Commercial Printing
in Colorado Springs
& Direct Mail
Business cards, brochures, postcards, letterhead, banners, and other printed materials produced to keep your brand consistent. APG handles commercial printing in Colorado Springs the same way we handle signs and wraps: one set of brand files, one team, and a piece that matches everything else you own.
Print that matches everything
else your business owns
Most businesses buy print from whoever is cheapest that week, and it shows. The card is one blue, the sign above the door is another, and the truck is a third. We already hold your brand files for your signs and vehicle wraps, so the printed pieces come off the same source of truth.
The piece people actually keep in a wallet
Business cards, letterhead, envelopes and note cards. A card gets handled, so the stock and the finish do as much work as the layout. Heavier cover stock, a soft touch or matte laminate, spot gloss on the logo, painted or foil edges when you want the card to be the thing somebody comments on.
Stocks, thicknesses and finishing options are covered on our business card printing page. If you have several people, we set up the card as a template so the next hire gets a card that matches instead of a near miss built by whoever had the file last.
Brochures, booklets and the one page leave behind
Tri-fold and bi-fold brochures, single page sell sheets, service menus, price lists, booklets and folders. Contractors and medical offices get the most out of these, because the piece keeps selling on a kitchen counter or a waiting room table long after the conversation ends.
More on formats, fold widths and mail-ready sizes on our brochure printing and direct mail page. Folding is a design decision, not an afterthought. A panel that reads out of order or a fold that lands through a headline is the most common thing we fix on files that arrive from elsewhere.
Postcards, EDDM and mailers that reach one neighborhood
Every Door Direct Mail puts a piece in every mailbox on a postal carrier route without a mailing list, which is why it works so well for service businesses that want one part of town rather than the whole city. Pick the routes around a job you just finished and the neighbors get the card that week.
The rules are strict and they are where most first campaigns go wrong. We build the artwork to qualify, place the required indicia, and handle the paperwork side so the drop is not rejected at the counter.
Large format for events, booths and job sites
Vinyl banners with hemmed edges and grommets, retractable banner stands, table throws, posters and foam board. Useful when you need something up this week, and the standard answer while a permanent sign works through permit review. Sized to the space rather than to a stock template, because a banner that has to be zip tied at an angle reads as an afterthought.
Forms, labels, menus and door hangers
Invoices and work orders, carbonless forms, product and equipment labels, menus, rack cards, door hangers, appointment reminders and event tickets. The unglamorous side of print, and the side that touches a customer most often. We keep the files on record so a reorder is a phone call rather than a rebuild from scratch.
What we print and how
each piece is usually specified
These are the formats and stocks that cover most commercial work. None of it is fixed. If your piece needs a size that is not on the list, that is a conversation, not a problem.
| Piece | Best when | Common sizes | Common finishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business cards | Every business, and the first thing people judge | 3.5 x 2 in | Matte or soft touch laminate, spot gloss, heavy cover stock |
| Brochures | You need to explain several services in one handout | 8.5 x 11 in tri-fold, 11 x 17 in bi-fold | Gloss or matte text stock, scored folds |
| Sell sheets | One product, one page, left behind after a meeting | 8.5 x 11 in | Cover or heavy text stock, single or double sided |
| Postcards & EDDM | You want one neighborhood, not the whole city | 6.25 x 9, 6.5 x 9, 8.5 x 11, 9 x 12 in | 14pt or heavier card stock, UV or matte coating |
| Letterhead & envelopes | Estimates, invoices and anything that leaves on paper | 8.5 x 11 in, #10 envelope | Uncoated text stock, printer safe |
| Banners & posters | Events, booths, grand openings, temporary messaging | 2 x 4, 3 x 6, 4 x 8 ft and custom | Hemmed edges, grommets, wind slits, stands |
Sizes and finishes here are the common options, not a catalog. Quantity is the biggest lever on cost, so tell us the number you actually need rather than the number that sounds round.
How commercial printing is priced
We publish typical ranges for signs and vehicle wraps because those projects fall into predictable bands. Print does not, so we quote it per job. Five things set the number.
- Quantity. The single biggest lever. Setup is a fixed cost spread across the run, so per piece cost falls hard as the count goes up.
- Size and stock. A heavier card or a larger flat costs more per sheet and can change how many pieces fit on a press sheet.
- Sides and color. Printing both sides is not double the price, but it is not free either.
- Finishing. Folding, scoring, laminating, die cutting, numbering and perforating each add a step after the ink is dry.
- Turnaround. Standard scheduling costs less than a rush, so tell us the real date rather than the safe one.
Send the piece, the quantity and the date. You get a written estimate, and nothing goes to production until you approve it.
Where your printing is actually produced
Some pieces are produced in house and others are produced with print partners our team has worked with for years. Quantity, stock, format and turnaround decide which route a job takes. We tell you plainly rather than pretending every press in the country sits behind our office.
