The magazine printing industry continues to thrive across diverse sectors in both consumer and B2B markets. Listed below, these range from established mainstream categories to emerging niche markets.
Fashion and lifestyle magazines continue to dominate commercial printing volumes, with business and professional publications a close second in demand. Emerging categories like sustainability publications offer opportunities for innovative printing methods and materials such as those offered here at WTP.
Table of Contents - Wholesale Magazine Printing
Types of Magazines and Publications
Clients Served by Western Trade Printing
Best Magazine Layouts and Sizes
Best Magazine Printing Processes - Digital vs Offset
Best Papers for Magazine Printing
Types of Magazine Binding
Magazine Mailing – the WTP Bulk Mail Methodology
Publication and Magazine Printing Costs – Get a Quote
Areas Served by Western Trade Printing for Custom Magazine Printing
Types of Magazines and Publications
General Interest and Lifestyle Publications
• Fashion Magazines
• Beauty Magazines
• Health and Fitness Publications
Business and Professional Publications
• Finance Magazines
• Corporate Magazine Printing
• Trade and Industry Publications
Technology and Innovation Publications
• Technology and Gadget Magazines
• Gaming Magazines
• Science Publications
• AI Tech Publications
Lifestyle and Consumer Interest Publications
• Home and Garden Magazines
• Luxury Real Estate Magazines
• DIY Home Improvement Guides
• Food and Cooking Publications
Entertainment and Cultural Publications
• Arts and Culture Magazines
• Literary and Creative Publications
Specialized and Niche Publications
• Hobby and Recreational Magazines
• Automotive and Transportation Publications
• Food & Beverage Periodicals
Emerging and Trending Categories
• Sustainability and Environmental Magazines
• Digital Lifestyle and Social Media Publications
Clients Served by Western Trade Printing
WTP’s wholesale magazine printing services (and all other WTP trade printing and bindery services) are available only to resellers in the printing trade. This includes magazine publishers, print brokers, commercial printing companies, quick copy printers, and ad agencies.
Best Magazine Layouts and Sizes
The best way to lay out a magazine or publication is to start with standard sizes and work the design from that. For magazines, this typically means using a trimmed size of 8.5 x 11” or 9 x 12” with the binding on the long side. Other publications might use smaller sizes such as 5.5 x 8.5” or 6 x 9”. Tabloid publications use 11 x 17”.
These sizes make the most economic sense because they fit widely available paper stocks and are compatible with a wide range of printing and binding machinery. They also align with postal requirements to get the best bulk mail discounts.
Of course, it’s possible to print other sizes or to use oblong formats which are bound on the short side. Atypical sizes will certainly stand out. Just be sure to talk with your print service provider to confirm feasibility and total cost before committing to an unusual size. You can always reach out to us at 559-251-8595 to discuss your magazine layout questions.
Best Magazine Printing Processes - Digital vs Offset
WTP has a variety of offset litho and digital printing presses that make for affordable custom magazine printing for nearly any print quantity and budget.
Our G7 methodology means that all jobs are produced with consistent color on all substrates, no matter which printing press or paper is used.
Offset Magazine Printing – Medium to Long Run Capability
Our 40” 4 and 5 color Heidelberg and Komori Perfectors with in-line aqueous coating allows for production of medium to high-volume magazine printing. WTP’s MBO and Stahl folders handle folding of up to 40” sheets. Saddle stitching is done on our Muller Martini equipment.
Digital Magazine Printing – Short Run Publication Capability
WTP has a state-of-the-art Ricoh 7500 digital press with a Plockmatic 350 inline booklet maker. It can handle black-only or full color printing on stocks up to 18 pt. It’s the perfect equipment for short-run publications and magazines of up to around 750 pieces, all printed and stitched inline.
The digital press is also an asset for print production of short-run perfect bound magazines and publications, all finished on our in-house perfect binder.
Our digital press equipment makes it easy for new publications to get started without having to commit to long print production runs.
Data Integration
WTP’s digital printing equipment also allows for extensive personalization, customization, and variable data in magazines and publications.
The use of QR and AR codes also makes it possible to connect magazines to online channels and content.
Best Papers for Magazine Printing
As a commercial magazine printer, WTP has a large inventory of coated and uncoated text and cover paper available for our magazine and publication printing services. This includes popular 80# and 100# gloss and dull (silk) book and cover stocks. We also have a wide range of premium and premium recycled sheets available for high-end projects.
Eco-Friendly Digital Papers and Substrates
All our paper and synthetic offerings are recyclable, which means you can freely print the recyclable logo on your printed projects. WTP is certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Chain of Custody Standards.
Western Trade Printing only buys quality papers and substrates that are responsibly manufactured to exceed USA regulations. This means our house stocks are typically a higher quality sheet than most of the imported sheets in use today.
