Desktop Publishing: Pros and Cons

On your computer, you probably have software that came pre-packaged with templates and tools for creating all sorts of printed materials for your business, like business cards, brochures, newsletters and much more. The widespread availability of this software is a major change from even ten years ago. You used to have to go to a professional printer to get any marketing materials printed, but now you can just turn on your computer. However, desktop publishing software isn't entirely equivalent to working with a professional printer. There are many pros and cons to both options.

Cost

For many small businesses, it can actually be cheaper to work with a professional printer on certain projects. While running off a page of business cards is fairly inexpensive, if you need more than twenty cards, the cost of using your office printer can be quite high. Printer ink is not cheap, nor is high quality paper - but a professional printer buys both ink and paper in bulk, bringing down the cost significantly. The same holds true of any big print job, like brochures.

On the other hand, if you only need a handful of copies - perhaps you do most of your business online or you're only creating a brochure for a specific set of clients - it can be cheaper to run off your own print jobs. Furthermore, if you don't go through copies of your project very quickly, you run the risk of throwing away quite a few if you need to change details on the fly, like an address or a price.

Quality

If you take a look at business cards from a variety of companies, you can usually pick out the ones printed in-house. Even when you don't have the easy giveaway of the fuzzy edges of cards printed on perforated paper, details like the quality of the ink can indicate where the card was created. And unless you have a graphic designer on staff, you're likely to be dependent on the templates available in your software (and many of the popular ones are easily recognizable).

However, inexpensive designs are abundantly available online. This allows you to create eye-catching brochures or other marketing materials easily. If you're willing to make an upfront investment for a higher-quality printer, and possibly purchase a paper cutter, you can often bring the quality of your desktop publishing projects up considerably. This approach is more time-consuming, but if you have the time available, it can be worthwhile.

Time

For many small businesses, time can be a big factor. If you don't have a staff member who can handle the time-consuming aspects associated with printing projects (stapling, cutting, folding, stuffing envelopes), it can be practical to leave it to a printing company that has machinery to handle such tasks efficiently. Most printers can also handle big print jobs in a fraction of the time necessary for an office-grade printer to complete them.

There is a major benefit of having desktop publishing software, though: If you need a copy quickly, you can print it out without ever leaving the office. There's no need to take a small project to a printer when you can complete it in the same amount of time it would take you to drive to the print shop.