Here's what you need to know about custom imprinted poly binders:

The essential fact about poly binders is that they are tough. Where vinyl binders are made with two layers of vinyl heat sealed around heavy-gauge chipboard, poly binders are made with a single sheet of semi-flexible polypropylene material. This stuff is virtually indestructible. Poly binders won't last forever, but they are the longest-lasting binder option in the highest-punishment environments. We sell a lot of these for safety manuals, schools, industrial catalogs and transportation applications.

The other positive factor with imprinted poly binders is that they tend to be quite affordable, generally costing about 20% less than an imprinted vinyl binder of the same size.

What's the catch? There are a couple:

• Poly binders, particularly in smaller ring sizes like 3/4" or 1", don't stand up on a bookshelf without support. Their flexibility means they just fall over.
• The color selection for poly material is not as extensive as the color selection for vinyl, although poly is still available in the most popular colors.

Poly material is available in a variety of thicknesses. Generally speaking, the larger the binder, the thicker the poly. We have standard thicknesses we use depending on the ring size of your project, from "23 gauge" (23/1000 of an inch thick) for a 3/4" binder up to 55 gauge for a 3" binder. For extremely punishing environments, or to ensure that the binder will stand up on its own without support, we can go even thicker, up to 110 gauge. But thicker costs more, so if you get quotes from multiple companies, make sure they are quoting the same material thickness. Thinner material is cheaper, but you may not be pleased with the result.

Custom printed poly binders are printed using silk screen process. It is important to note the strengths and limitations of this process when considering your binder design. We have expert graphic artists on staff who can help you with the process.

The first thing to keep in mind is that silk screen works best with line art. Things like shading, gradients, halftones (photographs) generally do not print very well. It can be done, but what we tell our customers is to think of how photographs appeared in newspapers 30 years ago (before the news guys installed modern, high-tech presses). That's what silk screen photographs look like.

Feel free to send your logos or other artwork to SpeedBinder (you can upload files right from our web site). We'll take a look and give you some recommendations on possible designs.