FAQ

Many of our practices are considered very sustainable, although we do not do everything in the same way as some printers who classify themselves as ‘sustainable’. Here’s what we DO do:

1. Plant one tree for every print project we do. At least twice a year we order trees with Fifteen Trees to help offset our emissions. We use online carbon accounting tools to approximately calculate our overall total annual emissions. However, as we don’t measure exact emissions per job, we don’t claim to be completely carbon neutral (but our goal is to reach net zero certification).
2. Offer 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper stocks as a standard for every print job. We are happy to consider printing on other papers on request, but the products we offer are specifically designed to be printed on sustainable papers.
3. Print using a digital press wherever possible. Digital printing is much more sustainable than offset printing.
4. When printing offset, we use LED – UV (Low energy UV) technology, which uses light emitting diodes (LED globes) and extremely light sensitive ink to dry the ink during the printing process. LED UV works in a specific light spectrum mitigating ozone and heat loads. The benefits of Low energy UV over conventional solvent based inks with aqueous coatings are as follows:
   • Low Energy UV uses significantly less power than aqueous coating OR conventional UV drying.
   • Instant drying will reduce print product delivery times as our processes are improved.
   • Finishing of the work in bindery immediately after printing.
   • No scuffing, marking or image gutters required to minimise marking reducing reprints.
   • No UV Ozone is produced which requires no ducting of fumes into the atmosphere.
   • No volatile organic compounds from the solvent based ink because it’s instantly cured under UV lamps.
   • No aqueous waste to be removed and processed.
   • Less ink waste due to reducing wash-ups of the ink ducts as UV ink does not dry or skin like conventional ink.
   • No spray powder is used.
   • All press consumables is minimised overall using UV.
   • Stocks can be written on.
   • The print quality is significantly better as the printed dot sits on the sheet, rather than soaking in, and is far more accurate in holding shape.
   • High fidelity colour on uncoated stocks with less ink absorption into the stock thereby giving brighter colour. 
5. All of our presses run to consistent density calibrated by our CMYK Colour Finder book and the press technology coupled with skilled operators means we can reach our colour density levels in far fewer sheets than most traditional offset businesses meaning far less waste paper and ink.
6. In addition to the benefits of H-UV and LED offset printing, we also recycle all our waste stock, plates, ink and other consumables. Our entire business model hinges on lean production efficiencies with minimal waste. A greater investment in digital equipment in recent years also means less by product being thrown away.

Read more about sustainable printing and learn about what different printers are doing to practice sustainability.

Currently we have no plans to shift to soy/vegetable/plant based inks as they don’t suit our manufacturing process and won’t run on our current presses. We rely on H-UV ink for its immediate drying capability to provide fast turnarounds. These enviro inks don’t dry as quickly and would likely not allow our supplier to meet their ISO 12647-2 standard. This is a bit of a contested subject in printing so you can See more information here and assess for yourself. 

In addition, as our parent brand is a design agency, we have experimented for many years using soy-based inks for client work such as business cards. We noticed the ink tends to rub off and the pieces have lower durability. We believe we have found the perfect middle ground that addresses all our goals of sustainability, affordability and quality.

Yes, for all of our standard products apart from our pull-up banners, but you’re welcome to ask for custom papers if desired. 

The reason we prefer recycled stocks is this; recycling white office paper requires 44% less energy, generates 50% less wastewater, and produces 38% less carbon emissions than virgin paper. This is because most of the impacts in papermaking are in the delignification of wood into pulp. Recycling only needs de-inking before pulping (fibres in water). Recycled paper is not usually re-bleached and when it is, oxygen rather than chlorine is usually used. This reduces the amount of chlorinated compounds which are released into the environment as a by-product of the chlorine bleaching processes.

Absolutely! Our parent brand is an award-winning graphic design and digital agency, highly skilled in all things design and creative. 

We can design your print items from scratch or fix up your files so that they’re ready for printing. Ethical Print Co. has a separate dedicated team that works only on design projects for our printing customers. You can download our price list for standard printing items here (coming soon).

For graphic design enquiries please contact design@ethicalprint.co. Please note this mailbox is only managed from Tuesday to Thursday. 

