Your custom catalogs should usually aimed for long-term use by people. It is not just a throw away item. It is a reference for people to browse through and be entertained by until they finally decide to buy your products.
That is why you need to invest in catalog printing which can prolong the life of your custom catalogs. You must not print catalogs that will only last a few days. You must make them last for months or even a year at least to get the most people convinced to buy your products.
In this small guide, we will share with you some five easy tips on how to prolong the life of your custom catalogs. Follow them well and see your color catalogs last for a significant amount of time.
1. Using high-grade paper material – The first thing that you need to do to prolong the life of your color catalogs is to use high-grade paper material. The life of a custom catalog of course is in its paper. Therefore, that paper must be very strong.
It must be able to endure physical stresses like folding, water exposure and dirt exposure. Some good paper types out there are thick with moisture and dirt resistance coatings that you can use. This may come at a price though, but it should be a good investment to apply them to make your catalogs last longer against those environmental effects.
2. Toughen up the cover - Moreover, besides improving the general paper stock. You can also try to really toughen up your color catalog pages. The cover is usually the most vulnerable part of the catalog to environmental effects. So it is a good idea to toughen that part up by using a thicker paper there than the inside pages.
You can try using 14 pt. paper or even thicker in the cover so that it can be as tough as you can make it to resist early deterioration. Hardened covers is actually a standard practice so do not worry, many catalog printers know how to do this.
3. Invest in long lasting inks – Also of course the text ink itself must also be enduring as well. This means that you have to invest in long lasting and high quality printer inks that do not smudge easily and can stick to paper almost permanently. Ask your printer to use such high quality inks in your catalogs, and have them add in those special coatings that make the inks gleam in the light while resisting moisture. Doing this should make your catalog images and text last long, suffering from no fading or deterioration whatsoever.
4. Use a classic layout style – Of course in terms of design, it is best to use a layout that is classic and never gets old. If your plan for your catalog is to last long, you must design your current layout and design in such a way that it will still be acceptable a year or so once you produce it. Popular design tastes change within months nowadays and one great design this year is something very ineffective the next year. So always, try to use a classic and functional layout for your catalogs so that it will not be considered old even for a long time.
5. Write descriptions with longevity in mind – Finally, in terms of your product descriptions and text content, also try to think ahead when it comes to its writing style. You must not allude too much to current issues and trends. These might not matter to people who will get to read and see the catalog in the future.
It is best to just use simple and functional words so that current people from now, and readers in the future will still understand what your catalog is saying no matter what happens. By doing this, your catalogs life can still be extended and you will lessen the chance of marking it as an old catalog.
Now you know how to prolong the life of your catalog both physically and in terms of its content. Just follow the concepts given. You should have no trouble making your custom catalogs last for a long time.
Katie Marcus writes about custom catalogs or catalog printing.
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