Printers in Colchester, Essex: Books, Zines & Booklets

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Here’s exactly what happens next

From idea to doorstep, in four steps

1

Tell us your project

The 30 second quote form, or the instant calculator for 1 to 20 copies. Your price lands the same day.

2

Send whatever you’ve got

Rough or ready. A real person checks your file and offers clear advice on making it ready to print. Free and fast.

3

Approve your proof

Your preview to sign off before we print the run. Until approval you can still make changes to the artwork.

4

Printed in Colchester, UK

Stapled booklets with you in 3 days, perfect bound books in 5 and hardbacks in 7 days. Free UK tracked delivery.

Start My Quote

…or just ring Mike & Harriet on 01206 766647. Real people, no chatbots, and we love the tricky questions.

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Not ready yet? Everything you need to plan your Project is below.

Inspiration first, then the nuts and bolts: paper, size, binding and page count. The quote form stays one tap away the whole time.

Your Local Book, Zine and Booklet Printers

We've been printing books since 2006, and we're based at 37 Queen Street, in the middle of Colchester. The books, zines and booklets we make travel all over the world, but some of our favourite projects start just down the road: more than 50 customers across Essex have printed with us since 2017. If you’re local, our paperback book printing and hardback book printing happen right here in Colchester, so your finished copies never have far to travel.

Printed for Essex

Colchester designer Kate Goodall came to us for Made In Our One Square Mile, a community heritage booklet featuring children's cardboard sculptures of Colchester's landmarks. Essex-based Musical Tales printed their picture book Kaiholo the Whale with us at 270 × 220mm on 170gsm uncoated paper. We've printed diploma show catalogues for Colchester School of Art and leaflets for The Minories gallery, too.

What we print

Books: paperbacks and hardbacks, from a single copy
Zines and magazines, stapled or perfect bound
Booklets: programmes, reports, local history and heritage booklets
Children's books, catalogues, photobooks and notebooks

We don't print signage, banners or large-format work. We specialise in bound, printed pages, and we're very good at them.

From Colchester to the world

The same team ships finished work across the globe: Renee Cornue's hardback Fever Dream went to Colorado, Michael Alvarez's Mexico City photo zine to California, and Zoe's illustrated zine Hi Haiku to Quebec. Essex orders get free tracked delivery: stapled jobs are with you in 3 working days, perfect bound in 5 and hardbacks in 7.

Get your quote →

THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING

Local Essex projects, plus a few of the books and zines we've printed here in Colchester and sent around the world.

Kaiholo the Whale, Musical Tales

Made In Our One Square Mile

Colchester School of Art

Fever Dream by Renee Cornue

Mexico City by Michael Alvarez

Hi Haiku

Trickshot Issue 3

See More Case Studies

Real Feedback from Real Customers

I highly recommend this printer

Miguel
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Ex Why Zed printed my first book and the experience couldn't have been better. It was a pleasure working with Mike throughout the whole process. I highly recommend this printer for their great service, quality printing and competitive pricing."

With years of hands-on printing experience, we know how much every detail matters. You get an online service supported by a real team that ensures your work arrives on time and looks exactly as it should.

Project Options

Place Your Project: Formats, Paper, Size and Binding

Every project comes down to binding, paper and artwork. Watch all three in a row and you’ll brief us like a pro in under ten minutes.

1 · Which Binding?

Stapled, perfect bound (glued, like a paperback) or hardback? Your page count has already decided, and one picture shows the whole rule.

Read the full Binding Styles guide →

2 · Which Paper?

Silk, gloss or uncoated: what each looks and feels like, plus the insider hack that saves you money.

Read the full Paper Choices guide →

3 · Artwork Made Easy

Bleed, page sizes, cover files and the 3 common mistakes. Then we check (or rebuild) your file for FREE.

Read the full Artwork Hub guide →

Sorted your spec?

Get My Project Price

Benefits of Ex Why Zed

What Sets Our Print Quality Apart?

✎

500+ Real Case Studies (not AI)

Browse hundreds of real projects we've actually printed. Proper inspiration, and not a single AI mockup.

⚡

We Actually Care

Real people who've been printing books since 2006: friendly, genuinely knowledgeable and usually replying within minutes.

▤

Super Easy Printing from PDF

Design in whatever program you love, save it as a PDF, send it over. Never done it before? A real person checks it for free.

❖

Order a Test Copy First

No minimum means you can print a single copy, check the paper and layout in your own hands, then run the full batch with total confidence.

➜

Free Paper Samples

Silk, gloss, uncoated or kraft: we'll post you the real thing, so you never have to judge colour and feel off a screen.

★

We'll Hit Your Deadline

Degree hand in, launch day or a fair this weekend: tell us your date up front. We'll say straight away if it's doable, then build the whole job around it.

Want to chat about your ideas?

Call Harriet or Mike on 01206 766647, email hello@exwhyzed.com, or send your spec and we'll price it today.

Get My Project Price

Still have questions?

Printing in Colchester: Your Questions

Where are you based?

We're at 37 Queen Street, Colchester, Essex CO1 2PQ. Email hello@exwhyzed.com or give Harriet and Mike a ring on the number at the top of this page.

Do you print books, zines and booklets for Essex customers?

Yes, it's what we specialise in: paperbacks, hardbacks, photobooks, zines, magazines, booklets and catalogues, from a single test copy to large runs, all with free tracked UK delivery.

Do you print signage or banners?

No. We focus on bound, printed pages (books, zines, booklets and catalogues) so we can do them really well. For signs and banners, a local sign maker is your best bet.

How long does printing take?

Stapled zines and booklets are with you in 3 working days, perfect bound books in 5 and hardbacks in 7, counted from approval of your print-ready artwork, with free tracked UK delivery. Each job's lead time is set by run length and print spec, with long litho runs and premium cover finishes adding days. Flag your deadline early and we'll confirm we can meet it before you commit. Every order counting 1 to 20 copies, if it's stapled or perfect bound, gets a thorough file check and goes directly to press. Hardbacks, and any run that reaches 21 copies, get a PDF proof to approve before we print.

How much does printing cost?

As real examples, 100 A5 stapled zines cost around £188 and 100 A5 paperbacks (84 pages) £394. Our instant price calculator gives you a figure in seconds for small orders, 1 to 20 copies. Bigger runs go through our 30 second quote form, which gets you a price the same day.

Can I see the paper before I order?

Yes. We'll post you a free paper sample pack, and you can order a single test copy of your project before the full run.

Will you check my artwork?

Yes, for free. A real person checks every file and tells you clearly if anything needs fixing, from bleed and page size to image resolution, before we print.

©2026 Ex Why Zed Ltd. All Rights Reserved | A polite suggestion to the rest of the print industry: why not use some brain power and creativity to write your own content rather than copying ours again?Catchfish Online

Book, Zine & Booklet Printers in Colchester, Essex