Yes and no! We can print labels, stickers, packaging inserts, swing tags, standard shelf talkers, and other shop-style products that don’t require custom templates and die cutting. We offer a boutique range of eco print products that are suitable for corporate document printing, business stationery and corporate event printing. Packaging is a specialty service that is best handled by a packaging print company who can offer a wider range of options.

Please allow a minimum of 10 days for your job to be printed and delivered. While your job is likely to be delivered before 10 days, we can’t guarantee this so it’s your responsibility to allow 10 days if you have a strict printing and delivery deadline.

Most of our products are printed within 3-5 business days and our print supplier hubs run over weekends which helps to avoid delays. Dispatch does not operate on weekends so if your job is printed over a weekend it won’t be dispatched until Monday.

We will provide you with an estimated delivery date once your job has been sent to production.

Not yet, but this is something we will make available soon. Stay tuned.

Your print quote is valid for up to 30 days as paper prices vary regularly.

Yes, we keep all press ready artwork on file. If you’ve been set up with a client portal, you can log in and see all your previous orders and artwork there. Feel free to download files for use elsewhere or email our quoting team directly to ask for a reprint. Please provide information on QTY and any other details that have changed and we will process ASAP for you.

As we are an online business that services all of Australia, it would be a logistical nightmare trying to provide all our customers with printing proofs. However, if your job is really large in  page count or QTY and you’d like to see a sample, we can arrange this for a fee. Talk to our quoting team with your request: quotes@ethicalprint.co.

We’re working on these and they will be available by mid 2023. Thanks for your patience. In the meantime, please feel free to ask us any questions on how to set up your artwork correctly.

We require all artwork to be provided as: 

1. A press-ready PDF
2. CMYK colour profile
3. 3mm bleed on all sides
4. Trim marks included.

Creating a press-ready PDF might be different depending on which software you’re using. We recommend artwork is set up in Adobe software by a designer or someone who is design-savvy. However, we will accept all PDF files as long as they include the above. To set your file up correctly in Adobe programs, please follow these instructions:

Select ‘Adobe PDF (Print) ’ from the Export or Save menu → select the [Press Quality] setting in the Adobe PDF Preset dropdown → Click the ‘Marks and Bleeds’ tab and turn on Crop Marks → Under the Bleed setting set all sides to 3mm bleed (Top, Left, Bottom, Right). You can now export your file.

For 2-sided documents you can keep your pages in a single file. For multi-page documents and booklets, please export in single pages with front cover at the start and back cover at the end of the document. Don’t export the document as spreads. We will join the front and back cover in the Prepress stage. Please ensure there is no bleed on the spine where the front and back page will meet, unless this is an overlap of the other page (e.g. if an image or colour block wraps around the spine).

Yes, we will check that the file is set up correctly and contact you if we have any concerns or if the file does not pass prepress. However, we do NOT check design or content details or proofread your file, so it’s your responsibility to make sure your document is free of typos or other errors.

Absolutely! Just make sure you export your Canva project as a Press PDF with trim marks and bleeds.

Yes, we send digital proofs for sign-off before we proceed with printing. This gives you a chance to check your file one last time and make sure you’ve provided us with the correct file, delivery details, and other finishing details.

Yes, we deliver anywhere in Australia (with the exception of P.O. boxes). It may take a little longer for delivery to rural or remote areas, so please ensure you allow enough time for printing if you have a rigid deadline.

Nothing at all. As we are an online-only business, all of our printing is delivered to customers and courier fees are built into our cost of sales.

At the moment we are taking payment via PayPal, which means you can use any credit or debit card to pay.

We also offer direct deposit from Australian bank accounts, but please be aware that we can’t start the print process until the money has cleared, which may delay your project by a couple of business days.

Once your order has been processed we will provide you with information on expected delivery date.

After your printing has been picked up from the courier, we will send you your tracking code so you can track where it is.

Unfortunately once an order is placed, it is immediately scheduled in the print queue and in most cases can’t be cancelled. We hope you understand, as our priority is to keep turnaround times as fast as possible for our customers.

Please contact us immediately at support@ethicalprint.co if there is something wrong with your printing. We pride ourselves on a high quality print product and on the rare occasion that there is a print or finishing error, we will reprint for you immediately.