Does the printing industry have trade customs I should know about?

 The printing industry of North America's trade customs are a set of common business practices prevalent in the industry but adopted by each individual business owner. The industry's first trade customs were originally announced at the annual convention of the United Typothetae of America in 1922 and were updated five times through 2002. At that time, two industry organizations (NAPL and PIA) released a three-part report entitled Best Business Practices for the Printing Industry to take the place of the trade customs. The best practices report includes guidelines for digital-asset-management issues; terms and conditions of sale, including quotations, orders, delivery and production schedules; and a glossary of the industry's most common workflow terms.

Like trade customs, the purpose of the best practices is to act as a framework so that printers and their customers can discuss and develop a clear understanding of how they will do business. When printed on the back of an invoice (as ours are), they become our Terms and Conditions of Sale.