Commercial Catalog Printing

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A catalog is a great tool to market your business. Think of a commercial catalog as a way for your customer to have your store at their fingertips. Instead of the customer coming to you, catalogs give you the opportunity to literally bring your business to them. Everything contained within the pages of your commercial catalog is a representation of your trade and you need to make sure that your catalog is an accurate and flattering depiction of your business. There are several design factors that must be taken into consideration when planning your commercial catalog, and these are color, page finish, and layout.

Color

When embarking upon your commercial catalog printing project you will be given the choice of either standard black and white printing or full color printing. There is only one instance when using black and white will be a viable option for a catalog and this is if the catalog is simply a list of items in text only, no pictures. If you have pictures illustrating the products that you sell then you must use color for your commercial catalog printing project. This is true for several reasons. One reason is that using a black and white printing technique for photographs will seem antiquated to your customer. It used to be that black and white printing was significantly cheaper than color printing. Fortunately printing techniques have advanced to the point that using color printing is nearly comparable in expense as using black and white. When it comes to how your catalog looks, color printing is nearly always the only way to go.

Page Finish

You will need to determine what kind of paper your catalog will be printed on and then whether matte or glossy finish will be the better choice of finishing for your project. If you would like for your commercial catalog printing project to have the appearance of a magazine, then glossy finish is the clear choice. A matte finish on a catalog is better suited for black and white projects or projects that are not photograph heavy. Photographs illustrating your products will be better represented with a gloss finish because the product will be more clearly displayed. Having a gloss finish is also considered the industry standard these days.

Layout

When designing your commercial catalog printing project you will need to pay particular mind to the layout of the catalog. Your catalog will need to be intuitively designed so that it is informative without being overcrowded and that it is easily navigated. If you do not have a creative designer on your team to facilitate the design of the layout then you will need to hire a graphic designer. If hiring a graphic designer is not in your budget, then using an online template or the graphic design advice of your printing company are two other viable options. Making a decision about the layout is not something you should take lightly. Having a professional perspective involved in the designing process of your catalog is what will ensure that the catalog is a viable marketing tool that generates sales.