Tips
Dazzle Printing specializes in multipage document printing, including magazine printing services. We have decades of experience along with the latest printing equipment, so we can provide our clients with unmatched magazine printing at very reasonable prices.
Here are our tips when deciding on options when printing a magazine:
Quantity:
Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. You can order in increments of 1 copy. The more copies you order, the lower the per magazine cost will be. We always ship a couple of extra copies. We recommend ordering a few more copies than you think you need. You’ll want to keep a couple of copies around for record keeping purposes and a few extra copies to pass out in the future.
Page Count:
When counting pages for your magazine printing, the front and back of one sheet of paper counts as two pages. We can print from 8 pages to over 600 pages. In your total page count, we sure to add 4 pages for your cover (front outside cover, front inside cover, back outside cover, and back inside cover).
Color vs. Black and White Printing
While there are instanced where black and white printing will look fine (comics, all text with no graphics or design elements), we live in a world where color gets much more attention. If you are using lots of photos or design elements in your magazine, you should definitely go with color printing.
Size
We offer four standard sizes for printing a magazine — 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 8.5 x 11, and 9 x 12. However, you can print any size up to 9 x 12. If ordering a nonstandard size, just select the next larger size for printing. For instance, if your magazine printing project’s finished size is 8 x 10, select 8.5 x 11 for ordering purposes. Also be sure to indicate in the notes section what the finished size should be.
Binding Style
While we offer four binding styles for multipage documents (perfect bound, plastic coil, saddle stitch, and wire-o), most magazines are either perfect bound or saddle stitched. We can saddle stitch up to 80 pages, but typically magazines that are saddle stitched are 48 pages or less. We can perfect bind magazines from 8 pages to over 600 pages, but we recommend having at least 32 pages before considering perfect binding.
Paper for Inside Pages
For inside pages, we offer 60# uncoated text, 70# uncoated text, 70# gloss or matte text, 80# gloss or matte text, or 100# gloss or matte text. For most magazines, we would recommend using gloss or matte text, especially if there are a lot of photos in your magazine. The more pages in the magazine, the lighter the paper you should use, so the magazine does not become too thick. As a rough estimate, consider 100# gloss or matte text up to 50 pages, 80# gloss or matte text up to 100 pages, and 70# gloss or matte text over 100 pages.
Paper for Cover
We offer 80# and 100# cover stock for covers. Although you can use the same paper for the inside pages and the cover, we would recommend using a cover stock for the cover. It will provide more durability for the magazine. Many consumer magazines use the same paper for inside pages and the cover, but those magazines are typically read and thrown away. Most magazines we print will be kept by the readers, so you want them to be more durable.
Lamination
Another way to make your magazines more durable and make them look great is to add lamination to the covers. We offer gloss and soft-touch lamination for magazine printing services. Gloss will make the colors on the cover really pop and soft touch has a very velvety feel to it. Both are great additions to magazine covers.
Hard Copy Press Proof
If you have time and are concerned about any of the options you have selected or how your magazine will look, consider getting a hard copy press proof. We will print and bind your magazine according to your order specifications, so you can see exactly how your finished magazines will look. If you need to make changes — either to your file or to the options you ordered — that’s not a problem. Hard copy press proofs are $60 if shipped via ground UPS and $100 if shipped via overnight UPS.