What does not change is who you deal with. Our team writes the estimate, prepares the files, checks the proof and answers the phone, whichever press the job runs on.
Color is managed against your brand files. The same color specification that drives your signage and vehicle graphics drives the printed pieces, which is what keeps three vendors from producing three different blues.
Comparing estimates? Ask each provider what stock and finish they are quoting, and at what quantity. Two prices for a business card mean nothing until both name the same piece.
Which postcard sizes qualify
for EDDM, and which do not
Drawn to relative scale. The piece has to be taller than 6.125 inches or longer than 10.5 inches, stay within 12 by 15 inches, and weigh under 3.3 ounces. Postage is the same across qualifying sizes, so the larger card usually buys more attention for the same postage.
What happens after you send the file.
Piece, quantity, estimate
Tell us what the piece is, how many you need and when. We confirm the specification and send an estimate.
Design proof
Once the estimate is approved and the deposit is received, our team will begin the design and proofing process.
Prepress check
We check bleed, trim, resolution, fonts and color before anything is committed to a press.
Production
Printed and finished to the approved specification, in house or with a print partner, whichever fits the job.
Delivery or mail drop
Delivered, or picked up from our office by appointment. Mail campaigns go to the postal route on schedule.
Setting up files that print correctly
Build at final size with 0.125 inch of bleed on every edge. Keep text and logos at least 0.25 inch inside the trim. CMYK color, images at 300 dpi at final size, fonts outlined or embedded, and a press ready PDF.
If all you have is a logo and an idea, our design team builds the file. That is a normal starting point, not a problem.
Reorders and version control
We keep your approved files on record, so a reorder is a phone call and a card for a new hire is an edit rather than a rebuild. Nothing gets recreated from a photo of an old card, which is how details drift over a few years.
Change a phone number once and every piece that carries it gets updated from the same source.
Direct mail logistics
Route selection, piece size, indicia placement and bundling all have to line up before a drop is accepted. We build the artwork to the current USPS rules and prepare the paperwork with you.
Postage is paid to USPS and sits outside the print estimate, so budget the two separately.
The files behind your printing also drive our vehicle wraps and fleet graphics and our custom signs in Colorado Springs, so everything a customer sees was specified from one place.
Commercial printing in Colorado Springs: common questions
What does commercial printing cost in Colorado Springs?
Print is quoted per project rather than from a price list, because quantity changes the number more than anything else. The same postcard can cost four times as much per piece at 250 copies as it does at 5,000. Size, stock, how many sides print, finishing such as folding or scoring, and the turnaround you need all move the total. Send the piece, the quantity and the date you need it and we will send an estimate.
What file format should I send for printing?
A press ready PDF is best. Build the file at final size with 0.125 inch of bleed on every edge, keep text and logos at least 0.25 inch inside the trim, use CMYK color, place images at 300 dpi at final size, and either outline the fonts or embed them. If all you have is a logo and an idea, our design team can build the file.
Does APG print everything in house?
No. Some pieces are produced in house and others are produced with print partners we have worked with for years. Quantity, stock, format and turnaround decide which route a job takes, and we pick the one that gets you the right piece on the right date. You deal with our team either way.
Can you handle the mailing as well as the printing?
Yes, including Every Door Direct Mail. EDDM lets you mail every address on a chosen postal carrier route without a mailing list. The piece has to qualify as a USPS flat, which means it must be taller than 6.125 inches or longer than 10.5 inches, no larger than 12 by 15 inches, and under 3.3 ounces. A standard 4 by 6 postcard does not qualify. We build the artwork to those rules and include the required indicia.
Will my printed pieces match my signs and wraps?
That is the reason to buy them from one team. We work from the same brand files that drive your signage and vehicle graphics, so the color on the business card, the sign above the door and the truck in the parking lot are specified from one source rather than three.
Contractors reordering business cards and door hangers, medical and dental offices printing forms and appointment cards, restaurants printing menus and rack cards, real estate teams running postcard campaigns, and businesses opening a new location who need everything at once. That last one usually starts with branding and graphic design and ends with a sign and a wrapped van.
We print for businesses throughout Colorado Springs and El Paso County, including Falcon, Fountain, Manitou Springs, Security-Widefield, Woodland Park and the Tri-Lakes area. Our office is on Garden of the Gods Road in northwest Colorado Springs, by appointment only.
Pricing a vehicle instead? How much does a van wrap cost in Colorado Springs? More guides are in the APG blog.
Get a free quote on
your printing.
Tell us the piece, the quantity and the date you need it. We will come back with a real estimate. Once the estimate is approved and the deposit is received, our team will begin the design and proofing process.
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
Mon-Fri 8:30-5:00 · By appointment only