Pros and Cons of Doing Your Own Large Format Printing

What is large format printing?

Large format printing is a type of printing that is used when print materials are too large to be printed on standard sizes of commercial printing presses. Other terms that are used to describe large format printing are wide-format printing or grand-format printing. This printing requires special equipment that’s able to accommodate the large size print dimensions. While there are many different materials produced using large format printing, here are a few of the more popular examples:

•        Store displays
•        Billboards
•        Banners
•        Promotional signs
•        Large maps, diagrams, and charts

When you must decide between having large format printing done professionally or buying the necessary equipment to do it yourself, it can be difficult to choose which option is better as there are pros and cons to each choice.

Professional large format printing

There are a wide variety of professional printing companies out there that all specialize in something different in order to meet your needs. Due to this large number of companies, it’s important to conduct your own research to find out which company will best meet your needs for printing.

When choosing to have a professional do the work of large format printing for you, you can rest assured the job will be done properly as they are professionals in the field. In most cases, these companies use very high quality printing equipment that creates prints that are built to last – not just for a couple weeks. On the down side, you might need a print in a rush and the company may not be able to accommodate you as they work on many different projects, or a rush order might cost an exorbitant amount of money. Also, in general, professional large format printing can turn out to be quite costly depending on the print you need and the time it takes them to produce it.

Do it yourself

Businesses are always looking for different ways to save money and cut their costs in order to maximize revenue, so purchasing the necessary printing equipment and materials to do your own large format printing could be a great alternative to professional printing. It’s important that when doing this yourself that you start out with a plan. You should have all necessary materials purchased before beginning the print process which includes everything from the printer itself to the specific type of material you would like to print on.

This can serve as a great piece of advertisement for your business that can help differentiate from competitors. Also, using your own time to create the large format printing can be cheaper than going to a professional if you plan on doing printing on a regular basis. On the other hand, large format printing can be tricky to get right, particularly if you or your staff don’t have much experience with printing equipment. There are a lot of different inks and dyes that are required in order to produce your desired material. This can pose a challenge if you don’t have just one of the necessary components and end up ruining the whole print.

There are many pros and cons that come along with getting large format printing done professionally or deciding to produce it on your own. You’ll want to weigh your options carefully to make the right decision, or in some case, both options could serve as a good fit.