The call usually comes in the morning. The event is that night.
Somewhere between the venue walk and load-in someone realizes there are no signs. Now a poster must physically exist by Burbank time or somewhere off the 5 by late afternoon.
Rush printing is a completely separate purchase from regular printing. When you pay for rush printing you are not necessarily buying ink on paper. What you are buying is a spot in the production queue on a machine that is already working hard.
Same-day jobs go to the shops that have capacity allocated for them, rather than those that are jamming your job in around everything else.
When the clock is ticking, here’s how to decide. Followed by four Burbank and LA options that WILL magically transform your work in time.
Jump To A Section
- How to choose when you are already late
- Guru Printers
- FedEx Office Burbank
- LA Print Center
- Light Printing House
- Turnaround and ordering at a glance
- The bottom line
How to choose when you are already late
Three things decide whether your poster happens today.
Find the cutoff FIRST. The cutoff IS the entire game. All same-day ops are under a daily deadline. If you miss it by twenty minutes, you lose one day. Locate that cutoff, and THEN go compare.
Then check the rest:
- File specifications: print-ready PDF, CMYK, 300 dpi at final size, with bleed. A file that requires corrections will take up the spot you just reserved.
- Size: anything larger than approximately 24 x 36 requires wide-format equipment, quickly limiting your options.
- Collection: pickup, courier, or delivery, and if the location that prints is actually accessible by you in traffic.
What’s that mean? Translate: speed is determined by a shop’s infrastructure, not their desire. Choose the shop whose process already lines up with your timeline.
1. Guru Printers
Best overall for same-day posters in Los Angeles
Guru sees rush work as a product line, not a favour. The same-day poster order form has the rush built in: pick your dimensions, stock and quantity, upload your art, and choose same business day production if you order by 11am.
That one design decision eliminates the worst stress of an urgent task: wondering if anyone will volunteer.
Where it pulls ahead: size range. The same day poster product ranges from 16 x 20 up to 52 x 72, so whether you need a full bleed window display or a step and repeat-scale print everything stays in the same rush workflow versus becoming a special project. Available stock options include satin, matte and gloss poster paper.
Last minute isn’t just posters at rush catalogue. Same day flyers, foam core signs, retractable banners, stickers, postcards and booklets are all in line together. This is important when one deadline equals five different products.
Example: an arts gallery in DTLA schedules an opening at 9am. Prior to the cutoff time they can order three 36 x 48 posters and a mounted foam board, then pick up their entire order from the Arts District pickup location that afternoon. One order. One pickup. One deadline.
Guru provides transparent file-prep instructions (PDF, CMYK, 300 dpi, 1/8 inch bleed) as well as paid design assistance if you don’t already have artwork.
The trade-off: it’s an order-and-collect operation rather than a walk-in counter, with pickup at their Arts District location. That is what allows the speed, since production capacity is not doubled up with a retail queue, and it works for anyone who can email a file and provide a driver.
Posters due today? If it’s important, start smart with rush poster printing in LA from Guru.
2. FedEx Office Burbank
Occasionally, distance does not win out. If you order standard-sized banners, signs or posters at the FedEx Office Burbank location on East Olive Ave, your order will usually be available for same day pickup (when placed early enough) at the store depending on the product and quantity.
Sizes available: posters are produced in any standard size up to 24 x 36. Mounting on foam or gator board is available, along with matte, gloss or dry erase lamination. Photo, mounted and backlit poster options are offered too.
Best part about it is the counter. You can literally walk in with something that needs a little tweaking on a file and someone will look at it. Priceless at 4pm.
Best suited to: buyers looking for a familiar national process and standard sizes close to the Burbank studios.
3. LA Print Center
LA Print Center does business as Burbank Print Shop throughout the Valley. When the poster is just one item in a larger job, they’re your choice.
They specialize in large volumes: posters, banners, signs, booklets, blueprints, decals and promotional products all made in Northridge. Walk-in service and same day pickup are available for most products depending on quantity and if your file is ready.
Competitive with: local delivery. Delivery is free on qualifying orders over $200 in Los Angeles. This definitely shifts the math when you’re printing posters + flyers + a banner and can’t afford to take someone out of commission to drive.
The store also price matches similar quotes so it benefits buyers who already have a quote.
4. Light Printing House
A credible choice when the rush job spans several product types at once.
Light Printing House has an extensive online catalog for large format posters, laminated posters, banners, decals and trade show displays and serves Burbank, Glendale, Studio City and Los Angeles.
How it works: upload your art, request an instant quote, approve the proof digitally, then pick up locally or have it shipped. Jobs can often be printed the same day they are sent, depending on the product, quantity and how ready the file is to print.
May appeal to those buyers who prefer to have everything quoted through one online account instead of over the phone to a counter.
Turnaround and ordering at a glance
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Provider
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Best for
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How you order
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Pricing model
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Guru Printers
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Same day posters in almost any size
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Online ordering with configurable product, selected at checkout
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Size-based online estimator; custom jobs are estimated
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FedEx Office Burbank
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Standard size walk-in assistance
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Place online order and pick up in store, or walk in
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Retail pricing list online
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LA Print Center
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Mixed orders needing Valley delivery
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Phone, website form or in-person
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Quote-dependent; price matching offered
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Light Printing House
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Multi-product print runs
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Online quote and digital proof
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Online catalogue pricing and quotes
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FYI on the numbers: cutoffs and rush turnaround claims vary by product, quantity and artwork condition, so be sure to confirm your specific job when you place your order. Guru is at the top of the chart because their rush turnaround is an option built into the product itself, and they offer that option across the broadest size range of the group listed.
The bottom line
Rush printing rewards the buyer who commits early in the day.
Guru Printers should be your first call if you’re located in Burbank or anywhere else in Los Angeles and the poster needs to be ready today. They have same day printing standard in the order not subject to haggling, sizes range from small window bill stuffers to billboard size prints and they can fit your flyers, foam boards and banners in the same slot.
Get the file right. Order before the cutoff. Collect that afternoon.
