Apr. 06, 2023
For many printed matter design service providers in the packaging industry, the general way to solve the problem of printed matter quotations is to directly inquire with the printing and packaging manufacturers. Although it is very convenient, since various types of printed matter involve many details, accurate quotations need to be combined with more early stages work. Only by clarifying the idea of multi-party pricing through RX packaging can we have a more comprehensive understanding of packaging and printing quotations.
The price of printed matter mainly includes the following aspects
Pre-press costs (design + picture scanning + photo shooting + digital samples + film output + pre-press proofing); printing costs (paper costs + start-up printing costs + subsequent process costs); packaging and transportation, taxes or other costs, etc.; service costs and a reasonable profit.
Prepress cost
Design fee: Due to the differences in regions, companies providing services, designers’ individual levels, and the difficulty of printing design and production, there is no fixed standard for design fees, and the market price is charged at 300~1000 yuan per page. For example, to make a book with 48 pages For a 16-page product catalog, the creative design fee can be charged at 500 yuan/page. If the brochure has 480 pages, it would be more appropriate to reduce it to 300 yuan/page, as long as both parties can accept it. If the number of pages is small, the charge will be increased appropriately. The reason is the same as the unit price will be high if the number of printed materials is small.
Image scanning: In the graphic output center, the image drum scanning fee is generally calculated according to the size of the image file. The common standard is about 0.8~1.20 yuan/megabyte. The file size and accuracy of image scanning need to be based on the actual printed matter. Such as A3 format full-page picture printing, about 25~30 megabytes can meet the printing accuracy requirements.
Photo shooting: divided into different categories. If it is a simple product indoor shooting, each photo is about 300 yuan, and the digital shooting should be appropriately reduced. Creative design, more complicated scenes, etc. will cost 2,000-10,000 yuan per picture, and the cost of hiring a model will be calculated separately. Apply for the right to use from a regular picture company, and the price of each picture will be 1,000-6,000 yuan per picture. According to different usage requirements, some prices are even higher.
Digital sample draft: print out the design draft for customers to browse and audit. Many digital express printing companies can distribute it well, and the billing is 3.0~5.0 yuan per page (big 16 single-sided).
Film production: large 16-cut monochrome film: 10 yuan, 4-color film: 20 yuan, if the spot color or die-cut version is calculated according to the monochrome output.
Pre-press proofing: large 16K four-color sample: 22 yuan/page, spot color proofing: 80/page.
Printing cost (paper cost + start-up printing cost + subsequent process cost + packaging and transportation cost)
Paper cost: The usual calculation formula for the quantity and cost of paper used for printing: full-open area (square meter) × gram weight (converted to kilograms) × ton price ÷ 1000 (price per kilogram) × number of prints ÷ number of sheets × 1.1 ( 10% paper loss) = paper cost.
Explanation (①Full open area: the length times the width of the paper, such as Dadu paper 889mm×1194mm, the area is 1.062m. ② Gram weight: The weight of paper per square meter is called gram weight. ③ Ton price: Paper with a weight of 1 ton Price. ④ Printing quantity: The quantity of printed matter. ⑤ Format: How many copies of finished products are printed on one full-size paper. For example, 16-fold means that one full-size paper can print 16 pages of finished product size. ⑥ Loss: Ink and quality control need to be adjusted during the printing process Although, there will be some paper damage, but not more than 10%.
Give an example to illustrate the calculation process of paper cost: print 10,000 sheets of 16K, use 157 grams of domestic sub-powder paper, and the price of paper is 8,000 yuan per ton, then calculate the total cost of paper required for this batch of printed products. The applied formula can be calculated as follows: 0.889×1.194 (large paper area)×0.157 (paper gram)×8 (paper ton price converted to yuan/kg)×10000 (prints) ÷ 16 (number of sheets)×1.1 ( 10% loss) = 917 (yuan).
The calculation of the cost of special paper is relatively simple, because the price is usually in sheets. The easiest way is to divide by the number and add 10% loss to calculate the total cost of special paper. If other special materials are used, the calculation method is similar. Due to the difference in the difficulty of the production process, it may be necessary to pay attention to the possible difference in loss.
Start-up fee: also called start-up fee, refers to the basic cost required by the printing supplier to start printing, which includes expenses such as electricity, workers, printing, and imposition. The start-up fees for the following models are roughly as follows:
The minimum printing fee for full-open offset printing machine: 1200~1500 yuan for printing less than 5 reams of paper.
Printing fee for folio offset printing machine: 800~900 yuan for printing less than 3 pages.
Printing fee for four offset printing machines: 600~700 yuan for printing less than 1 paper.
Printing fee: refers to the direct cost required by the printing supplier to undertake the production of printed matter, usually priced according to the color order, the formula is as follows: number of prints ÷ number of sheets ÷ 500 sheets (1 paper quantity is 500 full sheets) × printing color price × color number = printing fee. For example, 10,000 large 16K (210mmx285mm), 1579/m2 coated paper double-sided four-color (4C+4) printing, the color price is 25 yuan, how much is the printing fee? According to the above formula, it can be calculated like this: 10000÷16÷500 × 25 yuan × 4 colors × 2 sides = 250 yuan.
(Note: When the printing quantity is small, the color order pricing printing fee cannot reach the initial printing fee, and the minimum printing fee will be used for calculation. Of course, when the printing quantity is large, the color order pricing is not static, and a more reasonable price can be discussed with the printing supplier. pricing method)
printing art. For the convenience of description, we collectively refer to other post-printing processes other than four-color printing as printing processes. Pasting, die-cutting, etc., some are directly completed in the printing process, and some processes are completed in the post-printing process. For details, please refer to the soft article in the packaging encyclopedia column of the Lijia Packaging website: "What are the printing processes for color box production?".
Packing, shipping, tax or other charges
Packing and shipping charges. The packaging mentioned here refers to the outer packaging of the printed product, and its cost depends on different situations. In terms of transportation, if the customer has no special requirements, basically the national printing industry rule is free door-to-door delivery. If it is delivered in a different place, some transportation fees will be added appropriately.
other fee. From design to finished product, printed matter is often an iterative process, which requires enough patience and care. Due to customer requirements exceeding the contract regulations, modification or duplication of labor parts must be recorded in detail, and the supplementary costs incurred due to this must be reported to the customer in a timely manner. .In this way, we can avoid disputes and unnecessary losses in the execution of the contract, and safeguard our own interests.
Other costs also include the cost of selecting special paper and special materials. Since special paper is more and more widely used in print media design, it has now been generally recognized by high-end customers and avant-garde designers. Therefore, in many cases, this Expenses are unavoidable, so we should pay attention to two points. First, after the paper style is determined, if you buy it yourself from a paper dealer, you need to increase the loss by 5%-10%. Printer fee.
Service fees and reasonable profits
For design service providers, the design and production of printed matter is a high risk, because if there are procedural omissions and technical mistakes, even if they are very small, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, it is necessary to add an appropriate service fee in the quotation as a guarantee of due benefits and risks. This part of the fee can be billed at 20%-50% of the total cost budget depending on the difficulty of the product.
Therefore, the quotation of packaging and printing is also a relatively cumbersome process, which requires frequent communication and confirmation in the early stage in order to give customers an accurate quotation.
