Adding Up the Costs of Magazine Printing

One of the greatest hurdles to launching your own magazine is the cost of printing. Many journalists and editors are taking to the web for magazine layouts, cutting out that cost altogether, but there is something about the feel of glossy pages that just can't be replicated online. For purists who simply must have a traditional magazine, here is a breakdown of the decisions that affect your printing costs, and how you can save major money.

Paper Quality

The paper you choose for printing has a huge affect on your costs. There are three choices you make for your paper- the weight, grade, and stock.

• Paper weight refers to the thickness of the paper, and ranges from 38-100 for text pages and 60-140 for covers. Thicker paper is more durable and professional, but is also significantly more expensive.
• Paper grade measures the "whiteness" of the paper, and ranges from 1 to 5 (1 being the whitest). Most magazines are printed on paper grade 3, but you can save by going down to 4 or 5.
• Paper stock can be glossy, dull, or matte. Magazines tend to choose glossy paper, but at a significant expense. 

There are also coatings you can use to finish the publication which affect the paper quality. Gloss UV and Matte UV provide different finishes as well as protection from fading. Varnish is a slightly less glossy finish that can save you a bit, although pages are more likely to fade than when finished with Gloss UV.

Printer

Choosing the right printer can be the biggest cost savings of all. Some printers offer you a low cost but cut corners on quality, while others can save you money in other ways. Talk to your printer and see samples before deciding. Modern Litho is a great example of a publisher that works with small magazines to print affordably.

Bindings

The typical magazine-style binding is perfect-bound, which creates a square edge on the side of the magazine. Other bindings include saddle-bound (stapled) and spiral-bound, which can save you some money as compared to perfect-bound.

Trim Size

Trim size refers to the finished size of the magazine. Larger paper obviously costs more money than standard size, but smaller is not always cheaper. Be sure to choose standard sizes that are regularly available, because an irregular size may require special ordering or additional cutting costs.

Advertising

The advertisers that you get are the most significant way to offset printing costs. Remember that cutting corners on things like paper quality may affect the advertisers you get, so be sure to appeal to advertisers and readers at the same time as you save money. This article helps to find advertisers for a first time printing.