork exactly as you want it or be able to work with their design team to get what you require. Generally because they are looking at you producing larger volumes their price per individual calendar will be lower. This printing method is particularly suitable if you want to produce calendars to sell at retail prices, or for charities, see Charity and Fund Raising Calendars, as the lower production costs will give you a higher return.

Calendar Publishers/Printers are always on the look out for new images, although you need to get in early as they look at what they need at the beginning of the year, at this time of year they are full flow into selling to businesses and printing the calendars for the coming year. See Selling Pictures to Calendar Publishers for more on this.

I have put together a list, Calendar Further Information, which includes a list of websites of Calendar B2B Suppliers, which should allow you see what options are available to you.

We have many other articles looking at different aspects of calendars from producing to printing them, to getting an income from them, looking at charity and fundraising calendars as well as templates and much more. See Calendars for the full list.