Commercial Printing Services
United GMG provides commercial printing services to Chicago-area organizations and ships finished work nationwide — in business since 1927. We print marketing materials, business documents, direct mail, packaging, and signage on our own offset and digital presses, and from approved files and proof, most orders ship within three to five business days.
Commercial print work for organizations that print in volume
Request a quote
“We are in search of a new printing resource.”
— how new clients actually open, verbatim from our inbox
Built for organizations that print in volume
Most organizations that land on this page are comparing printers. Fair. The rest of this page is the evaluation: what we print, how it's priced, and how a job runs.
One company that can quote all of it and run it under one roof.
The engagement, in practice
If you're a marketing or operations lead with a ton of things that need printing — or an agency buying print on a client's behalf — this page covers what we print, what it typically costs, and how an engagement works: one account rep, an itemized estimate with turnaround and any setup fees called out, and a proof before anything runs.
That email usually comes with a list of projects — cards, marketing materials, mailings, a sign for the lobby — and a wish for one company that can quote all of it and run it under one roof. That's the engagement we're built for: you work with an account rep who knows your jobs, your stocks, and your reorder history, so "same as last time, same quantity" is a one-line email, not a new project.
Where we earn our keep is recurring programs, bulk runs, and multi-piece projects that need a person on the other end. As one buyer put it, a local printer "eases the risk" of ordering from far away.
In practice that means three things: print programs that run on a schedule are quoted as a program, not job by job; personalized letter and letterhead programs are printed, checked, and mailed without a second vendor; and a single point of contact quotes, proofs, and schedules every job you send — not a ticket queue.
What we print
Printed and mailed from one building — press to mailstream without a handoff.
See sizes, stocks & specs※ An honest note — need a handful of prints for personal use? An online print store will serve you faster. This plant is set up for organization-scale runs.
See your piece on the belt? Put this line in front of us →
Bulk document printing
Shells print offset in bulk; personalization runs digitally on top; the finished run goes straight to the mailstream — one building, no second vendor.
How document programs run
Business documents at volume are their own discipline: variable data has to merge cleanly, page counts have to hold across tens of thousands of impressions, and the finished pieces usually need to fold, stuff, and mail on a deadline. It's a core of our 2025 work.
"Personalized" here means variable data: each letter in the run carries its own name, address, amounts, or versioned copy, merged from your data file and proofed before anything prints. The economics work in your favor — one shell run covers many personalized cycles without repeated setup charges, and because we're also a mailing house, a document run can go from press to mailstream without a second vendor.
For letterhead, stationery packages, and one-off letter jobs, start at the letter and letterhead printing page. For recurring document programs — statements, notices, compliance letters — tell us the piece and the monthly volume and we'll quote the program, not just the first run.
How much do printing services cost?
Printing is priced per piece, and the per-piece price falls as quantity rises — the setup burden of a run spreads across every sheet, which is why buyers ask us to quote 1,500, 3,000, and 5,000 side by side. What you pay is driven by five things:
No dollar figures on this page — every estimate is itemized to your spec.
Where price breaks happen
They aren't a discount — they're where the physical economics change.
Why price breaks recur
Price breaks are the part buyers most often ask us to explain. Plates and setup amortize across more sheets, and at higher quantities a job may shift from digital to offset, dropping the per-piece cost again. That's why the answer to "Does it only drop at the 500 qty level?" is no — breaks recur as runs grow, and a good estimate shows you the next one. Finishing — folding, binding, coatings, die cutting — prices per operation, and tight turnarounds shape the press schedule.
No two jobs price identically, so we quote from your specs — but you shouldn't have to guess at the shape of the estimate before you send one. The table below shows how the common formats behave.
| Format | Typical run we quote | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Postcards | 1,500–500,000 | Size, stock weight, one- vs two-sided, coating |
| Letters & letterhead | 20,000–40,000 (shells to 100,000) | Personalization, stock, folding and inserting |
| Flyers & brochures | 1,500–50,000 | Folds, paper stock, ink coverage |
| Booklets & catalogs | 300–25,000 | Page count, binding, cover stock |
| Business cards | Lots of 250–1,000 per name | Stock thickness (e.g. 16 pt), coatings, edge treatments |
| Envelopes | 1,000–50,000 | Size, window vs standard, print coverage |
Estimates price your exact specs, line by line; postage is quoted separately at current USPS rates.
How a job runs, from files to delivery
Piece, quantity, stock, and your date.
Line-item pricing, turnaround and setup fees called out.
Nothing prints until you approve a proof.
From approved proof, most orders ship in 3–5 business days.
The fine print
No need for final art to get a number — ballpark pricing on early specs is normal. Need separate estimates for a PO? Just say so. Revisions happen at proof stage — before the run, not after it. And if anything threatens the date, you hear it from us first.
How do I get a printing quote?
Send the piece, the quantity — or a few quantities to compare — the paper stock if you know it, and the date you need them in hand to our quote form or your account rep. Print-ready PDFs with bleeds and crop marks speed things up, but they're not required for pricing.
How buyers compare printers
"No need for a formal quote - just ballpark pricing is fine for now" is a request we hear often, and we're glad to work that way. Estimates come back itemized, so line items can move to a purchase order without re-work — and if you're comparing printers, asking every shop for the same two or three quantities is the fastest way to see whose price breaks actually favor you.
