You need 200 copies tomorrow and 20,000 next week
A large print run rarely has one deadline. The product launch needs 200 brochures for the press event on Thursday; the other 19,800 go to the sales team and the distributors over the following fortnight. The annual report has to be in the hands of the board and the auditors on Monday, and in the post to shareholders by the end of the month. The conference programme needs 50 copies for the organising committee's final check before the remaining 3,000 are printed at all.
Ordering the whole run as a rush job to hit the first date is the expensive way to handle this. Ordering it as a normal job and missing the first date is the painful way. The right way is a phased delivery, and it is a standard arrangement that print shops will set up if asked. This guide covers how to structure it, what it costs, and the places it goes wrong.
Three ways to phase a run
Advance copies from the main run
The whole job is printed together and the first cartons off the finishing line are dispatched immediately, with the rest following on the normal schedule. This works when the production timing is close to the first deadline anyway: the job would finish on Thursday, you need 200 on Thursday morning, so the printer prioritises the finishing of the first few hundred and sends them by courier while the rest are still being packed. Cost: usually a small courier charge and nothing else. It is the first thing to ask for.
A digital advance batch, then the main run
When the first deadline is well ahead of the main run, the advance copies are printed separately on a digital press, and the main quantity follows on offset or a longer digital run. The advance batch costs more per copy (it is a small job with its own set-up), but it is a small number of copies, so the total premium is modest. The catch is consistency: digital and offset output on the same artwork can differ slightly in colour and in the feel of the paper. For a press kit or a committee check that is acceptable; for a sample the client will compare against the main run, it needs to be discussed.
Print in full, deliver in stages
The whole run is printed at once and held by the printer, with deliveries released on a schedule: 2,000 to head office this week, 5,000 to the warehouse next week, the rest to branches over the month. This is really a storage-and-distribution arrangement rather than a production one, and it suits jobs where the print is ready early but the destinations are not. Our guide to distributing a bulk run to multiple branches covers the packing side.
Choosing the approach
| Situation | Approach | Typical premium |
|---|---|---|
| First deadline within a day or two of the normal completion date | Advance copies from the main run | Courier only |
| First deadline a week or more before the main run can complete | Digital advance batch | Small-run pricing on the advance quantity only |
| Print is ready early, destinations need it over time | Print in full, staged delivery | Storage and per-drop delivery charges |
| A small quantity must be approved before the rest is printed | Digital pre-run as a proof batch, then main run | Small-run pricing plus a pause in the schedule |
The proof-batch variation
The last row in the table deserves its own note. Sometimes the first copies are not for use but for approval: a committee needs to see 20 bound copies of the yearbook before it signs off 2,000. This is worth doing on any large job where late corrections are likely, but it has to be planned into the schedule. The main run cannot start until the approval comes back, so a two-day review turns into a two-day delay plus whatever queue the job has lost its place in. Agree the approval turnaround with the reviewers before ordering, and see our note on press checks and sign-off on a bulk run for what to look at when the copies arrive.
What to specify
- Each phase as its own line: quantity, date, delivery address, contact and any special packing. "200 copies by 9 am Thursday to the hotel, attention Ms Lim; 19,800 by 20 September to the warehouse, on pallets."
- Whether the advance copies may differ. If a digital advance batch is acceptable, say so and ask for a sample of the digital output on the chosen stock. If the advance copies must be identical to the main run, say that too; it may change the approach.
- Who approves the artwork and when. The advance batch is printed from the same file as the main run. A correction discovered on the advance copies is your one chance to fix it before the main run, so build in a day for that if there is any doubt.
- Packing of the advance batch. Usually a carton or two by courier; make sure it is labelled as the advance batch so the recipient does not think the whole job has arrived short.
Where it goes wrong
- The main run gets forgotten. Once the advance copies are out, the pressure is off and nobody chases the rest. Put the main delivery date in the same calendar as the first one.
- The advance copies are used as the reference. A client sees the digital advance batch, then the offset main run arrives looking slightly different, and there is an argument. Show both samples early.
- A correction after the advance batch is not carried into the main run. Send a confirmed final file to the printer in writing after any change, and ask them to confirm which version the main run will use.
- The advance quantity is wrong. People ask for 50 and the event needs 150. Advance batches are cheap to increase and expensive to repeat; round up.
Phased delivery with us
We run phased and staggered deliveries as a normal option on large jobs: advance copies pulled from the main run and couriered the same day, digital advance batches on the same stock as the main run with a sample of each for comparison, proof batches with the main run held for approval, and full-run storage with deliveries released to a schedule. Each phase is a separate line on the order with its own date, address and contact, and we confirm the file version in writing before each phase prints.
If you have a job with more than one deadline, send us the dates and quantities and we will propose the least expensive way to meet all of them. Our express printing page covers what can be produced quickly, and the printing services page has the full range; or contact us with the schedule and we will map the phases against it.
