100% GUARANTEE
We’re not like other printers. We know we offer outstanding printing capabilities and back that knowledge up with an ironclad satisfaction guarantee. Other printers will try to weasel out of their guarantees by claiming that the client is at fault or that the printed product falls within industry standards. Not at Memories Xpress. In our book, only the client can be the judge of the quality of their printed products. So if you aren’t 100% satisfied with your order, simply contact us. We’ll either reprint the order or refund your entire purchase price. No arguments, no hassle, no excuses.
DELIVERY
We know how important your printing deadline is — perhaps you need the order for an upcoming event or to distribute before school vacation. Whatever the reason, we are here to make sure that your order gets to you by your deadline.
When you place your order, we ask when you need to receive it. The first thing we do when we receive your order is make sure that the production speed and UPS shipping method that you choose will get your order to you by your deadline. If not, your client service rep will contact you to figure out a way to get your order there in time. We may have to speed up production or use expedite UPS shipping options. Whatever we need to do, we will let you know and inform you of the additional charges to get it to you in time.
Our normal production times are 3 business days after proof approval for single page documents. Once you place your order, a PDF proof will be available within 24 hours. You need to approve that PDF proof, and then the clock starts ticking on production time. For instance, if you approve the proof for your multipage document on Monday, your order would ship on Friday (4 business days after approving the proof).
Free UPS ground shipping is available for orders over $199 within the contiguous United States (Alaska and Hawaii are excluded). Pricing for ground shipping for orders under $199 and expedited shipping for all orders can be calculated in the pricing calculators.
HELP
Please take time to explore our website, especially our blog, where we offer some useful tips on printing — from choosing a binding style to deciding what paper to use. Here are some other tips to ensure that your file is set up properly for printing:
PDF FILES: We only accept PDF files for printing purposes. Please ensure that graphics and fonts are embedded and that appropriate bleeds are included.
BLEEDS: If you want a professional looking printed document, it’s crucial to learn how to set up bleeds. Since cutters can’t cut exactly at the edge of a sheet of paper, any graphics or colors at the edge need to “bleed” off the page. In other words, you extend the color or graphic 1/8 of an inch past the edge of the page, so there is room for cutting the paper. You need to add 1/8 inch bleed on all four sides of the page. So a 6 x 9 inch document, becomes 6.25 x 9.25 inches.
SAFETY ZONES: Again, because cutters can’t cut exactly, it’s important not to have text too close to the edge of the page. Make sure to keep all text at least .25 inch, preferably .5 inch, from the edge of the page.
BINDING: With perfect binding, plastic coil binding, and wire-o binding, approximately 1/8 of an inch is lost in the binding. We recommend keeping text and critical graphics .75 inch from the bound edge to ensure it is not lost in the binding.
IMAGE RESOLUTION: To ensure that printed graphics are high resolution, the images should be at least 300 dpi (dots per inch). An image may look good on your computer screen, but computer screens display images at 72 dpi and may look fuzzy when printed. Keep in mind that you can increase a graphic’s resolution by reducing the size. Increasing the size will reduce the resolution.
CMYK vs. RGB: Photos are generally in RGB color, but printing presses print in CMYK color. Converting from RGB to CMYK color can cause shifts in color, especially with solid colors. Thus, it is a good idea for you to convert the photos from RBG to CMYK before submitting your file so you can review how the color shifts.
SPINE FOR PERFECT BOUND BOOKS: The spine’s width will depend on the number of pages in the book (1 sheet of paper is 2 pages) and the weight of the paper. Calculate your spine size with this formula:
For 60# uncoated text and 70# and 80# matte and gloss text stock:
Number of pages divided by 440 = spine in inches
For 70# uncoated text and 100# matte and gloss text stock:
Number of pages divided by 370 = spine in inches