What we do

We produce printed material for the Liberal Democrats, and also for local organisations which request it and which do not conflict with Liberal Democrat values. Recent examples include a gardening club and a local church.

We can print in 2 (or more) colours on paper, card and posters for any size up to A3, and can cut, fold and batch the printed material. We do not normally deliver - you should be prepared to collect your printing when it is ready - but if you are further afield feel free to ask if we can still help.

We can also provide full colour printing at competitive rates via a trade printer, for almost anything you could use in a campaign from A3 FOCUS to business cards, Christmas cards, banners and display boards, except for tabloid newspapers. Delivered free to you. Please ask us for a quote.

Printing

We can print on paper and light card up to A3 size, single or double sided. We can print in black, blue, red and of course Liberal Democrat orange ink, on white or coloured paper - most paper colours are available to order. We can also print on your pre-printed stock - for example if you wish to produce a full colour leaflet for a large area, with different local editions printed on the other side.

Unless otherwise instructed, we print on 90gsm white paper. Coloured paper is generally 80gsm, and card 160gsm, (though we have thicker card too if you need it).

Posters

We can also get full colour posters and banners printed for you, in almost any size, on paper, plastic sheets or Correx (but not using Dayglo colours; we recommend Election Workshop for Dayglo Correx diamonds).

2 Colour Printing

Note that the Riso does not do precise 'hairline' registration between the colours, so it cannot print full colour photographs or designs - but we can get those done by other means as explained above. We can print your photographs in black-and-white (or any colour listed above), and other text or design elements in another colour.

We can produce double-sided material. This requires 2 passes through the printer.

We also have laser printers for such uses as very small runs (below 100), or for mail-merge. Contact us if you want to use these to add names and addresses onto your literature so we can agree any special arrangements needed to ensure compliance with the GDPR.

Folding and Batching

We have a Folding Machine which is capable of folding up to A3 paper in 2 or 3 (V, C or Z) folds. Note that we cannot cross-fold, so if you want an A3 sheet folded down to A5, we can do the first fold to A4 but the second has to be done manually.

We can provide your leaflets counted and folded, ready for you to give straight to your deliverers. We can batch into 100s, or into the numbers needed for each "walk" or street. If you require this service, either provide the printed walk cover sheets, or send the walk cover sheet PDF file with your order.

You can do the folding yourself if you like - we'll show you how to use the machine! We'll give you a discount if you do this.

Cutting and trimming

We have an Ideal 4305 Guillotine which can cut several hundred sheets at a time, up to SRA3 size - though it is mostly used when we print A5 leaflets 2-up on A4 paper.

If you do not want A5, A4 or A3 sizes, we can cut the paper to any size up to A3, but to avoid waste it is best to use metric sizes (A3, A4, A5 or even A6), except for posters. For posters, we generally keep a stock of 210mm x 210mm (approx. 8" x 8") paper, but may be able to get other sizes if given sufficient notice.

Artwork

While we can print from a paper original, the best results come from printing from a computer file, supplied as a PDF or PagePlus X8 file.  PagePlus files will lead to problems if we don't have exactly the same photographs and fonts as you; to avoid this, save your design as a "package".

The photographs you include in your page should be good quality monochrome photos (set to 'greyscale' in your design program). Ideally, the contrast should be fairly high, and the photo a little darker than seems right on your screen. Never try to blow up a small or fuzzy photo; it may look OK on screen but will look horrid when printed out!

If requesting 2-colour work, make sure you only use black and a pure primary colour, preferably red, and tell us what colour ink to use (e.g. orange). The red on your artwork will print as orange. If you use orange on your artwork the Riso will try to match it by mixing in some black, which will look like an ugly shadow on your printing. If in doubt, talk to us first.

You can send your PDF file by email to HLPS. Or if too big, upload it to Google Drive or Dropbox and send us a link. Or WeTransfer which is even easier to use, and requires no login.

Remember to say how many copies you want printed, what size, and how (if) you want it folded and batched!
Call David Wright on on 078 0002 2424 if you have problems.

Imprint

Per the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, political leaflets must show who they are published and promoted by, and who printed them.

Other publications are governed by the Newspapers, Printers and Reading Rooms Repeal Act 1869 as amended by the Printer's Imprint Act 1961, (yes I do know Mark Pack), which requires that they show the name of the printer.

Where we are the printer, you should include this text somewhere on the front of your publication:

Printed by HLPS, 119 High Street, Sutton, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB6 2NW
(You can leave the 'Cambridgeshire' out if space is tight.)

Contacting HLPS

We are based in Sutton, near Ely in Cambridgeshire. See the Contacting HLPS page.