As marketing tools, brochures have never failed to register an impact on customers’ minds. They can be kept on store counters, handed out to spread the word about a firm, or even posted to potential customers. The need for brochures and their printing has led many printing services firms to concentrate solely on this market. Brochure printing has undergone a number of developments in recent years, with the advent and widespread use of the internet triggering the latest of these developments.
Previously, computers were rarely used in the brochure printing process, which took several days, working with film negatives or plate-making machines and needed multiple test prints, rounds of fine tuning etc. Designing too was limited to a few set patterns, and the printers carried out the designing task with the client having almost no say in this respect.
These days, the customer himself can do the whole designing on a computer, and the brochures can be created in a much shorter timeframe than they could be some years ago. Delivery of final prints in bulk in a single day is possible nowadays, thanks to improvements in technology.
It is important to remember that brochure printing involves not just the imprint of ink on paper, but design, content and formatting as well. The digitisation of the printing process has radically transformed these aspects, providing a plethora of alternatives, including higher quality full-colour printing, advanced and complicated layout options, and content-building packages.