Price comparison of PhD thesis printing companies
Prijsvergelijking voor het drukken van een proefschrift
As a paranimf for a PhD student at the University of Groningen, I was looking for a good company to print his thesis. After getting offers from a few companies, I was surprised that there were very large differences in price. For this reason (and being a PhD student myself) I decided to obtain offers from a large number of companies, to be able to make a more informed choice. For your convenience, I have published this list on this webpage. Please read the disclaimer before using the list.
Contents
- Disclaimer
- Free ISBN number
- Subsidies for publishing the dissertation
- Important remark about number of copies
- Printing methods
- Other quality-related factors
- Offer configuration
- Prices digital printing
- Prices Indigo printing
- Prices offset printing
- Cover design
- Comments
Disclaimer
I have created this list mainly for my own convenience. You are welcome to use it, but do not blame me if the company you chose is not to your liking or I have made an error in the list. Also note that while I am quite sure that these prices are a reasonably good indication of the relative price level, they are by no means a perfect indication. For instance, the gap between the first and second company for digital printing is only small, but increasing the number of colour pages increases this gap significantly. Also note that prices may fluctuate during time (the prices published here were mostly obtained around March 2010). Furthermore, I did not assess the quality of the printed theses. I only looked at a few hardcopy theses from Wöhrmann Print Service, Off Page, Gildeprint, F&N Boekservice and Grafimedia RUG, which all looked good, but I did not look at theses from the other companies. If you want to print with a company always ask them to send an example thesis, so you can judge the quality for yourself. If you select a company using this list, please be so kind to send me an e-mail with your opinion (either positive or negative) about the company after your copies have been delivered, so I can include it on this webpage.
If you are the owner/representative of a printing company and want to be removed or added to this list or update your prices or add a discount, feel free to contact me. If you want to be added to this list, or update your prices, please adhere precisely to the order configuration. While it may be tempting to lower your prices for this specific configuration in order to be somewhat cheaper than another company, please refrain from doing so (unless you are lowering all your prices). I may ask quotes again in the near future for a slightly different configuration and unrealistically high price differences are probably not desirable.
Free ISBN number
PhD students of the university of Groningen can obtain an ISBN number for their thesis for free via the University Library.
Subsidies for publishing the dissertation
PhD students of the university of Groningen can obtain a subsidy of €750 for printing the dissertation. In addition, most of the faculties of the university offer additional funding. It therefore makes sense to inform if your faculty also offers a subsidy for printing the dissertation.
Important remark about number of copies
According to the printing industry delivery terms and conditions, a printing company is allowed to deviate 10% from the agreed number of copies. So if you order 200 copies, you could receive between 180 and 220 copies for which you are charged. Contact the printing company in advance to know how often they deviate from the agreed amount (some will not deviate at all).
Printing methods
Offset printing
Of the three printing methods, the quality of offset printing is the best. Unfortunately, the price of offset printing is very high when printing fewer than 250 copies. Only when printing about 300 or 400 copies the price will be comparable (or even somewhat cheaper) than digital printing. Because pages are printed on large sheets of 16 or 32 pages, having one color page means the entire sheet needs to be printed in colour, increasing the price significantly. Of course you may add 15 (or 31) colour pages for free, but only if you place them on the correct page (printing companies can tell you which pages to use).
Indigo printing
Only a few companies use an HP Indigo digital press for printing. This ink-based printing method is cheaper than offset for a limited number of copies and offers (almost) the same printing quality as offset. Unfortunately this method is still more expensive than digital printing.
Digital printing
Digital printing is by far the cheapest printing method for a limited amount of theses (e.g., 100 or 200) and is based on heating toner which attaches to the paper (i.e. like a laser printer). While the quality of digital printing is somewhat lower than offset and Indigo printing, it has very good value due to the low price. In addition, it is (depending on the company) possible to order additional copies after the initial order for the same price, which is not possible for offset printing because of its very high initial costs. Also the inclusion of colour pages is flexible, because you only pay for each single page and are not restricted to specific page numbers. Finally note that there are many digital printer brands and types, which may have an effect on the quality.
