Low cost, low run pro printing?

I've recently become interested in trying my hand at printed work-- ie, small glossy books, brochures, etc. Can anyone suggest a quality online shop that can print my work at a low cost and with a low run total? I thought it'd be a fun exercise in learning InDesign and print while allowing me to extend my portfolio into new avenues.

I'm basically looking for a company I can send my final InDesign documents to, say I want so and so glossy paper and 3 copies made and have it shipped to me in a few days. I've searched a little through Google, but it's hard to narrow it down.

Thanks!

well i dont know where you live but if its not a rural area, just find a print shop in your area, not kinkos etc a real print shop. be cheaper and you get to see a proof before putting it into mass printing... i doubt a online place would send you a proof before printing them all out. but if you do live in a rural area i cant help you =P and if so sorry for wasting your time.

If you live anywhere near a copymax, they have a web submittal system

well i dont know where you live but if its not a rural area, just find a print shop in your area, not kinkos etc a real print shop. be cheaper and you get to see a proof before putting it into mass printing... i doubt a online place would send you a proof before printing them all out. but if you do live in a rural area i cant help you =P and if so sorry for wasting your time.

Kinkos and Copymax are both "real printshops". We don't do offset in most facilities, but we have the ability to have something done on offset. Mostly, it's laser.

Copymax will deliver your proof to you if the order is over 50 dollars and it isn't outside of a 75mi radius.

I was leaning towards online shops because I'm going to college in Smallville, USA and there isn't a large scale print shop in the area. I'll extend my local "real life" search radius to find what I can.

I assumed that Kinkos and other similar printers couldn't do some of the projects I want-- I'm really looking into super glossy books with a fairly limited page count.

More research on my part is an order!

you could try daprints.com. They might be able to do it for you.

If you know any architects, family or whatever, ask them where they get stuff printed. It's pretty expensive from all the shops I've been in. But even the ones next to the pr0n shops know what they're doing.

kinkos, can get the job done, but they cant do everything on location, and they will be more expensive then any real printshop. if you ever see a real design firm using kinkos or copymax, i would go somewhere else. but im just blabbing on because im sure you arent doing anything to big that kinkos couldnt do.. brochures should be no problem, or a small book. but i think kinkos.com has a online thing, should check it out.

Actually, the copymax I work at does work for other large print firms in the area. Stuff they don't want to run on their printers, they send to us. Also, we are cheaper than any print shop in the area.

Chances are, if you want it done quick, you need to go to copymax or kinkos, period. If you intend on doing a large volume with offset and not laser, a professional printer is what you need. Most of the companies we service are all government or non-profit type agencies.

uh. do yourself a big favor and use Kinky's as a last resort.
Consider a 4-color print shop vs. their super photocopy machines. I think you'll find much better quality.

*IF* you go to an online printer - make absolutely certain you have enough time to get a PRINTED proof from them prior to the print run. You'll be surprised how many horror stories I've heard about that photo of grandma at xmas with purple skin...

good luck

I've heard good referrals to uspress.com -- haven't used them personally, but I know some in this forum have. I accept no responsibility for your actual results :D . I found a local shop that I can deal with that is fairly competitive--so I'm giving them a try.