Calendar Design and Printing Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I get my Charity Discount?
A: To get your charity discount either email us for a quote or if you are creating it online in our design software, process the job through the shopping basket in the normal way but at Payment Stage 4 choose "Please Invoice me to Pay Later" rather than the pay by Credit Card option. That way there will be nothing to pay upfront and we will invoice you the correct amount with your charity discount and the job will enter our workflow.
Q: This Calendar is for Charity but I'm not a registered charity, do I still qualify?
A: Yes you do. As long as it's obvious to us that you are a non-profit organisation or it is a charity or fundraising calendar then we will offer you our no quibble 10% Charity Discount.
Q: How quickly can you deliver?
A: Printing in-house we provide a very fast and efficient service. Our average dispatch time is 5 to 7 working days from proof approval. At peak times of the year this can increase to 2 weeks so we always suggest letting us know if you are planning on ordering a large calendar run so we can book it into our Production Schedule to guarantee delivery by the date you need them. However, we try to keep everyone happy so if you have an urgent requirement please contact us as soon as you are able and we will try our best to slot you in.
Q: What paper do you recommend?
A: Our FREE Sample Calendar Pack contains most of our 20 paper options.
There are 4 paper finishes to choose from:
Satin ... This is a high white brushed smooth rather than coated paper so more easy to write on but feels coated and it is what we recommend for calendars.
Matt/Silk coated ... this is what 90% of leaflets and flyers are printed on in the print industry, as it has a coating to it (like silk emulsion on walls in homes), which means there is an extra manufacturing process so it is not as enviromentally friendly as the Satin we use.
Gloss coated ... rarer these days, again as it has a coating to it (think of gloss woodwork in homes) which means there is an extra manufacturing process so it is not as enviromentally friendly as the Satin we use.
Paper thickness in the print industry is measured in gsm (grams per square meter) but this generally corresponds to the micron thickness of the paper, so 100gsm is roughly 0.1mm thick.
We provide our calendars on 5 paper thicknesses (depending on the calendar): 150gsm, 170gsm (our default on most calendars), 200gsm, 250gsm and 300gsm.
For a standard calendar we recommend no more than 200gsm for A3 calendars to keep them under 500g with packaging for lower postage charges, and 170gsm for A4 calendars to keep them under 250g. Stapled booklet calendars we recommend a thinner 150gsm paper so they are not too springy.
Q: I have completed my design in your software, what do I do now?
A: If it is a completed Design Project:
- Please login to your Design Project
- Open it by clicking "Continue Editing"
- Click Purchase (bottom right)
- This adds it to the Shopping Basket
- From there click "Secure Checkout and Payment for your Order"
- At payment stage 4 either select to pay by "Credit/Debit Card"; or select "Please Invoice me to Pay Later" if you need us to invoice you with your charity discount; or select "Nothing to pay - for ASK Online to sell on www.askonline.shop" it it's an ASK Online Shop design; you will be sent an invoice automatically by the system, so if paying later ignore that.
- It will then enter our workflow and we will send you a PDF proof to approve as per our workflow.
Q: How do we order free design?
A: Our FREE sample calendar and Online Design Templates show you all our templates. So simply choose a template, select the colour version you require it in or provide us your desired specific colour(s), and send us the photos, logos, captions and text via https://yearbook.wetransfer.com and we will do the rest. Please note that on average we design calendars in 1 week but at peak times this can take 2 weeks.
Q: My logo has a white background, how do I remove it?
A: It is likely you have uploaded it as a jpg. JPGs cannot be saved with a transparent background. So if you have a PDF or PNG of your logo or crest with a transparent background upload and use that version. You can create a transparent background version in Photoshop. If you are really struggling send us your logo or crest via https://yearbook.wetransfer.com and we will try to assist.
Q: What sizes can I have?
A: Popular premium calendars are a Spiral A4 Landscape opening to A3 Portrait Booklet Calendar (spiral booklets hang flatter to the wall than stapled booklets), our most common size is a 13 page A4 Spiral Wall Calendar with thumbcut and calendar hanger, but we print calendars in lots of sizes. The majority of our photo calendars are Portrait aspect ratio once opened but we also offer Square and Landscape versions in different sizes.
Q: What is the minimum and maximum page count I can have in our calendar?
A: We have no maximum page count. Our standard hanging wall calendars consist of a cover and 12 months so are 13 pages as standard. You can add additional pages including an outward facing 14th page back cover. Although we can produce double sided hanging wall calendars, so a cover plus 6 sheet calendar, we feel that is a cheap low quality product so although others offer it we do not. Our booklet calendars are 28 pages that open up to 14 Spreads. Spiral Booklet Calendars have to be multiples of 2 pages and Stapled Booklet calendars multiples of 4 pages if you want additional pages. Order our fantastic FREE Sample Calendar Pack if you have not done so already to see examples.
Q: In what format do I send my calendar to you in?
A: If you use our fantastic, industry leading ASK design software, your design will be automatically uploaded to our system once you have completed your order. If you are using separate software, please output it as a print ready high resolution PDF file with 3mm bleed and send it to us your files via https://yearbook.wetransfer.com.
Q: Am I able to use a different design software?
