When I first started at Omnipress in 1995, our clients would send us hard copy originals, and we were strictly black ink on white paper (remember the movie "Pleasantville" ?).

Fast forward to 2008: our association clients send digital files for short-run color printing (under 1000 quantity) of their educational materials (bound session handouts, printed programs, conference binders, etc).

Color printing is more affordable than ever, but plenty of people have done research on why color sells. My sources come from a variety of web sites such as "The Persuasive Properties of Colour" and How to Use Color to Sell, Cahners Publishing Company.

• Quality - 92% believe color presents an image of impressive quality
• Impact - 90% believe customers remember presentations and documents better when color is used
• Learning - 80% of what we assimilate through the senses, is visual
• Readership - Color improves readership as much as 40% 
• Emphasis - Participants read color ads up to 42% more often than the same ads in black in white.
  

While printing an entire book in full color is still more expensive than b/w printing, a short-run of 1,000 copies of a 100-page workbook is a prime candidate for color.

From our files... The top uses of color printing for educational materials by Omnipress association clients:

1. Final programs - All pages printed in color. Organizing tracks and sessions (color coding)
2. Color coded program-at-a-glance pages
3. Pocket or badge schedule at-a-glance
4. VIP, committee or highlight pages of honorary members
5. Pages containing advertisements (our clients are charging more for color ads, helping to offset printing costs). And being a company that sponsors association industry events, we prefer our logo in color.
6. Reference or learning books where color is used to distinguish elements of a chart or graphic (e.g., EKGs or CT scans)
7. Book covers including inside cover pages
8. Advance programs or flyers - anything that is marketing piece!

BTW - My favorite color is red - I'm not sure why since my car is gray, my house is green, I have a ton of blue shirts in my closet and I always seem to choose a black shirt to dress up my jeans (which I'm wearing right now as I write this).