48 Hour Print: Your Questions Answered (From Someone Who's Wasted $2,400 Learning the Hard Way)

I'm a procurement coordinator who's been handling print orders for marketing teams since 2019. I've personally made—and documented—14 significant ordering mistakes, totaling roughly $2,400 in wasted budget. Now I maintain our team's checklist to prevent others from repeating my errors.

These are the questions I get asked most often about 48 Hour Print, plus a few you probably haven't thought to ask but should.

Is 48 Hour Print Legit?

Short answer: yes. I've placed somewhere around 60 orders with them since 2020. Products arrive, quality is consistent with what you'd expect from online commercial printers in this price range.

That said—and I'm not 100% sure this applies to everyone—the "48 hour" part isn't magic. It's 48 hours of production time after proof approval, not 48 hours to your door. I learned this the hard way in March 2021 when I promised a client their brochures by Friday. Proof approved Monday afternoon, production done Wednesday, arrived the following Monday. The look on my face when I realized shipping wasn't included in that timeline... $340 rush shipping to fix my mistake.

What Do 48 Hour Print Reviews Actually Say?

I've read probably 200+ reviews across different platforms while doing vendor comparisons. The pattern I see:

Positive reviews consistently mention turnaround speed and pricing. People who plan ahead and understand what they're ordering tend to be happy.

Negative reviews fall into two buckets: (1) shipping time surprises (see above), and (2) color matching issues. That second one isn't really a 48 Hour Print problem—it's a "I didn't understand CMYK conversion" problem. I've made that mistake myself.

Here's something people get backwards: they think expensive vendors deliver better quality. Actually, vendors who deliver quality can charge more. The causation runs the other way. 48 Hour Print is priced competitively, and their quality matches their price tier. Don't expect Pantone-matched perfection at online printer rates.

What's PP Foam Board and When Should I Use It?

PP foam board (polypropylene foam board) is the lightweight rigid stuff you see at trade shows and retail displays. It's not the same as foam core, though people use the terms interchangeably. That's caused me problems.

In September 2022, I ordered "foam board" signs for an outdoor event without specifying PP. Got regular foam core. First rain shower, they warped. 12 signs, $180, straight to the dumpster.

When PP foam board makes sense:

• Outdoor or high-humidity environments
• Displays that need to last more than a few days
• Anything that might get bumped or handled frequently

When regular foam core is fine:

• Indoor, climate-controlled spaces
• One-time events
• Presentations where weight matters

Price difference is roughly 20-40% more for PP, based on quotes I pulled in January 2025. Worth it if you need durability.

What About Those Promo Codes Everyone Mentions?

Yeah, 48 Hour Print runs promotions pretty consistently. I've used maybe a dozen different codes over the years. Typical discounts run 10-20% off, sometimes free shipping on orders over a certain threshold.

One thing I'd mention: don't let a promo code push you into ordering more than you need. The third time we ordered the wrong quantity, I finally created a verification checklist. Should have done it after the first time. We had a 15% off code for orders over $500, stretched a $420 order to hit the threshold, ended up with 2,000 flyers we couldn't use because the event date was printed on them. $80 "savings" turned into $500 waste.

Can I Print Posters There? What About Specialty Items?

Posters, yes. They do standard sizes well—I've ordered 18×24 and 24×36 without issues. For reference, large format posters viewed from a distance can get away with 150 DPI resolution instead of the standard 300 DPI for commercial print. That matters if you're working with lower-resolution source images.

They also handle business cards, flyers, brochures, envelopes, bookmarks, banners, and some promotional items. I can only speak to domestic operations—if you're dealing with international shipping, there are probably factors I'm not aware of.

One thing I haven't tried with them: complex die-cut shapes or anything requiring custom finishing. For that stuff, I usually go to a local vendor where I can see proofs in person. The $50-200 die cutting setup fee (industry standard range) hurts less when you know exactly what you're getting.

What's the Most Expensive Mistake People Make?

File preparation. Hands down.

In my first year handling print orders (2019), I made the classic bleed mistake. Submitted a business card design with no bleed, figured "it looks fine on my screen." Result: white edges on 1,000 cards where the trimming wasn't pixel-perfect. Not terrible, but not professional either.

The more expensive version: color mode. RGB files sent to print come back looking different because commercial printing uses CMYK. Pantone 286 C (a common corporate blue) converts to approximately C:100 M:66 Y:0 K:2 in CMYK, but the printed result varies by substrate and press calibration. I've had marketing teams furious about "wrong colors" when the real issue was file preparation.

Standard print resolution requirements, for reference:

• Commercial offset printing: 300 DPI at final size
• Large format (posters viewed from distance): 150 DPI acceptable
• Newsprint: 170-200 DPI

The Question You Didn't Ask But Should: What's Your Backup Plan?

I knew I should get written confirmation on the deadline, but thought "we've worked together for years." That was the one time the verbal agreement got forgotten. $890 in rush reorders plus a 1-week delay on a product launch.

Now I always have a backup vendor identified before placing time-sensitive orders. Not because 48 Hour Print is unreliable—they've been solid for me—but because stuff happens. Files get rejected at proof stage. Shipping delays occur. Someone in the approval chain goes on vacation without telling anyone.

This approach worked for us, but we're a mid-size B2B company with predictable ordering patterns. If you're a seasonal business with demand spikes, the calculus might be different.

Quick Reference: Paper Weights

Since this comes up constantly and I'm tired of looking it up:

Paper weight equivalents (approximate):

• 20 lb bond = 75 gsm (standard copy paper)
• 24 lb bond = 90 gsm (premium letterhead)
• 80 lb text = 120 gsm (brochure weight)
• 100 lb text = 150 gsm (premium brochure)
• 80 lb cover = 216 gsm (business card weight)
• 100 lb cover = 270 gsm (heavy business cards)

For business cards, I default to 14pt or 16pt cardstock unless there's a reason not to. Thinner feels cheap. Thicker gets expensive and doesn't fit in standard cardholders.

I'd rather spend 10 minutes explaining options than deal with mismatched expectations later. An informed customer asks better questions and makes faster decisions—that applies whether you're the customer or the person placing orders on someone else's behalf.