If your company has a global presence and you have offices worldwide, you’ll want to work with one provider to deliver all of your Print On Demand (POD) services. Having one print partner means your materials originate from a central source (an online, web-based ordering system) and that quality and production of these materials is consistent and of high quality.

As critical as document management and centralized printing is, don’t overlook the importance of your global requirements where POD materials are concerned.

“Do you want to print your brochure in 4 color?”  “No, I want to use all the colors.”

This exchange between a print expert and a tech company CEO took place a few years ago. It points out that what may be a common term for a printer isn’t necessarily common to a customer.

Imagine you’ve searched for months to find the perfect nanny for your active kids. In walks a modern-day Mary Poppins, with a decade of experience, glowing recommendations, and the sweetest of personalities. Even your kids take a shine to her.

Would you hire her on the spot, no questions asked? Hardly. There are important questions every parent asks someone they’re considering leaving in charge of their precious offspring.

You’d grill her, we daresay, to make sure she’s 100% trustworthy and responsible.

Investing in a marketing portal isn’t the same as hiring a nanny, granted. But it’s a major commitment of time and resources. Once you’ve chosen a portal provider, you don’t want to find out after the fact that the company looked great on paper but turned out to be a disaster.

If you’ve worked with commercial printers, you know that sometimes they start speaking a whole different language. We feel your pain!

Chances are, you don’t have time to invest in a copy of the Pocket Pal, produced by International Paper and generally regarded as the “industry Bible” of graphic arts terminology. You don’t really need to. A few printing 101 lessons will bring you up to speed in no time.

To help marketers everywhere, we’ve put together a handy list of printing terms that have one nifty thing in common – they’re all acronyms!  Enjoy this alphabet soup of printing terms!