A small part of creating the BK Logo was to have something to put on my business cards. As you’d imagine these things are not going to be your run of the mill cards, as I wanted to have some fun with them. So the mammoth task came down on me to actually do a bit of research on the net to see what is available and if they’re worthy of being my designated printers. I’m only half joking about the last part, I want them a certain way and am probably willing to pay the price to get them that way, so I expect to get quality for my cash.

Bearing in mind that I’ll be starting off with business cards now, the list of printed items will be ever increasing for sure. So in order to aid everyone and let you all benefit from the research that I’ve conducted into the matter, here’s a quick rundown of the various online printing services that I’ve uncovered, and how I rate them. At the end I’ve attached a pdf that you can download for your own reference (this being the first that I publish on the Kode, but hopefully not the last.) If you know of a better service that I should really check out, then by all means send the link to me and I’ll add it to the list. I am trying to make this as a bit of a resource page for all those looking for something similar, you might as well let some other smuck (ie me) do the hard work for you.

1. Print 100 So far I'm impressed by what Print 100 has offered. This firm is based in Hong Kong, so you have to go to the global site. What's nice about this website is the information that they have on offer. That's something I find pretty lacking in most places I've visited. It's like most of these printers don't really want to tell you the whole story, or they're lazy and so try and get away with cheap things like 'Contact us for a quote'. If you go over to the downloads section, there's a massive collection of templates in Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw and Freehand versions. Any printers that accepts Freehand files is OK by me. They've also included a really nice section that's clear regarding how to format your files.

   In terms of the kind of cards that they can produce, it seems the cards themselves have got a base rate, which is as far as I can tell the cheapest on the market, ($30 for 300 double sided, full colour cards), but they also provide additional enhancements such as die cutting, UV Spot coating, rounded corners and hot stamping. The cost for these enhancements does not provide any problems whatsoever regarding price either. So you won’t break the bank if you want UV spot coating (which I actually do).

   My only complaint is that I think the final thickness of the card will be too thin. 230gsm or 250gsm doesn’t seem thick enough for me. I want at least 300 dammit :). They have a sample pack which came thorough before my cards came through. To be fair, at that price I was going to be doing ordering from them for sure. They arrived a couple of days ago and I’ve got to say that it’s just good to finally have them in my hands. When I contacted them regarding getting a different cardstock, this is what they replied with:

   At the stage, we ONLY can provide 2 type of papers which is 230gsm stock paper with matt lamination OR 250gsm super white card. We cannot provide a thicker paper at this time. Sorry about that.

   The only other qualm is effectively with the website which has some stupid popup system going on if you want to enter your account area, rather than keeping it within the site itself, which I found slightly odd and dated. Additionally even though they have a referer’s program, the fact that it isn’t as simple as putting in a link on my site that is distinctly my link (like say for Dreamhost) it becomes fiddly and I doubt I’ll be gaining much benefit from it, so they should really sort that out. But in the meantime if I’ve introduced you to this website, do a brother a favour and put me as your referrer (brokenkode is the username).

2. Face Media Group I actually was going to go with this company before I had the bright idea to actually do a little bit of research and see what the alternatives on offer where. I am very glad I didn't jump into these things without looking around first. Face Media Group is a company is based in the UK which has a direct impact on it's associated costs.

   The website is very slick and easy to navigate. It’s neither ugly or overbearing and does actually scream of a subdued quality. I’ve already received the sample pack and I can vouch for the quality, however the price point for this company is not exactly inviting. The price page is very simple to understand, £125 will get you 250 300gsm cards with UV spot coating. One additional disappointment is the fact that they don’t seem to offer die-cutting or foil stamping.

3. Ezdzns I'm pointing this website out because of the fact that they offer design services as well. They seem a tab bit pricey however if you're not all that great at doing your own designs (then your first contact should be me), failing that then give them a shot, although I'm not sure what the design entails, and how many iterations/changes you're allowed.
4. Pecal Media These guys do a range of stuff, including plastic cards, posters, flyers. They also provide design services and you can get a sample pack sent to you as well. It's a pretty rounded website, relatively intuative.
5. Graphic Disorder I thought these guys were interesting since they offer 1000 cards for $99 (you can keep the dollar). Included in the price is the design, the cards with spot UV and shipping to the continental US. That's not a bad deal. Not as great as Print100 but it's closer than the rest of the printers on this list.
6. Overnight Prints The only way I can describe this is the Kinko of online printers. Ironic since Kinko is a printer but what I'm trying to say here is that they're the sort of store that would look like Kinko if they opened in a store down the road. It SCREAMS generic but at least they seem to be fast and affordable.
7. Advansys These guys seem slightly corporate and generic as well, but if you're looking for that style and don't want the extra bells and whistles that are included in the rest of the packages, just something white with the information and a logo then these guys might be what you're looking for. Clean site, information is all there for you to get on with it.

Again, this isn’t the list to end all lists, this is just what I found on my search. I’d be seriously interested in knowning about different online printers that provide for business cards, postcards, flyers and just about any other printed media. So if you’ve got a good one up your sleeve, share and I’ll be sure to include it into the pdf. Which reminds me. This is a first pass at the pdf. I will be editing it, just slapped this together quickly because it’s a good tool I think to have the comparisons in front of you. Even though you don’t need to buy 1000 cards as a minimum, I’ve done that it’s possible to compare the prices correctly. A few of these places offer 1000 as a minimum.