When you place a large order of print to paper products such as brochures, posters, business cards, postcards or catalogs, you’re trusting a professional printer to put high-quality printing equipment to good use for your marketing goals. Because so many independent print houses and online printers have cropped up over the last several years, it can be stressful to know which business to trust for quality, color consistency and error-free production.
One way you can avoid fretting while you wait for your final prints is by selecting your print professional wisely, but how can you know you’re making the right choice?
When consistent quality is a must for your business, as it is for most businesses, you may want to find out whether the printers on your list have a G7 Master Printer certification.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- What G7 certification means
- What benefits G7 means for your project
- How to find out which printers have it
- Which factors aren’t covered under G7 certification
Once you know these facts, you’ll be better positioned to decide whether this particular certification matters for your project so that you can confidently move forward with your ordering and purchasing decision.
What Does a G7 Master Printer Certification Mean, Exactly?
Print houses who want this industry-leading certification must request an audit performed by the certifying company, ID Alliance.
Before administering the certification, experts from ID Alliance perform a thorough audit on prepress procedures, equipment capabilities, print results, color cohesion and all factors that influence whether the results of each print job are consistent in color and quality from beginning to end of the run.
In essence, when a business has acquired and maintained G7 Master Printer certification, they’re guaranteed to deliver exceptional quality in their printed work. Their equipment and expertise are proven to meet a strict industry standard focused on the final printed product.
While you may not know whether you can fully rely on consistent color and quality from every print house out there, you can know for sure when your printer is a G7 printer.
How Can You Find out If a Printer Has G7 Master Printer Certification Before Working With Them?
The bottom line: Ask. If you’re working directly with the printer for your project, find out from your prospective customer service representative or account manager whether the business has this certification.
The same advice goes for work with print brokers, also known as print management companies. The difference here is that you can request to work exclusively with a G7-certified printer, and your representative will be able to narrow their vendor selection down by that specification.
If you’re wondering about which G7 Master Printers we rely on at Integra or how we integrate these certifications into our selection process, feel free to reach out below to learn more.
What G7 Certification Does Not Mean for Your Print Marketing
While G7 certification is a reliable, trustworthy verification of a print company’s hard-skill capabilities and equipment readiness, it’s not a catch-all for the characteristics you might be seeking in your printer. You can rest assured when you work with a G7 Master Printer that every single printed piece will be handled with extremely tight tolerances and low margins of error.
That information won’t, however, help you determine much about their:
- Prices: You might think G7 certification immediately means higher prices, but that’s simply not the case. The prices of each printer will still vary based on the market, their location and their own valuation of the services they provide. You could ask two separate G7 Master Printers what they charge for the exact same project, and you may or may not get drastically different answers.
- Timeline management: ID Alliance does not verify anything to do with a business’s timeline management when they perform G7 audits and certifications. If you’re looking for swift service or want to know you can rely on a company’s estimated delivery date, you’ll need to verify these standards through other means.
- Customer service: With a G7 Master Printer, you may find yourself needing customer service less often. Afterall, you shouldn’t need to call in requesting changes to your work post-production unless you missed something in the proofing stage of your print project’s timeline. However, if you do need to contact customer service to discuss your timeline, pricing or questions about your work, G7 certification will mean nothing for their person-to-person customer engagement. Do your due diligence before making any commitments.
- Off-paper prints and impressions: Finally, G7 certification pertains to print on paper capabilities. If you’d like to achieve brand cohesion and easy coordination by using a printer who can manage other print-related work, such as promotional products or signage, you’ll need to check in to find out if the printer handles anything outside of ink to paper.
You can manage these other factors in a few different ways to make sure the entirety of your print experience is seamless and to your standards.
How to Ensure Great Service and Selection Along With G7 Certification
Several steps can help you safeguard the other elements of your work to match the cutting-edge print and color quality a G7 printer offers.
First, ask directly about each printer’s certification status, and follow up by learning about their company culture, values and additional capabilities.
Next, check online reviews and testimonials to find out if these other critical business tenets are up to par, directly from customers who have worked with the printers in question.
Finally, to sidestep this research process altogether, consider working with a print broker who already has established relationships with a wide range of vendors. You can let a print management expert know that you prefer a G7-certified print professional, then voice your preferences on pricing and timeline while you’re at it.
A print broker will act as your single point of contact for print, coordinating all elements of the project for you, so you’ll just need to ensure top-notch customer service on their end to know you can dodge the headache of bad service. Furthermore, most well-rounded print brokers can manage your signage, promotional items, mailing and branded apparel as well, so you won’t need to concern yourself with available capabilities.
Should You Move Forward With a G7 Master Printer?
Ultimately, the decision is yours. But hopefully, you’ve learned a bit about what this certification could mean for your project, and what it doesn’t guarantee. Another important note to keep in mind is that G7 certification is entirely optional and does cost money, so many high-quality print houses choose not to opt in. Working with a non-certified entity does not necessarily mean your color or print quality will suffer.
If you're just getting started with your print project and began by checking into quality printers, your next big step may be to start thinking about paper types and which one makes the most sense for your task. Your printer can also help you sort out the details and specs, but it never hurts to know your options ahead of time.
Now that you know about G7 Master Printers, you may be curious what it's like to work with a print broker like Integra Graphics Synergy who can coordinate the details for you and ensure your work gets into the hands of a fully certified printer. To learn more about what it's like to work with us in this capacity, read our blog below!
