In this age of ever competitive marketing collateral, having personalized and unique materials is an advantage. Having marketing materials that stands out and resembles your company identity perfectly is a great first step into building a successful business. Because of this, you should consider several custom printing options that you can take advantage of.

These are the most basic of the custom printing options that you can use and avail of that are being offered by printing companies today:

• Variable printing – variable printing is one of the most recent and most complicated of the services offered by printing companies. It is a digital printing method that enables you to mass produce your custom prints. it is sub divided into three categories depending on the design elements that are variable.

o On-demand short-run variable printing service – short run printing is considered as variable printing since you are printing copies of a certain design for a particular target niche. And since this targeted niche is relatively small, you need to print different prints for different niches. Short run prints allows you to do this with out any problems.

o Selectable variable printing service – selectable variable printing allows you to specify elements in the design that you want to be retained and other elements that you want to be altered. An example is when you are printing tickets and you want to vary the control numbers. The design of the tickets remains the same but the numbers for every copy are different. Another example would be in your direct marketing campaign where in your postcards or brochures have the same design but different name and address specified in front.

o Full variable printing service – full variable printing employs the use of top of the line computer technology and the use of programming language in order to create an algorithm that let's a computer create and print a random design for you. a specific algorithm will tell the computer which elements to retain and which elements to keep. This type of variable printing allows you to have different prints for every copy.

• Custom size – if you want to stand out, then do not print in standard sizes. Today's printing technology allows you to create designs no matter how big or small. You can specify the exact dimensions of your prints and they will be printed with no problems at all.

• Different substrate – you are no longer limited to paper as your only substrate. Vinyl, artist canvass, cloth, textiles and static cling pieces are materials that you should explore and use.

• Die cutting – through die cutting services, you can make your prints into any shape or form depending on the need of your marketing strategy. You can also opt to have your prints with slits and pouches which is perfect as business card holders.

• Custom inks – there are also a variety of custom inks that you can order. Metallic inks and pearl ink can be specially ordered and used in your print projects. Pantone colors are also available if you have a specific color that you want and do not mind the extra cost.

Custom printing is an ideal service especially if you want unique set of materials that you can use for various requirements. It also helps in creating an effective branding solution for businesses since it helps them to stand out from the rest of the competition.