Which method?
Now the question arises which method to choose. If you need about 400 copies and you are certain you do not want to print extra theses after a while, your best bet is offset printing. For fewer than 250 copies, I would go for digital printing, as this will save you at least € 500 compared to offset and at least € 250 compared to Indigo (based on 200 copies). If you have a lot of colour images and require the best possible quality (and you are also willing to spend more) then go for offset or Indigo printing.
Other quality-related factors
Binding method
Besides the printing method, there are other factors influencing the quality and cost of your thesis. The first is the binding method. Besides choosing for either hardcover or paperback, pages can be glued or stitched. For offset printing, all companies offer stitched binding; several pages are stiched together and these sets of pages are glued to the back of the cover. For both Indigo printing and digital printing the most common binding method is glueing; individual pages are glued to the back of the cover. Some companies also offer stitching with digital printing for an additional fee. Most theses I have seen, however, have a paperback cover and a glued binding.
Paper weight and quality
Another factor is the weight and quality of the paper. In general companies offer a cover weight of about 250 grams (per square meter) and about 90 grams paper for the inside (80 grams is the weight of standard printing paper). Heavier paper has the advantage that it is harder to see through and feels thicker. However, also the paper quality matters in this respect. Therefore always ask to see a sample of the paper types the company uses.
Offer configuration
The prices were obtained in March 2010 and include the following (footnotes in the table indicate deviations):
- Book size: 17 x 24 cm
- Number of pages in black and white: 218
- Number of pages in colour: 2 (offset: 1 sheet in colour)
- Cover: full colour, laminated with matte finishing, about 250 grams/m2
- Inside: about 90 grams/m2
- Delivery to one address in The Netherlands
- Invitations (printed on same paper as the cover) and propositions (single sided)
- Prices for both glued and stitched binding
- Prices for both 200 and 100 copies
- Delivery of printed proof before the actual printing starts
- A print-ready pdf of both the thesis and cover is provided by the PhD student
- Including 6% VAT (BTW)
Prices digital printing
By using this list, you accept the disclaimer. The price per copy for stitched binding instead of glueing is indicated between parentheses. To keep the comparison fair, the discounts in the final columns are not included in the price per copy. This was done because not all companies offered a discount, but may well do so after inquiry. The list is sorted on the basis of the price (without discount) for 200 copies.
Most PhD students I know have printed with Wörhrmann or Off Page. In general the procedure seems to be most smooth with Off Page (which is why I am using them for my dissertation).
| Company | Price per copy for 200 copies | Price per copy for 100 copies | Additional discount | Discount conditions |
| Wöhrmann Print Service | €5.56 (€6.13) | €6.75 (€8.16) | 12% | PhD student at the University of Groningen |
| Off Page | €5.69 (€6.13) | €8.11 (€8.26) | 7% | Discount code: DISCOUNT-RUG |
| Drukkerij Quickprint | €6.99 | €9.01 | ||
| F&N Boekservice | €7.01 (€8.19) | €8.87 (€10.25) | €30 p.p. €50 p.p. | 2-4 people1 5+ people |
| DPP | €7.18 (€11.68) | €8.10 (€12.60) | ||
| Box Press Uitgeverij or Proefschriftmaken.nl or Printyourthesis.com | €7.41 (€8.58) | €9.67 (€10.83) | ||
| Digit@l Expression | €7.472 | €8.112 | ||
| Van Gorcum | €8.39 | €10.22 | ||
| Universal Press | €8.43 | €10.74 | ||
| Print Service Ede or Proefschriftenprinten.nl | €8.93 | €9.46 | 10 - 12.5% EUR 50 | 100 - 200 copies1 Every +1 person |