What's the turnaround for bulk printing?
Measured from approved files and proof, most orders ship within three to five business days. Jobs with heavy finishing — die cutting, binding, embossing — or very large runs can take longer, and that shows up on the estimate rather than as a surprise after you've committed.
When your date is tight
If your date is tight, say so up front: we'll tell you plainly whether it's makeable before you commit, not after. And printing that continues into mailing (we're also a mailing house) is scheduled as one timeline, not two vendors' timelines — the run moves from press to mailstream without waiting in a second queue.
Do you send proofs before printing?
Always — nothing goes to press without an approved proof, on every job, every reorder. For most work that's a PDF proof against your print-ready files; it's where sizes, bleeds, crop marks, and variable-data merges get confirmed while a fix is an email, not a reprint.
Proof stage is where a transposed suite number or a missing bleed gets caught — instead of after 20,000 impressions.
A working plant, not a broker's office.
In-house printing, finishing, and mailing
Short runs and variable data — every piece personalized.
Banners, signage, floor plans.
Cutting, die cutting, coatings, folding, binding, embossing, debossing — in-house.
Straight to addressing, inserting, and the mailstream — press to mailbox, one building.
Visitors welcome — come see the presses run.
Printing since 1927
Ninety-nine years of Chicago printing — two years before the market crashed, and still running.
Ninety-nine years, briefly
United GMG has been printing for Chicago organizations for ninety-nine years — through every generation of the craft's technology, into today's pressroom, with finished work shipping nationwide. The name on the door has changed less than the equipment behind it: United Graphics & Mailing Group, a working production plant, not a broker's office.
Longevity isn't the pitch by itself. It's what ninety-nine years of production teach: how paper behaves in a Chicago winter, what a mail piece needs to survive the postal stream, and why a proof you can trust beats a reprint you have to eat.
Printing and mailing under one roof
Programs for nonprofit organizations · retailers · restaurants · event planners
A plant you can visit
Mount Prospect, about 25 miles northwest of the Loop — close enough to see the floor your job runs on before you commit. Our Chicago printing services serve Chicagoland — and ship nationwide.
United GMG1864 S Elmhurst Rd,
Mount Prospect, IL 60056
847.588.7600
Printing services FAQ
The questions buyers actually ask, answered the way we'd answer them on the phone.
What is custom printing?
Custom printing is any piece produced to your specs rather than bought off the shelf — your artwork, your size, your stock, your quantity. At United GMG that spans postcards, letters, brochures, booklets, envelopes, folders, invitations, business cards, floor plans, magazines, and packaging, in standard or fully custom sizes.
What are print marketing materials?
The printed pieces that promote your organization: postcards and mailers, flyers, brochures, catalogs, event invitations, presentation folders, and business cards. Most clients order several together — a campaign is rarely one piece — which is why we quote multi-piece projects as one estimate with every line item visible.
Why use print marketing?
Print is tangible: it sits on a desk, survives an inbox purge, and reaches people digital channels miss. It works hardest with a list behind it — a printed piece addressed to a specific person lands in a hand, not a feed — which is why so much of what we print leaves the plant as addressed mail.
What is commercial printing?
Commercial printing is production printing for organizations — presses, finishing equipment, and volume beyond what office or retail printing handles. At United GMG that means offset and digital presses with finishing on the same floor, holding color and registration across runs of tens of thousands, priced per piece so cost falls as quantity rises.
What do commercial printing companies do?
A full-service shop takes a job from file to finished piece: prepress checks, proofing, offset or digital printing, then finishing — cutting, folding, binding, coatings, die cutting, embossing. United GMG adds the step most printers outsource: mailing. Addressing, inserting, and USPS logistics run in the same plant as the presses.
How long does printing take to deliver?
Most orders ship within three to five business days of approved files and proof. Heavy finishing or very large runs can take longer — the turnaround on your estimate is the one that counts. If a delay ever develops, we contact you rather than letting the date slide silently.
Can you print custom sizes?
Yes — any requested or custom size, on both the offset and digital sides. Custom sizes affect price mainly through paper usage and trimming, so include the finished dimensions in your quote request and the estimate will price it exactly.
How do I find a good printing company?
Ask what runs on their own floor versus what they broker out; ask for turnaround on your actual job, not a general promise; ask whether estimates come with every line item visible; and ask to see a proof before anything prints. A shop confident in its plant will answer all four in specifics — and will let you visit. We encourage plant visits precisely because of question one.
Do you serve businesses outside of Chicago?
Yes. United GMG prints for organizations locally in Chicago and nationwide — and finished work ships wherever the job needs to land, whether that's a Chicagoland office or event sites across the country.
How much do printed materials cost?
Per piece, less as quantity rises — see how printing is priced above for the five levers: quantity, stock, ink coverage, finishing, and turnaround. For budgeting before specs exist, ask for ballpark pricing at two or three quantities; that's a normal first request, not a nuisance.
Printing resources
Guides written for people who buy print, not people who sell it.
Put a job in front of us
Send specs, or bring the whole project list — ballpark numbers on early specs are fine.