Eco-Friendly Workflow at WTP
Not only do we use eco-friendly papers, we go deep with our sustainability practices and make them part of our daily operations. It includes environmental awareness and practices at every step of the printing journey from prep to mailing and fulfillment, including materials, processes, and technology.
✅ Digital workflow reduces physical proofing waste
✅ Chem-free processing of plates
✅ Non-toxic consumables
✅ Energy-efficient presses
✅ Digital short-run capabilities means reduced inventories and waste
✅ Computerized bindery equipment reduces errors and waste
✅ Computerized press equipment reduces waste and is consistently accurate
✅ Printing on recycled paper
✅ Printing on recyclable papers and synthetics
✅ Recycling of all paper waste from press and bindery
✅ Vegetable-based inks whenever possible
✅ Recycling inks
✅ Aqueous coatings
✅ G7 printing methodology reduces waste and errors
✅ FSC certification means environmentally responsible sourcing
As a trade-only wholesale print service provider, this means that our holistic environmental practices are yours to pass along as a benefit to your clients.
Types of Magazine Binding
The two most common types of magazine binding are saddle stitching and perfect binding.
Higher volume saddle stitched magazines (from 750 pieces up to hundreds of thousands) are inserted, stitched, and trimmed on our Muller Martini saddle stitcher.
Short run saddle-stitched books (less than 750 copies) are printed and stitched on our Richoh 7500 digital press with its Plockmatic inline booklet maker. This booklet maker uses a unique “square bind” technology. This keeps books lying flat so they don’t look like they came off a copier. Digital printing also allows us to pass along significant, aggressive cost savings to publications.
Other publications sometimes use Wire-O (Double Loop Binding), Spiral Binding (Coil Binding), or GBC Binding (Plastic Comb Binding). These types of binding are for publications that must lay flat, such as cookbooks, manuals, or guides.
Short-run perfect bound magazines are great for brands that offer premium products and services and want marketing materials to match. This includes luxury magazines, programs for high-end events, or annual reports. Perfect bound magazines are produced in-house on WTP’s perfect binder.
Magazine Mailing – the WTP Bulk Mail Methodology
WTP has developed a bulk mail methodology that typically saves our clients hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars on a single publication mailing.
How do we do it?
WTP uses a combination of Sectional Center Facility (SCF) Entry Discounts with list enhancements and walk sequence discounts.
To qualify for a SCF Entry Discount, mail must be sorted and dropped off at a Network Distribution Center (NDF) or Sectional Center Facility that is closer to the mailing’s final destination.
A USPS walk sequence is the exact order in which a mail carrier delivers mail on their route. Mailings prepared with this sequence qualify for additional discounts.
Other mailing list enhancements include Address Change Service (ACS), National Change of Address (NCOA) updates, address element correction, computerized delivery sequence, and more.
It takes a little figuring to discern whether the discount is worth the effort. This is one reason most people don’t bother to get these discounts. In short, it costs money to correctly prepare and transport mailings to the SCF.
The advantage of working with WTP is that we do all the bulk mail estimates for you to get you the best possible rates on every mailing.
For example, we’ve found that it only costs an average of $350 to earn over $2,000 in postal discounts on a moderately sized mailing. That means that our publication clients come out way ahead without having to do any of the tedious work involved in getting these additional mailing discounts.
Publication and Magazine Printing Costs – Get a Quote
If you’re new to Western Trade Printing, you can create an account here to get instant online quotes and to place online orders.
Or call us at 559-251-8595 ext. 1 for a fast estimate or to ask questions.
At Western Trade Printing, we have 250+ years of collective printing industry experience, from layout and design through printing, bindery, and mailing. We know what works and what doesn’t with magazine printing and mailing. Our staff experience is an asset that is yours to use to help you grow your publication business or to get one started.
Reviews of Western Trade Printing
Here’s what one client says about working with Western Trade Printing. You can read more reviews here.
Above and Way Beyond..."
These guys are fantastic! They go above and way beyond to make sure your project is perfect. Their services are on point, they have a true eye for detail, and they are a trade printer, so they care about their business clients and build relationships with them. I can’t rave about their customer service enough. I'm truly impressed!
~ JF - Broker
Areas Served by Western Trade Printing for Custom Magazine Printing
From our trade printing production facility based in Fresno, California, Western Trade Printing offers wholesale magazine printing services and bulk mailing for clients throughout the United States. Magazine mailings can be shipped to Sectional Center Facilities or drop-shipped to clients anywhere in the US. We also offer other trade printing and bindery services to resellers across the country.
WTP’s local service area includes all the major metropolitan areas in California including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Bakersfield, Anaheim, as well as the surrounding regions.