| GVO drukkers & vormgevers or Ponsen & Looijen | €9.05 (€9.96) | €12.82 (€14.13) | 5% - 12% 10% | 1 - 10 people1 Layout thesis via Proefschrift Groningen |
| Optima Grafische Communicatie | €9.363 | €12.703 | ||
| Propress or Printmythesis.nl | €9.75 (€15.90) | €11.45 (€20.39) | ||
| Datawyse | €9.88 | €11.73 | ||
| Jouwboek.nl | €9.954 | €11.374 | ||
| Grafimedia RUG | €10.20 | €11.40 | ||
| Drukkerij Van Denderen | €10.22 | €11.95 | 10% | Layout thesis via Proefschrift Groningen |
| OCE | €10.38 | €12.51 | ||
| Eburon | €10.49 | €13.57 | ||
| JWL Boekproducties | €10.712 | €12.462 | ||
| Ridderprint or Proefschriftdrukken.nl | €12.39 (€15.37)5 | €13.01 (€16.96)5 | 5% |
1Contact the company for additional details 2size: 16 x 24 cm. 3Including extensive checks and small modifications of pdf
4Excluding shipping costs of €10 per box 5Free cover design
Prices Indigo printing
By using this list, you accept the disclaimer. All prices are based on glued binding, unless indicated otherwise. To keep the comparison fair, the discounts in the final columns are not included in the price per copy. This was done because not all companies offered a discount, but may well do so after inquiry. The list is sorted on the basis of the price (without discount) for 200 copies.
| Company | Price per copy for 200 copies | Price per copy for 100 copies | Additional discount | Discount conditions |
| F&N Boekservice | €7.01 | €8.87 | €30 per person €50 per person | 2-4 people1 5+ people |
| NetzoDruk Groningen | €8.85 (€9.50) | €9.91 (€10.19) | €100 | Mention this website when asking a quote |
| Gildeprint | €9.12 | €14.48 | 4 - 9% | 2 - 7 people1 |
| Ipskamp Drukkers | €10.48 | €13.21 | 12.5% 15% | ≥ 5 people1 + sign contract |
| Van der Eems | €13.062 | €21.202 |
1Contact the company for additional details 2Stitched binding
Prices offset printing
By using this list, you accept the disclaimer. All prices are based on stitched binding. To keep the comparison fair, the discounts in the final columns are not included in the price per copy. This was done because not all companies offered a discount, but may well do so after inquiry. The list is sorted on the basis of the price (without discount) for 200 copies. Note that this list does not need to be complete. Some of the aforementioned companies may also offer offset printing, but did not offer a quotation for this printing method due to the limited number of copies.
| Company | Price per copy for 200 copies | Price per copy for 100 copies | Additional discount | Discount conditions |
| Off Page | €8.72 | €16.68 | 7% | Discount code: DISCOUNT-RUG |
| Digit@l Expression | €10.93 | €21.03 | ||
| JWL Boekproducties | €11.34 | €21.73 | ||
| Drukkerij Mostert | €11.46 | €20.37 | ||
| Eburon | €11.61 | €20.67 | ||
| GVO drukkers & vormgevers or Ponsen & Looijen | €12.00 | €22.19 | 5% - 12% 10% | 1 - 10 people1 Layout thesis via Proefschrift Groningen |
| Ipskamp Drukkers | €12.36 | €22.36 | 12.5% 15% | ≥ 5 people1 + sign contract |
| Drukkerij Quickprint | €12.42 | €18.75 | ||
| Optima Grafische Communicatie | €12.722 | €23.642 | ||
| Drukkerij Van Denderen | €13.74 | €24.99 | 10% | Layout thesis via Proefschrift Groningen |
| Gildeprint | €13.85 | €25.08 | 4 - 9% | 2 - 7 people1 |
| Van der Eems | €18.23 | €32.91 |
1Contact the company for additional details 2Including extensive checks and small modifications of pdf
Cover design
Depending on how creative you are and how well you are able to use a graphics program to design the cover of your thesis, you may want to find someone to design this for you. A friend of mine, Esther Ris, who studied at the Academy of Arts, designs them for a fee (€ 350). So if you like the covers shown at her site, http://www.proefschriftomslag.nl, feel free to contact her.
Comments
If you would like to add a comment, please contact me.