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ESRC Communications Toolkit
Quantity

Think carefully about the quantity of publicity material you need. The main factor will be the cost of print. There are fixed costs for the preparatory work such as preparing plates and setting up machines which mean that small quantities can be relatively expensive to produce. Generally, the unit cost drops the more you have printed. Always ask printers for estimates based on different quantities so you can see the marginal cost.

Work out an accurate estimate of how many copies you actually need. An initial run of 500 and then a reprint of 1500 will be more expensive than getting an initial 2,000 printed.

While it may be worth taking advantage of a cheaper price for more copies, try only to order what you actually need. Think about the shelf life of your publication. If it is really only relevant for a year, there is no use ordering two years' worth of supplies. Remember that materials can be bulky to store and you can end up with boxes of unused publications in small offices.

If the cost is such that it is uneconomic to print a small number, think about other formats, such as putting a PDF or Word document on your website.