Programme Printing

Ordering too many programmes creates waste. Ordering too few can mean missing sales or leaving visitors without one.

Use previous attendance and sales figures where they’re available, but also consider what’s different about this particular event. For recurring programmes, reviewing quantities between editions can help you adjust future print runs rather than automatically repeating the same order.

Saddle stitching is particularly well suited to many programmes because it’s quick, economical and works effectively at lower page counts.

For thicker souvenir or commemorative programmes, perfect binding may be more appropriate and provides a printable square spine. We’ll advise what’s practical once we know your pagination and paper choice.

For a conventional saddle stitched programme, pages are produced in multiples of four.

It’s worth knowing this while the editorial plan is being built. If you finish with an awkward number of pages, you may need to add or remove content rather than discovering the issue when artwork is ready for print.

A programme bought as a souvenir has a different job from one handed out free at a short event.

Paper, cover weight and finishing can reflect that. A publication intended to be kept may justify a more substantial cover or protective laminate, whereas a programme designed primarily to communicate information on the day may benefit from a simpler, more economical specification.

Advertising is an important part of many sports, theatre and event programmes, but late advertising artwork can create problems for the page plan.

Establish the available positions and sizes early, and give advertisers a clear artwork deadline and specification. That leaves more time to deal with missing or unsuitable files before the complete programme has to go to print.

Turnaround depends on quantity, pagination, paper, binding and any additional finishing.

Because programmes are frequently produced against fixed event dates, tell us your required delivery date as early as possible. We’ll advise on a realistic production schedule and what options are available if the deadline is particularly tight.

Yes. Digital printing allows us to produce smaller quantities economically, while our litho presses provide the capacity and economies of scale required for larger programme runs.

Having both options in-house means we can recommend the production method that makes most sense for your quantity and specification.

It depends on how the programme will be used, its page count and the type of content.

Programmes containing lots of photography may benefit from coated stocks, while uncoated papers provide a different look and feel. Cover and text papers can also be specified separately.

We’ll recommend options based on the publication, quantity and budget rather than simply specifying the heaviest paper available.

Saddle stitching is commonly used for programmes because it’s economical, quick to produce and suitable for many typical page counts. For commemorative programmes and thicker publications, perfect binding adds to the perception of quality.

Your paper selection also affects what’s practical, so we can advise once we know the proposed specification.

A conventional saddle stitched programme does require the page count to increase or decrease in multiples of four. Each folded sheet creates four pages, so the finished pagination needs to be divisible by four.

Perfect bound publications provide greater flexibility depending on how they’re produced.

Yes. Regular programme production is an area where establishing the specification, schedule and delivery requirements in advance can make subsequent editions much easier to manage.

We can accommodate changing artwork, quantities and delivery requirements across a season or series of

Yes. We can produce more substantial programmes using different papers, perfect binding and specialist cover finishes including lamination, foiling, embossing and spot UV.

Yes. We can accommodate split deliveries, custom packing and delivery to multiple destinations.

This can be useful where programmes need to be divided between venues, hospitality areas, offices or other recipients.

Yes. We regularly work with printers, agencies and brokers who need additional print capacity or access to specialist production equipment.

Our Trade Printing Service is designed to protect your client relationships, with plain packaging, anonymous labels, unbranded delivery and no unexpected contact with your client.

Programme printing combines quality with a very practical requirement: it needs to be ready before the event happens.

We have digital and litho printing, three saddle stitching lines, two perfect binders and extensive finishing capacity, backed by experienced teams and round-the-clock production. That gives us the flexibility to handle regular programmes, short runs and high-volume event publications without relying on multiple external suppliers.