What are Promotional Products?

Promotional products are any items imprinted with your logo or message. From pens to tee-shirts, mugs and more, promotional products drive your message home and leave a lasting impression - a tangible item for the recipients to see your name. Long after the recipient receives their item they will remember your company whenever they use or see the item they have received. Promotional products encourage, inspire and remind while advertising and/or promoting your company and message.


What are Promotional Items used for?

- Business Gifts
- Event Marketing
- Trade Shows
- Employee Relations
- Public Relations
- Motivation and Incentives
- Traffic Building
- Recognition / Service Awards
- Brand Awareness
- Souvenir / Remembrance
- Safety Programs
- Product Rollouts
- Point-of-Purchase
- Direct-Mail Marketing


How Can I Place an Order?

E-mail us at sales@promo-specialties.com or call 410.635.2797 Our office hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.


What is Considered a Rush Order?

Please note that normal production time for custom imprinted orders is 10-12 working days, plus shipping time. Any order needed in less time than this time will incur rush charges. Note: some suppliers offer "Rush Service". Additional charges for "Rush Service" will apply. Be sure to tell your sales representative the exact date that you need to have your items in-hand (the deadline date or event date.


How long does it take to get the products once it is ordered?

The amount of time needed to produce and ship an order, once an order has been received and approved. Stock products with a one-color imprint usually ship within 10-12 working days. Custom products and those with multi-color imprints can require longer production time.
The number of pieces that were printed in excess of the quantity specified/ the production run of fewer pieces than the amount specified. The industry standard on most products is + 2-5%, with the exception being on paper and plastic bags. They can range from +10 to +25%.  Suppliers bill on the actual quantity shipped. Most suppliers will print more than ordered in case there is a problem with a few items so you do not have to leave someone shorthanded during an event. Also you will have extra items on hand for warranty purposes.


What Additional Charges Will I Incur When I Place an Order?

The price you see is called the "per unit price". Additional charges include, but are not limited to: set-up or screen charges, PMS charges, freight charges, and overruns. All products are shipped F.O.B. factory. Freight will be prepaid and added to your invoice.


Are There Additional Charges if I Print in More Than One Color or One Location?

Yes, please call for additional charges for two or more color imprint color, additional locations, or for PMS color matches.


What are Your Payment Options?

We accept VISA, Master Card, cash or a company check. For your convenience we will also accept American Express for an additional 5% surcharge. First orders must be prepaid in full. Our terms are Net 30 for approved accounts. Note: the invoice date is the date that the order ships. A late charge will apply to invoices that are paid late. We do not ship orders COD.


What if I Do Not See An Item that I am Looking For?

We have many resources to help you find what you're looking for. Please call our office and we will help locate the item for you. There are over 500,000 items to choose from!


Why is there a set up charge for each new item I order?

A fee charged by the manufacturer for labor and materials needed in order to transfer your logo to the printing method. A silk-screen requires a screen fee for every color, this is needed to manufacturer you the screens you will need for printing your logo. A deboss or hot stamp requires that we make you a metal plate for which the machine makes your imprint witch is otherwise known as a plate or a die. Digitizing for embroidery is the most expensive process; We need to make you a digitized tape so the stitching machine can recreate your logo on fabric. Often times we will keep your plate, screen, or mold on hand for a few years for reorders, this way you will not have to pay another setup charge again.


What different types of imprint methods can be used?

Screen Printing / Silk-Screening
An image is transferred to the printed surface by ink, which is pressed through a stenciled screen and treated with a light-sensitive emulsion. Film positives are put in contact with the screens and exposed to light, hardening the emulsion not covered by film and leaving a soft area on the screen for the squeegee to press ink through. Also, you must create a different screen for every color you are going to print, and then screen each color separately allowing drying time in-between.
Embroidery Stitching a design into fabric through the use of high-speed, computer-controlled sewing machines. Artwork must first be "digitized," which is the specialized process of converting two-dimensional artwork into stitches or thread. A particular format of art such as a jpeg, tif, eps, or bmp, cannot be converted into an embroidery tape. The digitizer must actually recreate the artwork using stitches. Then it programs the sewing machine to sew a specific design, in a specific color, with a specific type of stitch. This is the process known as digitizing.

Deboss
Achieved by depressing an image into a material’s surface so that the image sits below the product surface.

Emboss
We Impress an image in relief to achieve a raised surface.

Hot Stamp
Setting a design on a metal relief die or plate, which is then heated and pressed onto the printing surface to achieve a deboss.

