Definition

Noun: A business organization whose primary commercial activity is the production of printed materials, such as books, newspapers, brochures, or packaging, using various printing presses and techniques.

Usage

A "printing company" is a specific type of business entity. It is used to refer to the organization itself, not the physical act of printing. - The author chose a local printing company to produce the first run of her novel. - We need to get quotes from three different printing companies for this marketing campaign.

Advanced Usage

• Commercial Context: The term often implies a business-to-business (B2B) service provider, distinguishing it from in-house printing departments or personal printers.
  • As a printing company, our clients are mostly other businesses and publishers.

Variants and Related Words

• Printer: While "printer" can refer to a machine or a person who operates it, in a business context, it can be a synonym for a printing company (e.g., "We sent the job to the printer").
• Print Shop: A smaller-scale or retail-oriented printing business.
• Press: A dated or formal term for a printing company, often used in names (e.g., "University Press").

Synonyms

• Printing firm
• Commercial printer

Related Phrases

• Outsource to a printing company: To contract the printing work to an external business.
  • We decided to outsource the annual report to a printing company.

Noun

1. a company that does commercial printing