A: If you do not wish to use our design software, you are able to use a different software of your choosing. If you choose to do so, please be sure to include a 3mm bleed if a background or photo goes to the edge of the page. We do check over submitted designs before printing. You can order a printed proof before the main run for £10, which is free for orders of 100 or more. Please output it as a print ready high resolution PDF file with 3mm bleed and send it to us your files via https://yearbook.wetransfer.com.
Q: What Photo resolution and size do I need?
A: For HD (high definition) printing please make sure your photos are HD or high resolution, so 300dpi for the size the photo is being printed. As this instruction confuses most people our advice for this is look at the photo file size which nearly always corresponds to resolution. So photos:
- over 5Mb will be HD or very high resolution.
- 2-5Mb will be high resolution and should be fine to print.
- 1-2Mb are medium resolution and in 95% of cases are fine to print.
- 0.5Mb (500Kb) - 1Mb are low to medium resolution, so not High Definition but are generally OK in most cases but can sometimes appear slightly blurry / out of focus.
- 200Kb - 500Kb are low resolution so won’t be perfect, but you may get away with them, but they are likely to be slightly blurry / out of focus.
- Less than 200Kb are not really suitable, so may be pixilated, but if that’s all you have we will do our best, but we advise you having a printed proof first so you are not disappointed.
Another tick is to enlarge your photo to 200% on screen from the size it will be printed, if it looks sharp it should print OK, if it looks blurry/fuzzy/bitmapped in any way that is how it will likely look printed. If you are unsure we offer a printed proof for £9.99 (free for orders of 100 or more).
Q: How long should I allow?
A: Our average dispatch time is 5 to 7 working days from final proof approval. However, to take full advantage of our FREE printed proof prior to printing the main batch (if your order is 100+) and carefully check your work, we advise aiming to complete your calendar 1 month before the date you need it. This gives you ample time to look over the PDF proof we will send you if you have designed it on our online system; make any required changes and receive another PDF proof; then after approving that we can process and send you a FREE printed proof if your order is 100+ (or you can pay for this on smaller runs); you may once you see photos want to make further minor amendments.
Q: What is your minimum quantity?
A: There is no minimum order quantity and you can order just 1 calendar if you wish. However the cost per calendar goes down the more you order. To receive our FREE printed proof, FREE design service and FREE delivery the minimum order quantity is 100 Calendars.
Q: Can we see a printed proof of our calendar before we order?
A: YES. Our FREE sample calendar pack gives a good demonstration of our binding and calendar printing quality. However, to make sure you have not missed anything, YES we also provide a FREE printed proof (if time allows) before printing the main run, but this is only after ordering your calendars and as long as you are ordering 100 or more. If you are ordering less than 100 we just charge £10 for this service.
Q: What software do you recommend we use to create our calendar?
A: If you wish to work offline we recommend using Adobe InDesign which is the world’s leading professional design software. But we understand not everyone has access to this and Mircosoft Publisher which comes with Microsoft Office is a popular and adequate alternative. Some Schools also produce Calendars using Powerpoint. And Canva online is also becoming more polular. Whichever package you use please ensure you set up the master document with 3mm bleed when you create it. If you are unsure how to do that please contact us and we will guide you through it, but a quick easy solution in Publisher is to setup your A4 document 216mm x 303mm with a 3mm margin, so the margin guide in effect becomes your bleed line and visual guide to where the page will be trimmed to when print finishing.
Q: How much is delivery?
A: Delivery of your main run is FREE for orders of 50 or more. For re-orders and re-prints of quantities less than 50 calendars delivery is £12.
Q: Can Dynamic Calendars design our calendar?
A: Yes we can, but this will have additional costs if your order is less than 100 calendars. Our aim is make your calendar as competitively priced as possible, which is why we’ve created lots of sample layouts and templates in our easy to use Online Design Software. If you are ordering less than 50 calendars we charge £80 to professionally design your calendar, if you are ordering between 50 and 99 calendars we charge £40 to professionally design it.
Q: How many photos and sponsors logos can we have in our calendar?
A: As many as you like. Most of our templates lend themselves to multiple photos and montages. And if you are taking advantage of our free design we try not to limit you. Many charity calendars we design have multiple photos per month as the more of their supporters photos are in it the more sales they get!
Q: If we run out of calendars can we re-order?
A: Yes, we hold all artwork on file for three years. For cost effectiveness re-prints need to be ordered in multiples of 2 for A4 size and multiples of 4 for A5 size, and we hold the same price per Calendar for re-prints as the initial price per calendar. However, depending on the print quantity we may on occasions have to charge a small delivery fee for re-prints of less than 100 calendars.
Q: Can I create multiple versions of the same calendar by duplicating the design?
A: Yes, this is very easy to do. First complete your first design version and run it through the Shopping Basket so it is an order on our system. Then go to My Calendar Purchases https://www.askcalendars.co.uk/customer/orders and select Re-Order for as many alternative versions as you require. This takes it (them) to the Shopping Basket, from there select Edit to bring it back into the Design Software and Save it as a Design Project.
Q: Will you ship your calendars overseas?
A: Yes, we are happy to print calendars and ship anywhere in the world. In fact we regularly produce an annual charity calendar to an organisation in Brunei. For deliveries outside of the UK delivery is not included in any of our prices and we normally ship by UPS.
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