Frequently Asked Questions

Did You Know ...
There are no taxes if you are located in the United States. No Federal, State or Municipal taxes. GST and PST in Canada, where applicable.

1. How Long has GFX been in Business?
2. How Long Does it Take?
3. Where do you Ship?
4. What is your Production Schedule?
5. What is the Mininum Order?
6. Do You Offer Direct Mail Services for Postcards?
7. Can I Get My Order Faster?
8. What's Your Guarantee?
9. I've Seen one of GFX postcards and there's "Printing by GFXINC.com" on the back. Will my postcards have your name on them?
10. How Do You Print?
11. What Kind of Files do You Accept?
12. All I have is a Microsoft Word (Publisher, etc.) file. Do you accept these?
13. Do The Prices on Your Web Site Include Color?
14. Do The Prices Include Full Bleed (Where ink goes to the edges)?
15. Are There Any Setup Fees?
16. Can You Print Black & White?
17. Can You Add a Pantone/Spot Ink Color?
18. What Kind of Paper Do You Use?
19. I've Heard Printing Companies will change the Paper without Notifying the Customer. Do you do that?
20. Will My Postcard/Business Card/Bookmark be Shiny?
21. I'm Sending Digital Files, Does Someone Check Them?
22. Does GFX provide Proofs like other printing companies?
23. What Kind of Files do you Accept?
24. Where Do I Send My Files?
25. Can You Scan My Photograph, Transparency or Negative?
26. I have a Painting I'd Like Reproduced, can I send it?
27. Do I Get a Proof?
28. How Do You Ship/Can I Pick Up My Order?
29. Do You Accept Checks/Money Orders/Purchase Orders?
30. We are a Business and would like to Setup an Account with GFX.
31. We are Resellers. Do you Offer Discounts?
32. Can You Drop-Ship?
33. Are There Taxes or Customs fees from Canada?
34. Do I Receive an E-mail Copy of My Order?
35. Do I Get a Receipt or Invoice?
36. What If I Want to Cancel My Order?
37. I Have More Questions, Who Do I Contact?

How Long has GFX been in Business?

As a printing company, we are celebrating our 16th year in 2010. We started out as a design firm in the late 1980's, and in the early 90's incorporated a wholesale fine art greeting card company (My Sentiments® Greeting Cards). From the greeting card business, we found that there was actually more of a need to help small businesses promote themselves affordably, and GFX Printing was officially born in 1998.

How Long Does it Take?

• Offset Printing (our regular card products): Our production schedule is 3-4 business days if you okay the proof(s) before 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on any day of the week. Note that bindery (scoring, perforating or drilling a hole) takes an additional 1-3 days after printing. Allow 1-5 business days for ground shipping.
  
• Printing Specials (Min. 5,000):  Our production schedule is 3-4 business days if you okay the proof(s) before 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on any day of the week.
• Overnight Printing: Producton is 24-48 hours.
• Magnets, Plastics and other non-paper materials: On average, production is approximately 4-10 business days from proof approval (no rush service is available). Plastic Loyalty Gift Cards are available at our Business Card web site.

We do not make any guarantees for printing and delivery should there be any unforeseen issues such as weather conditions or courier services delaying the delivery of your printed materials, to equipment malfunctions.

Where do you Ship?

We accept orders, sample and quote requests from anywhere in the Continental United States and all Provinces in Canada. We can also ship to Hawaii and Alaska using Expedited UPS. Shipping to the Northwest Territories by UPS Express only. Sorry, but we cannot ship to military bases, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Caribbean, Europe or Asia. We are located and ship from the Toronto, Canada area.

What is the Minimum Order?

Please refer to our price list.

What is Your Turnaround Time / Production Schedule?

Effective February 1, 2010, our offset production schedule is 3-4 business days if you okay the proof(s) before 10: 00 a.m. on any day of the week. Digital printing is within 24-48 hours.

Can I Get My Order Faster?

We provide 24-48 Hour and Overnight printing services for specific sizes and quantities.

Do You Offer Direct Mail Services for Postcards?

