Complaint about letterheads

[jricart]

Ask them to use a Inkjet instead of a laser and problem solved!

JRT

[david m. baker]

I would just avoid printing letterhead digitally altogether. Another way to approach the same customer might be to suggest your shop run the composite letters--I'm sure your click rate is the same whether your running a letterhead or an actual letter, no? A fillable PDF version of the letterhead might also do the trick--client enters the live copy into a textbox set up in the PDF version of the letterhead, saves it as a one-off, and sends you the print-ready PDF. Easy, breezy, beautiful.

Short story long, even though there are workarounds, for all the caveats the other folks have mentioned, I think it would be better to sell the client on a more lasting, effective solution.

Cheers,
-d-

[alu]

You're suggesting they give up the flexibility of printing on their $100 printer sitting right next to their monitor and send you a file to print? yowzers...

Digital letterhead, although not a huge revenue stream, is still a welcome order at my shop!

[david m. baker]

You're suggesting they give up the flexibility of printing on their $100 printer sitting right next to their monitor and send you a file to print? yowzers...

Digital letterhead, although not a huge revenue stream, is still a welcome order at my shop!

No, what I'm suggesting is that I'd much rather educate a client about a POD solution (and offer a POD solution) than sell them a product that will very likely damage or destroy their local device. Once you have offset on the rollers and fuser of a laser printer, you're pretty much looking at buying a new one. So, what's better? I'm not sure it's worth sending digital letterhead out of your shop if you cannot absolutely GUARANTEE that it won't offset on your end-user's local device. The fillable PDF/POD solution would help your client bridge the gap between those short, one-off runs of 1-10 letters and more robust runs that would require a print shop. So, really, if you're interested in selling a solution instead of a prodcut, you would do well to explore the alternatives to supplying a digital letterhead. If you're interested in something that is "not a huge revenue stream" but could and very likely will damage your client's laser printer, then by all means, have at it.

Cheers,
-d-

[alu]

hey that all sounds really great!

but we're talking about people who purchase 500 letterhead or under (otherwise it makes sense to go to press anyways) since they, like most offices, write letters at various times in the day and want to be able to send them out immediately.

to be fair, we do warn our customers and give them sample to run through their laser units.. They are usually happy to test and if it works, it works.

And in my experience the offsetting does not completely ruin the printer, it disappear shortly, but I am not claiming that that's the case with every unit out there.

[david m. baker]

I understand what you're saying, Alu, and I don't mean to be snarky. What I am tyrying to get to is that, as print continues to change and we need to be more adaptable, it pays to think of selling solutions rather than products. That said, if you give your clients all the caveats and warnings, and they're good with that, then sure! Why turn away money from your shop?!? I have had some very bad experiences with toner offset, so I guess once bitten, twice shy!

Cheers,
-d-