A guide to ordering print
Repeat orders: how do you keep the right file over time?
A menu, a placemat or a business card can come back for printing months after the first order. By then the price, the phone number or the design have already changed. A clear versioning process reduces the need to guess which file is right.
A name that explains what is in the file
Give the design a name you can find a year from now: the product type, the customer's name and its purpose. The version name can note a date or a significant change. Renaming should improve identification; it is not a professional approval of the content and does not in itself change the file.
Separate uploading from selecting
The last uploaded file is not necessarily the file approved for print. It may be a draft or a correction that is still being checked. Drapress distinguishes between the versions of a design and the version selected for orders. Check this marking before a repeat order and decide who, at the customer or at the print shop, is authorized to approve a change.
Check the details that change
Before another order, check prices, phone numbers, addresses, dates and names. If the product or the specification has changed, ask the print shop to check the file's suitability again. A design that is right for a small flyer is not necessarily ready automatically for a product in a different size.
Every order gets a defined version
An order should point to the version used for it, not to a general name whose content can change later. On Drapress, an order from a saved design pins the version selected at the time of ordering. That way the team can check what was ordered even after more versions have been uploaded.
Start with one customer
The print shop can set up a product, add a design and choose the ordering version, and then invite the customer to the portal. The customer will see the designs set up for them and can order from them. It is worth placing one controlled order first, checking that the file and the quantity are correct, and then extending the process to more customers.
The suitability of the material, the file and the delivery is settled with the print shop according to the job.
