General Printing Guidelines
Plan ahead!
You'll need to consider the following for your signs and cards (days = business days)| Design time: | 3-5 days |
| Printing: | 2-7 days (varies significantly by product) |
| Shipping (signs/cards): | 5 days (UPS Ground) |
| Addressing and Mailing (Postcards): | 2-5 days |
*Rush orders and faster shipping available upon request.
- Rush orders can be expensive so planning ahead can really pay off. It not only allows you to save money, but allows you to plan your pieces more carefully.
- Know the number of basic pieces you want to send out and design them early.
- For instance: One introductory piece: Bio info and why you're running. Support pieces: Asking for volunteers and donations. Issue pieces: What issues are important to your campaign? Get out the vote pieces.
- Make allowances for at least one rush order during your campaign in case you have to respond quickly to something or you get extra money at the last minute.
Design: Invest in a look
- With BNV Printing's low cost on materials you can afford to invest in a professionally designed look. See our Design Studio for pricing
- You want to stand out and be consistent throughout your campaign so voters will recognize your information and not mistake it for junk mail.
- Poorly put together pieces give your opponent leverage.
- Even if you have a basic design consider having a graphic artist tweak it for you. You may be surprised how much they can add and BNV will provide a bid up front so you know what the cost will be.
Full Bleeds
- This is a term used that means your art work will extend all the way out to the edge of the paper leaving no white area.
- When using bleeds you would typically extend your artwork out 1/16" (0.0625") beyond the original size of your work (so a 4" x 6" post card would become 4.125" x 6.125"). Remember that the postcard will still be cut to 4" x 6" so don't put any text or important graphics too close to the edge or it may be cut. These distances will vary by product so check with us first for the correct amounts.
- We do not recommend a border around the edge of your artwork as this typically does not turn out right due to a slight shifting during cutting (one edge will be slightly thicker than another).
Templates:
- We highly recommend you request a template if you are putting together your own artwork. This will allow you to lay out your work much more effectively.
DPI:
- You want all your work to be at least 300dpi.
Photos:
- Do not use scanned photos. They rarely print well. Make sure all your photos are 300dpi before you import them into your art program.
Files accepted:
- We accept the following file types:
.PDF, Adobe Photoshop (.PSD), Adobe Illustrator (.AI or .EPS), Adobe InDesign (.PDF or .EPS), and Jpeg files. - Word and Publisher files can not be accepted. We can convert these files for a fee but original artwork will need to be provided. Please contact us for a bid.
- Remember Jpeg files will deteriorate every time you save them. When your work is in progress save it as a tiff file and when you are finished save as a jpeg for final presentation.
Check, Check and Check again.
- BNV will not accept responsibility for typos, artwork that is poorly put together, and poor resolution. We do check artwork to make sure your piece will print properly but do not always catch typos and assume a certain level of knowledge about resolution.
- We can provide you with a full proof for $10.00 and it can take 3-5 business days.
Postage Info for Post Cards
Almost all political mailings are sent Standard Class due to the cost savings over First Class postage. As the mailing is usually fairly local (within a few hundred miles from the mail house) the delivery time is not typically signicantly greater.
The Post Office has three categories for postage; Postcards, Letters and Flats. For candidates sending post cards it can be broken down as follows:
| Postcard: | 4.25" x 6" cards and smaller |
| Letter: | 6.125" x 11.5" cards and smaller |
| Flat: | Up to 15" x 12" (typically 8.5" x 11" cards) |
The price for postage will vary depending not only on the category, but also on whether it is bar coded and on how many pieces are going to the same distribution center or zip code or partial zip code.
Standard: Standard rates are considerably cheaper than First Class, however they can take longer to deliver. There is no cost advantage for 4" x 6" postcards so they should all go First Class.
| Letter (up to 6" x 11" card): | 20¢ - 24¢ each |
| Flat (8.5" x 11" card): | 30¢ - 55¢ each |
First Class: First Class cards will get priority over Standard Class. You can expect to spend approximately the following on First Class postage:
| Postcards (4" x 6" card): | 20¢ - 24¢ each |
| Letter (up to 6" x 11" card): | 33¢ - 40¢ each |
| Flat (8.5" x 11" card): | 40¢ - 80¢ each |
For more info see:
http://bulkmail.info/fcrates.html
http://bulkmail.info/rates.html
If we can help you in any way please feel free to contact us at:
sales@bnvprinting.com or (800) 556-1195