Yes. We offer direct mail postcards for our customers. We can print, address, sort and mail within Canada (American and Canadian businesses) and the United States (Canadian businesses only).

What's Your File Match Guarantee?

If the files we print don't match the files you sent us, we will reprint it at no charge. Exceptions include RGB, Pantones to CMYK conversions, PDFs or incorrect embedded profiles (Eg: using Web Offset instead of Sheetfed), or slight trimming imperfections. We are a gang printing company and do not guarantee an exact colour match or that tiny borders will trim perfectly. If the files we print match the files you sent us, the cost of reprinting them is borne by you. Please follow the guidelines and instructions carefully. Pay particular attention to solid blacks (not text) that are not 100%K on the front. Also refer to our Terms & Conditions for complete information.

I've Seen one of GFX postcards and there's "Printing by GFXINC.com" on the back. Will my postcards have your name on them?

We DO NOT automatically add "Printing by GFXINC.com" on the back. If you've seen this on our postcard printing, there are 2 possibilities, 1) we provide a 5% discount if you let us add our tag line, and 2) "Sponsorsed by GFX Printing" means that we have donated the printing to a charity or charitable event (the GTA area only). We have supported many charities and charitable events over the years.

If you are planning an event in the GTA and are considering postcards as a hand-out or VIP ticket, feel free to contact us at 905-828-7399.

How Do You Print?

We print on offset presses. We also gang print which means that there are numerous files on the same sheet. We then either varnish or Additional (Aqueous or Gloss Varnish). Your cards will have a satin gloss finish to them. Click here to learn more on how we print.

What Kind of Files do You Accept?

Please refer to our specifications page.

All I have is a Microsoft Word (Publisher, etc.) file. Do you accept these?

We accept Publisher 2003 files if you follow the instructions on our site. We do not accept any other Microsoft document.

Do The Prices on Your Web Site Include Color?

Yes. All the prices on our web site means that full color printing is on one or both sides. Please see our pricing page for details.

Can You Add a Pantone/Spot Ink Color?

No. You'll need to convert Pantones to CMYK. We can also convert them for you for free. Note, however, that many Pantones require manual adjusting which we do not automatically provide for you, eg: Reflex Blue and most of the other bright blues convert to purple in so you'll have to adjust these on your own or we can make the adjustments for you for $25 and supply a digital proof prior to printing.

Do The Prices Include Full Bleed (Where ink goes to the edges)?

Yes. There is no additional charge if the ink goes to the edges. The exception is full black coverage on both sides -- we need additional gripper (or increasing the space on the sheet needed to print your file) and the cost is based on the quantity and size you'll be ordering. If requesting a print quote, please indicate that your artwork has a lot of black coverage on both sides.

Are There Any Setup Fees?

No. There are no hidden fees if you are supplying print-ready artwork supplied for the majority of offset printing (magnets and plastics may have exceptions).

Can You Print Black & White?

Yes. There are however no price breaks for black and white on both sides. Our prices are based on reserving a spot on the sheet, whether your artwork is 1-color or less than 4-color.

What Kind of Paper Do You Use?

All printed products are printed on premium card stock. We do not provide any paper choices.

I've Heard Printing Companies will change the Paper without Notifying the Customer. Do you do that?

Some paper companies raise their prices frequently; as often as four times a year! This can cause rapid price changes and in order to remain competitive, we will switch to another similar quality stock, but we won't switch to a lower grade paper to save a few pennies.

Will My Postcard/Business Card/Bookmark be Shiny?

The paper we use is factory-coated and we add Aqueous Coating (AQ is a writeable surface) to give the finished printing a medium shine. We now offer UV Coating for most of our postcard sizes -- UV is quite shiny and non-writeable.

I'm Sending Digital Files, Does Someone Check Them?

Yes. We check all incoming files. If there needs to be any corrections, we will notify you. We will not charge you until we have received proper files.

What Kind of Files do you Accept?

See our specifications page for full details.

Where Do I Send My Files?

After you place your order, you will be given instructions where to send your files, i.e. browser/web upload or FTP upload that are password protected. Please review our guidelines on how to prepare digital files we accept.

