How much do I charge for this job?

I have a job coming up, and I am hoping to get some insight into what might be an appropriate price to charge. I know that is a completely personal decision, but I would like some help finding a number that isn’t way too high or way too low.

I am creating two versions of a CD package for a band.

PART ONE:
• Design of a full color, 4-panel digipak
• Design of CD disk label
(Those 2 items will be designed and sent to DiskMakers for printing.)

PART TWO:
100 copies to be designed AND letterpress printed:
• Design of CD disk label
• 2 panel 7”x7” sleeve (2 color letterpress) which has to be glued/assembled
• 2 panel 5”x5” cd sleeve (1 or 2 color letterpress) which has to be glued/assembled
• Multipage (6-10 panels) 7”x7” booklet (this will probably be laser printed and assembled by hand (cut, stapled, etc.)

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

Log in to reply   8 replies so far

That’s a fairly involved project, so the first question is: what’s your time worth? The press time will be probably the smallest component of the project, with bindery next up and composition the largest portion.

The 4-color work is pretty much a straight time project+whatever the CD printer is going to charge.
On the letterpress side, it looks like you’ll being doing photopolymer, so you’ll need to add in the costs of plates. I presume there will be die-cutting for the CD jackets and outer sleeve (or a whole lot of handwork to make the pieces) so you may need to pay for die-cutting (or buy dies) or factor in the additional bindery time for hand work.

My WAG on this project would probably be:

Part One: Two to three hours (depending on supplied artwork/copy.

Part Two: Two hours per piece for composition/imposition for each piece (four hours total).

1 hour per color per side for the run (hopefully only needing one washup (might be simpler to move gauge pins-start large 1st color, small 1st color, small 2nd color, large 2nd color—than washing up and trying to hit the color twice). If tight register add 1/2 hour per side—color. If both colors are PMS, add another 1/2 hour per color for washup and getting density correct.

The additional book (or whatall) probably 3 hours composition, 1 hour production (not sure if panels translate into pages), two or three hours for bindery (do you have a folder? stitcher? paper cutter?

A lot of these estimates presumes you are a lot more proficient at computer design than I am. Odds are I’m not charging near enough hours for this, but without knowing what materials are supplied for the project, it’s rather hard to pin a price on the donkey. Still, something to chew on. Good luck!

No die cutting needed. The sleeves will be printed on pre-cut pieces that will then be folded and glued.

The 2 colors will be black and a deep red that I will just mix by hand, no specific color matching required.

Don’t forget the die cutting of the CD disk labels (both sides).
I have a die (2-up) if you want to buy it really cheap.Only used once.

No die cutting at all… the disks will be printed on-disc by DiscMakers. Sorry about that. =P

Hmm. 100. Maybe $20 each, so they’ll sell for $2000. Can’t charge more than that.

Will you be printing these on your Kelsey 5x8 with your new chase base you got from Excelsior Press? Please post pictures of your progress. Good luck and happy printing :)

No, if anything the small 5”x5” sleeve might be done on the Kelsey. The bigger stuff will need to be done on a larger proof press.

Anyone else?