Calendars ~ Bulk

Montec

Anyone know where a person can get bulk calendars printed for a reasonable price? Like 100 or more?

I would not expect the quality like MyCanvas provides but something I could give clients as a promotional item in the new year. I used MyCanvas to create a custom calendar for a pre-school that I have been photographing for years and it made them cry:cry. I just cannot afford the 3K it would cost for 100 of them.

Even Wal-Mart calendars are in the $20 range...is there any service out there that prints them for less? Seems like a perfect advertising medium for photographers but very very costly.

Ann McRae

This year at my day job, I ran a themed photo contest and then used the winning photos to make a calendar that is being given to employees and customers. We used a local business printer to do the printing. (Capitol Color Press in Edmonton). I used a calendar template that was free to download and will see about finding the link. I did all layout in PS.

The print labs pricing was $8 each as we ordered 500 (and they were such a hit that the CEO asked us to run a second 500). But I believe that for runs of about 100 or so the prices were pretty good - like $12 or so. I considered using them to do a large run as well, but just didn't make time for it.

Turn around time was 1 week, from giving the go ahead after proofing. Print quality was excellent. I was impressed as they used pdf files to print from!

HTH
ann

Montec wrote:

Anyone know where a person can get bulk calendars printed for a reasonable price? Like 100 or more?

I would not expect the quality like MyCanvas provides but something I could give clients as a promotional item in the new year. I used MyCanvas to create a custom calendar for a pre-school that I have been photographing for years and it made them cry:cry. I just cannot afford the 3K it would cost for 100 of them.

Even Wal-Mart calendars are in the $20 range...is there any service out there that prints them for less? Seems like a perfect advertising medium for photographers but very very costly.

Montec

Thanks for the info...still pricey though eh?

Ann McRae

Montec wrote:

Thanks for the info...still pricey though eh?

Hmmm, well I didn't think so - they are 28 pages full color print, bound, good quality. Not $1 give aways, but if you are advertising your business you would like them to be nice.

Templates were from here.

Montec

Ann McRae wrote:

Hmmm, well I didn't think so - they are 28 pages full color print, bound, good quality. Not $1 give aways, but if you are advertising your business you would like them to be nice.

Templates were from here.

I guess I was thinking about the final cost for 100. A bit out of my advertising budget.

I am going to print 24x36 poster calendars with an image that I took for the client on it and print them on my Epson 7880. The cost will be about $5 per and quality is better than a lab can produce.

I did this last year on a smaller scale and they loved them. I just finished one for a trucking company and they look really good on glossy paper.

oceanthrsty

Ann McRae wrote:

Hmmm, well I didn't think so - they are 28 pages full color print, bound, good quality. Not $1 give aways, but if you are advertising your business you would like them to be nice.

Templates were from here.

Ann,

Just a question regarding sending these to print. I haven't worked much with printers other then getting photos done. But they were able to take your PSD files and get them laid out for you so they printed front and back, etc.

Or do I have to bring this all into a page layout program when I'm done?

Thanks!

Ann McRae

If I remember correctly, we turned the psd files into pdfs.

yep, I am almost certain that is what we did.

ann

oceanthrsty wrote:

Ann,

Just a question regarding sending these to print. I haven't worked much with printers other then getting photos done. But they were able to take your PSD files and get them laid out for you so they printed front and back, etc.

Or do I have to bring this all into a page layout program when I'm done?

Thanks!

Zingo

Bulk calendars
Yes, I've used www.top-gifts.co.uk for personalised calendars. They produced a great set of 500 personalised bulk calendars for me for fundraising purposes.

Here is the link:

A4 Personalised Photo Calendars
A3 Personalised Photo Calendars

They offer large discounts the more calendars you buy, and they design the calendar for you for free.

Cheers

Zingo

JimKarczewski

try 4over.com ?? Always great printing at cheap prices.. Haven't priced calendars though.

VanishingAmerica

Since SM doesn't offer the ability to sell calendars, and the quality of the MyCanvas calendars are exactly the same as you would get from the corner drugstore's photo lab, I would just go to the photo lab. They are the same price as the MyCanvas calendars that SM offers, but you don't have to buy in bulk. That's how the printing business is. Digital and press Printers offer discounts for bulk purchases, on-demand printers don't.

Another option is Lulu.com. You can actually design a calendar and sell it online through your Lulu.com "storefront". I'm currently having issues with their software not linking up to my Smugmug account (like they say it should), but that might just be an isolated incident. If you design and sell your calendars or books through your personal Lulu.com storefront, you can simply share the link with your customers and they can order their calendars online with a couple of easy clicks. Lulu.com handles the order, the shipping and the payments. Then they mail you a check. It's a very easy way to go... when it works.

By the way, why does SmugMug offer the option to create something that they won't allow us to sell? They do the same thing with books. Seems strange to me.

MomaZunk

http://www.createphotocalendars.com

$9.95 each for 100 calendars

jarboedoggart

Montec wrote: »

Anyone know where a person can get bulk calendars printed for a reasonable price? Like 100 or more?

I would not expect the quality like MyCanvas provides but something I could give clients as a promotional item in the new year. I used MyCanvas to create a custom calendar for a pre-school that I have been photographing for years and it made them cry:cry. I just cannot afford the 3K it would cost for 100 of them.

Even Wal-Mart calendars are in the $20 range...is there any service out there that prints them for less? Seems like a perfect advertising medium for photographers but very very costly.

I have had cheap calenders printed from our local trade school for like $5 each. May want to check that out if you have something like that near you.