Writing Your Terms and Conditions: A Guide for Print Shops

Sometimes print shop owners don’t think they need to lay out the terms and conditions (sometimes called “terms of service” or “terms of use”). But having a clear, public terms and conditions page could save you thousands of dollars on legal fees in the future. Writing it is a necessary part of growing your print business.

It’s easy to find generic templates online, so in this article we’ll focus more on the sections (or “clauses”) that are unique to print businesses. Remember, every set of terms and conditions is different, so use this only as a general guide and personalize yours for your business.

Terms and Conditions for Your Print Shop: What Should You Include?

1. Order Approval

When your clients send you a file to print, what do you not check for? Make this clear to your clients so that they don’t expect you to catch their mistakes. And if you have a proofing process, let your clients know how it works.

2. Customer Content

There are two sides to this coin. You may first want to mention that you don’t pre-screen content, but also mention that you may refuse or remove content that is illegal. Then you’ll want to list some of the illegal content that you will not print.

3. Customer Submitted Artwork or Graphics

List out your file requirements, including the color mode you require, the minimum resolution, and any other requirements that you have. State that you are not responsible for print results caused by files that don’t meet these requirements. This section is very important when dealing with customer complaints.

4. Color Proofing and Matching

Do you do color matching? How close to the proof (digital and physical) can your clients expect the print results to be? You should mention that you’ll try your best to match the colors but that you can’t guarantee exact color matches, just so that you have some wiggle room for reasonable color variation.

5. Trimming and Folding

Similar to color, you should state that although you’ll try your best to trim and fold as accurately as possible, there is an acceptable level of variation that could potentially occur. For example, you could say that you are not liable for up to a 1/16 of an inch of trimming variance on each side.

6. Turnaround Time

There are 3 questions that you should answer here:

1. What is the cutoff time for placing their order?
2. When does the turnaround time begin? (The moment they place their order, or after they approve the proof?
3. What does the turnaround time include? (Just production, or shipping as well?)

7. Order Cancellation

When can your clients cancel their order, and when is it too late? If they need to pay a fee for cancellation, state that too. This is also a good place to talk about when they can hold or change their order.

8. Returns and Refunds

Here is where you list the conditions under which your client can get a refund. Decide on the number of days that your clients have to contact you about any print issues.

9. Shipping and Delivery

Have a disclaimer that says the shipping and delivery times you provide are estimates. You’ll also want to mention what happens when there’s damage from shipping or when the package gets lost.

10. Payment

What types of payment does your business accept? You should also mention whether you keep their payment information. Additionally, there should be a section here about using coupon codes or other special promotional offers.

11. Other Clauses

These other clauses are not exclusive to the printing industry; they’re often found in the terms of conditions of any business. You’ll be able to find templates and “generators” for these parts online, so we will just briefly list them out.

• Limits of Liability – Provides limits to what you could be liable for
• Indemnification – Holds you “harmless” for certain losses and expenses
• Governing Law – Indicates which jurisdiction’s laws you’ll be operating under
• Non Solicitation – Tells your customers to not “steal” your employees or your business
• Copyright – Covers your intellectual property and also tells your clients to respect copyright laws
• Use of Site – Lays out the rules and responsibilities of using your website
• Links to Third Party Sites – States that you’re not responsible for the content on their sites

Here’s an example of the terms and conditions page of a leading trade printer.

What else do I need?

Based on how your website functions and how you provide your printing services, you may need other clauses. You should also have a brief customer acknowledgement somewhere in the ordering process (e.g. “I acknowledge that I have read and accept the terms and conditions”) and a privacy policy.

Terms and conditions protect you and help you and your clients resolve issues, so we encourage you to make the effort now so that you’re prepared for the challenges of a growing business.

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