Printing Services in Midrand: What to Check Before You Order
Midrand sits at the awkward midpoint between Johannesburg and Pretoria, which means most print jobs here are either couriered in from Sandton or walked into a copy shop in a mall. Both work. They just fail in different ways, and the failure usually shows up the morning of your event.
Total Print runs from Olivedale in Randburg, roughly twenty minutes up the N1 from Midrand, and a good share of our Midrand work is corporate: conference roll-ups for the Gallagher Convention Centre, branded stationery for offices in Halfway House and Waterfall, signage for showrooms along Old Pretoria Road. What follows is what we would check before placing an order anywhere, including with us.
Does the supplier quote in writing, and how fast?
A verbal price over a counter is not a quote. It is an estimate that tends to grow once artwork lands and someone notices the job is double-sided, or needs lamination, or runs to 400 units instead of 40.
Ask for the quote in writing, itemised, with the paper stock and finish named. Total Print turns quotes around within 24 hours. That is our quoting commitment, not a production promise, and the distinction matters more than it sounds: knowing the price by tomorrow tells you nothing about whether the job prints by Friday. Ask both questions separately, and get both answers in writing.
Is the job digital or litho, and did anyone explain why?
This is the single question that separates a print partner from a print counter, because it is where most of the cost sits.
Digital printing has no plate setup, so short runs are cheap and fast. Litho needs plates made first, which costs more upfront and then prints very cheaply per unit at volume. The crossover point varies by job, but the shape is always the same: below it, digital wins on price; above it, litho wins by a widening margin.
A supplier who asks your quantity before quoting is doing this calculation. One who quotes a flat per-unit price regardless of run length is not, and you will overpay at one end or the other.
Screen printing follows different rules again. We take screen printing on big volumes only, because the setup cost per colour makes small runs poor value for the buyer. If you need twenty branded shirts for a team day, digital or heat transfer will serve you better, and any honest supplier will tell you the same.
Can they handle large format, or do they broker it out?
Plenty of Midrand print shops are excellent at A4 and A3 and quietly send anything bigger to a third party. That is not automatically a problem. It becomes one when something goes wrong, because you are now two phone calls away from the person who can actually fix it, and neither party owns the deadline.
If your job involves pull-up banners or large format work, ask directly whether it is produced in house. A standard pull-up banner is 850mm by 2000mm, and at that size a low-resolution logo that looked acceptable on screen turns visibly soft on the stand.
What do they need from you, and when?
Most late print jobs are late because of artwork, not because of the printer.
Supply press-ready PDF with 3mm bleed, fonts embedded or outlined, and images at 300dpi at final print size. That last phrase does the work. A 300dpi image is only 300dpi at the size it was made; blow it up to banner scale and the effective resolution drops accordingly.
Colour is the other trap. Screens show RGB, presses print CMYK, and bright RGB blues and greens have no exact CMYK equivalent. They will shift. If a specific brand colour has to be exact, say so upfront and ask for a proof, because that conversation is free before the run and expensive after it.
Is delivery included, and who carries the risk?
Midrand is a delivery corridor rather than a walk-in high street for most corporate buyers. Ask whether delivery is quoted in, what the lead time is to your specific address, and what happens if the courier misses. A supplier who has quietly priced delivery out of the quote is cheaper on paper and not in practice.
Frequently asked questions
Does Total Print have a shop in Midrand?
No. We work from Unit 11 Meadowbrook Office Park, Jacaranda Avenue, Olivedale, Randburg, and deliver into Midrand and the surrounding northern suburbs. If you need to hand over a physical sample or collect in person, you are welcome at the Randburg premises.
How quickly can I get a price?
Within 24 hours of us receiving the brief. Send the quantity, the finished size, the stock if you know it, and the deadline. Those four details are usually enough to quote without a back-and-forth.
What is the minimum order?
It depends on the product and the process. Digital work runs economically at low quantities. Screen printing is bulk only. Tell us the quantity you actually need and we will point you at the process that suits it, rather than the one with the better margin.
Can you match our brand colours?
We can get close on standard CMYK and closer if you supply the brand guide with the colour references. Ask for a proof if an exact match matters, and be aware that stock affects the result: the same ink reads differently on coated and uncoated paper.
The short version
Ask for a written quote with the stock named. Ask whether the job is digital or litho and why. Ask what is produced in house. Send press-ready artwork with bleed. Confirm delivery to your address, not just to Midrand.
If you would rather ask a person than work through a checklist, send us the brief and we will quote within 24 hours. We have been printing for South African businesses for over 16 years, for clients including FlySafair, Multiflor and Kaelo.
Also useful if you are comparing suppliers nearby: printing services in Randburg, business card printing in Randburg and flyer printing in Sandton.