In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, the folks here at Printing Industries of America would like to take the time to thank printers all over the world for all of their hard work. From prepress to binding, printers make the lives of marketing professionals and company executives happy and easy.

But the life of a printer isn’t as easy as it looks. Printing a brochure for a conference or a label for the newest product is a lot more intricate than it seems. So, before you start thinking you could “do it better for less,” let’s stop and look at our top 10 reasons to thank a printer.

  1. Remember when you emailed a last-minute file at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday evening and asked for it to be delivered on Sunday? Remember when they got it done? Thank a printer.

  2. Remember when you hand delivered a high-profile job to the facility just to ensure that “everything goes smoothly?” Remember when they exceeded your expectations? Thank a printer.
  3. Remember when you insisted on a two-hour meeting during the holiday season to review machines, methods, colors, paper, coatings, folding, binding, and mailing? Remember when the printers participated and walked you through every step? Thank a printer.
  4. Remember when you wanted to change the brightness of your blue and you couldn’t understand why your yellow didn’t pop? Remember when they sat with you in a press check and explained color management? Thank a printer.
  5. Remember when your file specified a red from CMYK but you asked for Pantone colors because “all reds are the same?” Remember when your red turned out the way you hoped anyway? Thank a printer.
  6. Remember when you wanted your 500-piece table promotion folded in the shape of a swan? Remember when the swans was the prettiest you ever saw? Thank a printer.
  7. Remember when you sent your 5,000+ mailing list to the mail house with information from the 70s? Remember when all your direct mail pieces where delivered to the correct addresses? Thank a printer.
  8. Remember when you rushed a typo-filled document to the print house because “you didn’t have the time to proofread?” Remember when your piece came out error-free? Thank a printer.
  9. Remember when your boss insisted they see a printed proof or bindery dummy before you paid for the final job? Remember when the proof was everything you’d hoped for? Thank a printer.
  10. And finally—remember when you literally “stopped the press” for a change during the last day of printing? Remember when they worked with you and helped you get the end product you desired? Thank a printer.

Always, always, always, thank your printer.