Can You Scan My Photograph, Transparency or Negative?

We no longer provide this service.

I have a Painting I'd Like Reproduced, can I send it?

No. You'll need to have it photographed and any negatives converted to a positive, and then scan it into your own computer. Otherwise, you'll need to hire a graphic designer to complete the process for you.

Do I Get a Proof?

Yes, it's an option on the order form. The first set of digital proofs are free (optional on the order form) if submitting your own artwork. Due to gang printing limitations, we do not recommend nor offer hard copy or post-RIP proofs. The DIY & Card Designer sections includes two (2) sets of proofs. We ask that you follow our guidelines for artwork setup and we will check your files prior to printing.

Does GFX supply proofs like other printing companies?

First set of digital proofs are free (optional on the order form) if submitting your own artwork. Due to gang printing limitations, we do not recommend nor offer hard copy or post-RIP proofs. The DIY & Card Designer sections includes two (2) sets of proofs.

Note that a digital proof will only show layout, not colours. We don't spellcheck for you, but we do check all incoming files for a number of potential issues such as resolution.

We presume that the files you send are the files you want printed and if you request a digital proof, we do not guarantee that we can provide them, especially if you place the order or send us files after 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Fridays and expect your order printed and completed the following Thursday.

How Do You Ship/Can I Pick Up My Order?

We discontinued customer pick-up service. Ground shipping within Toronto and the GTA is 1-2 days and approximately 2-5 business days for the rest of Canada and the Continental United States.

Do You Accept Checks/Money Orders/Purchase Orders?

No. We do not accept purchase orders, business checks, personal checks or money orders. All orders need to be prepaid online through our secure ordering system.

We are a Business and would like to Setup an Account with GFX.

Sorry, but all orders are prepaid only.

We are Resellers. Do you Offer Discounts?

Yes, when certain criteria is met. You need to have a valid PST Exemption Certificate (Ontario) or other proof of business existence in your jurisdiction and your order must be paid by you directly. You'll be asked to provide us all relevant documentation. Click here for details on wholesale postcard printing.

Can You Drop-Ship?

For printing services within Canada, yes. The order must be delivered within our existing delivery areas in North America. We can ship within Canada without the package being identifiable, i.e. your customer will not know where the order came from, but unfortunately we cannot ship label-free to the United States. No invoice or other pricing information will be in the package.

Are There Taxes?

• USA residents and businesses: No.
• Canadian residents and businesses: Yes.

If you are located in the United States, there are no taxes or customs fees. For Canadian residents and businesses, we will add HST or GST where applicable.

A note about shipping to the United States: orders that exceed US$200 may be subject to a brokerage/importing fee (average fee is US$30) charged directly by UPS, not GFX. This is not a tax, and all orders are tax exempt under NAFTA. You are responsible for paying this importing fee.

Do I Receive an E-mail of My Order?

Yes. You will receive a copy of your order by e-mail to review it's accuracy. This copy of the order you receive is not a confirmation until a GFX representative reviews it. This is NOT AN INVOICE -- only a verification of what you ordered.

Do I Get a Receipt or Invoice?

Yes. A paper invoice will accompany your order and is located in the package. We do not provide invoices prior to shipping. If we are blind-shipping on your behalf, we will mail your invoice with a few samples. Note that we can only blind-ship within Canada as 9/11 affected packages crossing the border.

We bill and invoice in Canadian Dollars which fluctuates between -20% to +20% from the American Dollar.

What If I Want to Cancel My Order?

STEP 1: If we receive your cancellation request prior to your proof approval, we will honour your request and there is no charge at this stage of pre-production. STEP 2: If your order is in production, but hasn't been printed yet, a service fee of $75 will be charged to your credit card. STEP 3: If your order has been printed, but not shipped, it cannot be cancelled. STEP 4: If your order has been shipped and delivered, it cannot be returned.

I Have More Questions, Who Do I Contact?

Feel free to telephone us in the Mississauga, Canada area at 905-828-7399 (toll free: 1-877-273-7278).

Page Updated February 5, 2010