A catalogue is not a photo album. It is a price list, a spec sheet and a delivery promise — in that order.
When a retailer or distributor opens your catalogue, they scan for four things: size, price, minimum order (MOQ) and how long delivery takes. If they must call you to learn any of these, your competitor who printed them has already won the shelf.
1 · Table the information first
Before any design, write one table per product family:
- Variants (size, colour, pack) with MRP and MOQ each.
- GST treatment — inclusive or exclusive — agreed with your accountant.
- Lead time in weeks, not “soon”.
- Care, warranty and returns in one line each.
Design comes after. A beautiful spread with hidden prices is decoration. An ugly table with clear prices still gets orders.
2 · Photography that matches reality
Colour is a promise. If a blue saree prints green, the return is yours.
One consistent background, natural light, and colour correction against the real sample. Show scale — a hand, a coin or a person is not stock. Show the back when the back matters.
For 24 to 100 SKUs, consistency matters more than art. The buyer must compare two pages and trust that both are true.
3 · Prices by zone, taxes in plain words
If you sell in more than one city or country, one global price will be wrong somewhere.
Print city or India or export tables in rupees, dirhams or dollars with a one-line tax note (“GST extra as per invoice” or “VAT included”). State the currency on every spread — do not make the buyer guess.
4 · One artwork, three cuts
Design once, then cut three ways:
- Print files — CMYK, crop marks, fonts embedded.
- WhatsApp PDF — compressed, searchable text, under a few megabytes.
- Square and desk cuts — vinyl and A4/A3 for the shop counter.
The buyer forwards file two today and prints file one next month. Both must be true.
The pre-press checklist
- Every SKU checked against your own stock sheet.
- GST tables checked by your accountant.
- Colour proof approved against a real sample, not a screen.
- Price zones in currency on every spread.
- Editable files in your name, so a price update never needs a redesign.
- Press-ready in two weeks only if the table was finished first.
Get the table right and the design will do its quiet work: the catalogue sells before you speak.
Sources
The official pages this guide is based on:
