When it comes to online printing, it is important to control your own printing options. While an online printer may help you with some of these choices, you will not truly get what you need if you do not decide on these options specifically yourself. So always take responsibility and decide your own options in online printing. If you feel that you can't make these decisions yet, here are a few of my tips to get you started.

Looking for an online printer with the correct options – The first step usually is to look for the right online printer. More specifically you need the correct printer with the correct printing options. Of course, not all online printers may be able to do what you want. Not all of them use offset printers or digital printers, or offer different binding, folding techniques as well as paper stocks. So try to list down the options that you want and then find the online printers that offer such services.

The options you should focus on – If you are unsure what specific printing options you should focus on, here is a quick list of the major items you should usually focus on.

1. Dimensions – The dimensions of your prints of course usually follow a few standard defaults commonly in use. Some printers offer less or more of these standard printing dimensions depending on the size of their printer. So make sure you check the online printer if they can print in your size. This is usually very crucial if you plan on printing large things such as large color posters.

2. Printing type – Now, you should also be particular with your printing type. With this I mean off-set printing or digital printing. Offset printing usually offers the best and clearest prints while digital printing is the faster but less reliable method. So depending on your preferences, you might want to use one or the other as your printing options.

3. Paper types – The paper used in your prints should also be something you should look out for in your printing options. There is more than just one kind of paper, and there are different thicknesses as well as coating types in printing paper options. For example, you might need thicker types of paper for your brochures and catalogs, while flyers can make do with thin ones. Also, your posters may benefit from coated glossy paper that has water resistance. Try to look for these options in your online printer and specify to them exactly what type of paper that you want.

4. Color printing – You should also have an option in terms of the type of color printing. Of course, full color printing is the best option available, requiring the four color CMYK printing process. However, there are other types of color printing such as spot color printing where you only use a select number of pure inks. This is of course cheaper, but you will be limited to specific colors and no full color photographs.

5. Extra services – It is also important to keep an eye out for extra services. For example, you might need to add perforations, holes, folds and other types of extra services after the actual printing of your materials. See if your online printer offers these for free with the printing, or if they can do it at all. Otherwise, you might want to opt for another firm that offers the extra service.

6. Delivery services – Finally, you should try to look out for online printers that offer extensive delivery services. See if they can print and deliver in specified times so that you can schedule your online printing appropriately. If they can be pretty specific about delivery times and dates, then they might be a good online printer indeed.

Great! So those are the options that you should focus on and control in online printing. Remember to specify these always in printing online.