Etching
Using a process in which an image is first covered with a protective coating that resists acid, then exposed, leaving bare metal and protected metal. The acid attacks only the exposed metal, leaving the image etched onto the surface.

Laser or Foil Stamp
Applying metallic or colored foil imprints to vinyl, leather or paper surfaces. Usually with a deboss.

Die-casting
Injecting molten metal into the cavity of a carved die (or a mold)

Die-striking
Producing emblems and other flat promotional products by striking a blank metal sheet with a hammer that holds the die.

Colorfill
Screen printing an image and then debossing it onto the vinyl’s surface.

Pad Printing
A recessed surface is covered with ink. The plate is wiped clean, leaving ink in the recessed areas. A silicone pad is then pressed against the plate, pulling the ink out of the recesses, and pressing it directly onto the product.

Laser (Engraving)
Imprinting method by which art or lettering is cut into a material by a laser beam that vaporizes the portion exposed through openings in a template.

Sublimation
Dye transfer process where the image consists of a colored dye permanently embedded into the material surface of pores. Used to imprint messages, graphics and photographs on a variety of items, primarily mouse pads, mugs, T-shirts, caps, and trophy medals.

Decal
Artwork is produced on a transparent decal, and then applied to product.

Offset Printing
A process of transferring ink from a metal printing plate to a rubber-covered cylinder.  Used on complex artwork and for higher quantity runs.


What type of art files can be used?

The traditional standard for acceptable mechanical artwork that is "camera-ready black and white” material.

Vector files
Sometimes called a geometric file, most images created with tools such as Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw are in the form of vector image files. Vector image files are easier to modify than raster image files. (which can, however, sometimes be reconverted to vector files for further refinement) Another way to look at it is that every pixel in the image has an X and a Y axis; this allows easy resizing without loss of quality.

Bitmap files
Images are exactly what their name says they are: a collection of bits that form an image. The image consists of a matrix of individual dots (or pixels) that all have their own color (described using bits, the smallest possible units of information for a computer). Unless these are in very large sized resolution (600 DPI or better), they are unusable in the printing process.

(PDF) files
Adobe® Portable Document Format preserves the visually rich content of original files, and is easier to read than HTML content that appears in a Web browser. Adobe PDF files print cleanly and quickly, and anyone can share Adobe PDF files, regardless of their platform or software application. This is good to show the end result you would like, but usually not good for sending artwork that needs to be printed.

EPS - (Accepted)
Encapsulated Postscript file: An alternative picture file format that allows PostScript data to be stored and edited and is easy to transfer between Macintosh, Windows machines, and other systems.

AI - (Accepted)
Adobe Illustrator File, the very best in quality to recreate your artwork in the printing process.

JPG - (Not Accepted)
Commonly used on the web due to it's excellent ability to compress the graphic to save webpage load time. This format will not work to use in the printing process.

GIF - (Not Accepted)
Commonly used on the web due to its ability to reduce the number of colors an image uses to be viewed to save webpage load time. This format will not work to use in the printing process.

BMP - (Not Accepted)
A generally low resolution Image format. This format will not work to use in the printing process.

Doc - (Usually Not Usable)
Word doc files can only be used if you would like to display typeset text. Any images in a word doc will not be able to be printed correctly.

Web Pages- (Not Usable)
As a general rule, if it can be viewed on the web it will most likely be too low of quality for printing. Web graphics are made to load quickly, thereby cutting the quality of the image. The eye may not notice on the web, but it will show up in printing.

Here are a few tips to make your visit to our website as enjoyable as possible:

• Clicking "Home" at any time will take you back to our main welcome page.  To see our current special offers, click the "Specials" button.  Learn more information about our company and its history by clicking the "About Us" button.  For our contact information (phone, address, etc.), please click the "Contact" button.  In the "Links" area, you'll find an impressive listing of other websites that we recommend you visit.

• Be sure to stop by our online showroom to view our featured items.  Click "Showroom" to enter.  If you see something you like, just select the item for more details.  You can then add the item to your cart to request more information or place an order directly from our site!

• To search our vast promotional product database, click the "Search" button.  After you perform your search, you can see detailed information regarding any product.  If you see an item that interests you, you can easily add it to your online cart.

Click "View Cart" at any time to review the items in your cart.  Don't forget that you have to check out by clicking "Check Out" in order for your cart to be sent to us.  All of your personal information (including credit card information) will be submitted using industry-standard SSL encryption with a certificate provided by Verisign.

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If you need further assistance using our website, please don't hesitate to let us know!  We're always here to help!