Essential Business Printing to Power a Lasting Impression

Your business card is often the first thing a client takes away from meeting you. Your proposal arrives in a folder, your offer on a flyer, your menu in a customer's hands twice a day. Printed stationery is where most people meet your brand physically, and the paper, the finish and the trim say as much as the design. This guide walks through the essential pieces, what they are printed on, and the artwork rules that keep them looking sharp.

The stationery set at a glance

Business cards

Business cardsThe essential

• Standard: 90 × 50 mm, full colour, single or double-sided, matt or gloss lamination
• Quantities: 100, 150, 200, 250, 500 or 1,000 per name
• Premium: thicker board, rounded corners, custom sizes such as 90 × 55 mm, digital or UV printing
• Teams: one approved design plus a spreadsheet of names, proofed before print, each name as its own batch

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A card printed on 270 to 350 gsm board feels substantial and holds its shape in a wallet. Matt lamination gives a smooth, understated look; gloss makes colour pop. Both protect the print from scuffs and fingerprints. For a team, batch printing keeps colour, layout and finish identical across everyone's cards, and new starters are matched to the original set.

Flyers and pamphlets

FlyersReach

• Sizes: A6 (105 × 148 mm) and A5 (148 × 210 mm) as standard; A4, square and custom on request
• Paper: gloss, matt or uncoated, single or double-sided
• Quantities: from 50 to 5,000 and beyond; no minimum quantity, only a minimum order fee
• Turnaround: generally 5 to 10 working days depending on the order

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PamphletsRoom to explain

• Folds: half-fold, tri-fold (A4 to DL), Z-fold and gate-fold
• Paper: 120 or 150 gsm as standard, heavier stocks available; can be supplied flat
• Creased first: every pamphlet is creased before folding so the fold is straight and the print does not crack
• Artwork: two pages, outside and inside, at the flat size with 3 mm bleed; inward-folding panels 2 to 3 mm narrower

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A flyer is the economical choice for a single offer handed out, dropped into deliveries or left on a counter. When you need room for an introduction, a product list and prices, a folded pamphlet gives you four, six or eight panels in a piece that still fits a pocket or a DL envelope.

Booklets and menus

BookletsCatalogues and profiles

• Binding: saddle-stitched for thinner booklets; spiral binding that opens flat; perfect binding with a printed spine
• Stocks: self-cover on one paper, or a 250 gsm cover around 135 or 150 gsm text pages
• Page counts: a saddle-stitched booklet needs a multiple of four pages, counting the cover
• Artwork: single pages in reading order, not printer's spreads, at finished size with 3 mm bleed

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MenusBuilt for handling

• Materials: 350 gsm card or rigid 1 mm board, with matt, gloss or waterproof lamination
• Formats: flat A5 or A4, foldable table menus, saddle-stitched or spiral-bound multi-page menus
• Extras: QR codes to your online menu or booking page, spot UV highlights, bar and dessert sizes
• Turnaround: typically 7 to 10 business days after design approval

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Folders, certificates and vouchers

Presentation foldersProposals

• Sizes: A4 as the business standard; A3 for plans and drawings; custom dimensions
• Board: 270, 350 or 450 gsm, matt or gloss laminated, printed outside only or inside and out
• Pockets: to hold A4 documents, with optional business card slits
• Turnaround: typically 5 to 10 working days; ask us for the folder template before you design

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Certificates, cards and vouchersMade to be kept

• Certificates: A4 and A5 on 295 or 350 gsm card, matt or gloss, for recognition, training and awards
• Vouchers and cards: DL vouchers, A5 and A6 postcards, thank-you and gift cards, single or double-sided
• Personalisation: a name on every certificate or a number on every voucher from your spreadsheet
• Writing on it: tell us if a voucher will be written on, for an uncoated or matt surface that takes a pen

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A proposal handed over in a branded folder is taken more seriously than loose pages in a plastic sleeve. For clothing, gifts and handmade goods, a swing tag carries the same brand onto the product itself, cut to your shape, hole-punched and strung if you like.

Artwork rules that save a reprint

If you would rather not build the files yourself, our design studio prepares production-ready layouts, from vector logo recreation to folder and packaging templates.

How we print business stationery in Cape Town

Stationery is small format digital printing: sheets up to SRA3, no printing plates and no pre-press delays, so short runs are fast and exact quantities are economical. The presses give sharp text and consistent colour across a whole batch, and variable data lets every card, tag or voucher carry its own name or number. Finishing happens under the same roof: lamination, guillotine trimming, creasing and folding, binding, and contour cutting for shaped tags and cards.

Send your artwork or your logo and wording, tell us the quantity per item and the finish, and your quote states the timeline. Agencies and print brokers can produce the whole range through our Reseller Partner Programme, and turnaround questions are answered in our Help Centre.

Frequently asked questions