How to email a document to a print shop (and what to write)
Most print shops would rather get an email than a walk-in with a phone. Here is the email that works.
The email
Subject: Print order, pickup name Jane Lee
Body: Please print the attached PDF: 12 pages, 2 copies, black and white, single-sided, stapled. Needed by 3pm today. Pickup name Jane Lee, phone 555 0100. Please reply with the price. Thank you.
Attach the PDF. That is the whole thing. Specify: page count, copies, color or black and white, one or two sided, paper if it matters, finishing (staple, hole punch, bind), and when you need it.
Finding the address
- Chains (FedEx Office, The UPS Store, Staples, Office Depot and others) generally prefer their online order page, and many locations also take email. The location page lists which.
- Independent shops almost always take email; the address is on their site or Google listing.
- Libraries and hotels publish printer addresses for email-to-print services.
Print@ keeps the right order address for thousands of locations and, for shops it has not seen, reads the shop's website to find out how it takes files. On a Mac, the Print dialog sends the email for you from a Print@ address, and the shop's reply lands in your inbox.
File format
PDF. If the shop needs something else, it will say. Flatten forms, embed fonts (any "export as PDF" does this) and check page size: US Letter in the US, A4 almost everywhere else.
After you send
Expect a reply with price and timing. Many shops want payment at pickup; some send a link. If you hear nothing in an hour on a weekday, call. Email filters eat print orders more than you would think.
Print@ does this from the Print dialog on a Mac: pick Print@ Nearby, and it finds the closest shop or public printer, sends the file, and gives you a pickup code. From a phone, send a file to a Print@ Network shop.
Install on macOSPrint from the webAll guidesQuestions people ask
- Can I email a PDF to FedEx Office or Staples to print?
- Many locations accept email or have an online order page where you upload the file and choose the store. Check the specific location.
- What should I include when emailing a print job?
- Page count, copies, color or black and white, single or double sided, finishing, when you need it, and the pickup name and phone.