Where is a good and economical place to get custom printing done? And by custom printing...I'm specifically a job needing a custom die cut. I've always been happy with the high quality and amazing pricing with GotPrint.com and I thought I saw in the past that they do custom die cut jobs but it seems now they do not. Any suggestions/leads of companies without breaking the bank?

Thanks!

Scott,

Gotprint doesn't do custom die cutting unless you have a brokers account.
They do some pre designed type of cuts.

Scott,

I provide both design and printing services to my clients. Shoot me what you're looking to have done and I'll get you a quote. I have a trade account with several printers.

-Eaton

Scott: It really depends on what type of die cut you are talking about and the quantity of the run. <BR> <BR>Kyle

Any suggestions on where to ask first Kyle?

I've had great success with printingforless.com. I use them for all my high-end printing work.

Thanks for the referral!

Online printers (some) can do diecuts but to keep cost down, they generally will do standardized diecuts. This means shapes and dies already set up in their systems. If you want a custom one done, that is pricey and many online digital shops will not handle that.

Kyle

I need a custom die cut done. It's for product wrap-around packaging (product specific, non-standard shape) rather than a mailer so I can afford to pay more than standard discount print shop pricing. I didn't know if anyone here found a good company with good pricing.

Sorry, I had meant to include this link before. http://www.printingforless.com/Custom-Printing.html

I like them because:

they've been able to handle whatever crazy requests I've thrown at them (Custom die cuts, custom embossing, custom foil stamps etc)
GREAT customer service! You get paired up with a team of 3-4 people and usually speak to the same person every time you call and they greet you by name
Great quality - digital printing is cheaper, but can't match offset printing in quality. And they actually QC every batch. I once sent in an odd design and they found it picked up fingerprints badly so they offered to send me the current batch at no cost while they changed the method for producing the cards (which required making new plates for the spot coating)

If doing what we call a "flood' of color, make sure you ask for avarnish to be printed over those areas. A popular varnish type is Acqueos (sp) coating. It allows for no smudging during the drying process and less likely for any fingerprints to get on it. If you are running the entire job CMYK, you have less issues with flodding of color due to the usage of the 4 color process. Just an FYI.

In the usage of custom die-cits. you weill need to pay first for the custom die to be done and then have them run a test of the die to you for approval. Only once you get approval should they do the run. You will also want to ask about the rights to the die as well.

Kyle

Good advice! That was my mistake. I asked for matt stock, I did a flood of a particular pantone color and then a spot varnish (glossy) where the card was embossed. They redid the job on glossy stock, with a matte aqueous coating to achieve the same effect but with less chance of fingerprints getting picked up.