If you’re looking to print a magazine, there are a few things you’ll need to take into account. The cost of printing a magazine will vary depending on the size and type of magazine you’re looking to print, as well as the printing company you choose. if you’re looking to print a large quantity of magazines printing, you may be able to get a discount from your chosen printing company.
The biggest cost of a magazine is the paper it’s printed on. The cost of paper went up a lot in recent years. Just recently we’ve witnessed another increase of up to 10% for graphic papers. Paper prices are going up because of increased production costs, particularly pulp, energy, transport costs, and chemicals.
Variables are the weight, grade, and stock of the paper your magazine will be printed on. The paper grade goes from one (being the whitest) to five (being a lower quality paper, usually more yellowish).
Trim size
Bigger isn’t always better. If you go from a 15 x 15 sized magazine to a 30 x 30 size it doesn’t double the size, it actually quadruples it, using 4x more paper. What people also tend to forget is the fact that magazines are not printed on sheets of paper the size of the magazine, they’re actually cut out of larger sheets, so contact your local printer to see what an economical size is if you want to divert from standard sizes.
Page count
The more pages you use the more expensive it gets. More paper is used, the printing press has to run longer, and more pages means more ink, more manpower… more money.
Quantity
One of the biggest factors for your price per magazine is the quantity. Of course, your total price goes up the more magazines you’re getting printed, but the price per magazine might actually drop drastically when you go from 5,000 to 10,000 issues.
Binding style
There are a lot of ways to bind a magazine, the most popular methods being perfect-bound and saddle-bound. Perfect bound is normally reserved for a larger page count. Saddle-stitching is usually the most cost-effective way, using staples to bind the papers together.
Vanity options
There are many vanity options you can add to make your magazine look more appealing like coatings, sports UV， gold foil, special paper types, and cutouts. And you’ve guessed it, any additional step means extra expenses for your magazine.