How do I get Paper Samples?

[rudydee]

Only freelancing for 5 months now and it is getting harder and harder guessing which stock to suggest to customers.

Is there any smart way of having paper companies send me samples?

Appreciate your help.

[Virgo Nightingale]

Talk to your paper supplier. They can usually send you actual samples or send you a crapload of swatchbooks. You can also order samples and/or swatchbooks directly from the paper mill, but some mills will only deal with their paper suppliers, and not with individual freelancers or design studios.

Your printer may have some extra swatchbooks as well, perhaps they can give you their old ones. Just keep in mind that some stocks get discontinued so if the book is old, you may run into a situation where something is no longer available.

Also... I know in New York, the Art Director's Guild holds an annual Paper Show where you can walk out literally with bags and bags of free stuff from all the major paper mills. Perhaps you can find some kind of paper convention in Vegas that you can attend. May cost money to get in, but it would be money well spent for all the swatchbooks you'll get.

[budafist]

What Virgo said. Paper Suppliers have swatch books coming out their ears. Make sure you get an up to date price list too.

Our suppliers are changing their prices every few months so you might need to get them to send you a new price list every time they change prices.

Also will pay to find out what the minimum order is. Some suppliers have a huge minimum order as they prefer to deal with larger companies instead of rats and mice. It's up to you to find a supplier that will sell you 1 ream of paper at a time instead of 1 pallet load.

Another option is to talk to your local printer. Since they are ordering paper on a weekly basis, they will easily be ordering the minimum amount. If you only want a ream of paper and therefore can't order direct from the supplier, you could tack your order onto their order. We often have people do that.