It's probably not too early to be thinking about DIY calendars. I'd like to make up a batch of 20, or so, this year, but I'm at a loss as to the best company to go with (that offers a reasonable price). I've used Snapfish years ago, and while the picture quality was OK, the design choices were rather limited and frankly unprofessional-looking.
I've seen the results from VistaPrint and its pretty cheesy. Don't know if Blurb does them, but I'm not enamored with the print quality of their books.
I've also used Apple, and was really happy with the quality and choices, but their pricing right now for an 18-month calendar is near $29/each. A 12-month is $20. I'd like to shoot for more like 12 to 15/each.
What other companies are recommended?
Cheers, Ken
Posted by Jim Bennett on July 20, 2011 at 12:07 AM
I've been using Costco for my calendars and I get their premium calendars that are 11x14 for $18 each. I've been very pleased with the quality and customization options that Costco provides.
Posted by Paul Martin on July 20, 2011 at 12:07 PM
I was going to try Mpix, it seems like they have a nice product and the price is lower the more you order. They have a nice 12x18 template that would be $17.30 each if you ordered 20.
Paul, I looked at the MPIX catalog and saw only single sheet calendars, not the multi-page ones I have in mind. Can you provide a link to what you were seeing?
I've used My Canvas the past couple years and found their quality to be pretty good. What I liked the best about them from the companies I looked at was that they had the easiest customization of layout, which was important to me since I wanted to insert a lot of custom dates and events into the calendars. The images had good color but if you look too closely, you can see evidence of dithering. It's not bad but not the same as Indigo printing. Plus each calendar came individually shrink wrapped which is nice if you are looking to resell them.
If you have a couple printing houses that you are trying to decide between, and lots of time, why not try having a sample made from each to compare?
Discussion
7 repliesIt's probably not too early to be thinking about DIY calendars. I'd like to make up a batch of 20, or so, this year, but I'm at a loss as to the best company to go with (that offers a reasonable price). I've used Snapfish years ago, and while the picture quality was OK, the design choices were rather limited and frankly unprofessional-looking.
I've seen the results from VistaPrint and its pretty cheesy. Don't know if Blurb does them, but I'm not enamored with the print quality of their books.
I've also used Apple, and was really happy with the quality and choices, but their pricing right now for an 18-month calendar is near $29/each. A 12-month is $20. I'd like to shoot for more like 12 to 15/each.
What other companies are recommended?
Cheers, Ken
If you have a couple printing houses that you are trying to decide between, and lots of time, why not try having a sample made from each to compare?