Need help with newspaper ad

[Double H]

I'm trying to get the most ad for the dollar in my local paper with a 3x5 or 4x6 shot. My contact at the paper was quite vague and said that they charge by column width. The paper is 6 columns wide at 1 3/4 inches per column (3 1/2 inches for 2 columns) - or so it appears. To use all the "space" I am paying for, should I resize my shot to 3 1/2 x ??? I don't have enough knowledge of the newspaper business to know how to optimize my ad space at the lowest cost. Does anyone have any experience in this area? Thanks in advance. RM

[jpaige]

I worked for a time at a community newspaper.....Charging by the column inch/width is the norm with newspapers, but that is unusual that they don't have at least a few standard ad sizes that you can choose from, complete with the exact dimensions to build your ad to. If they really won't give you anything like this, then I'd just look through a current edition, find an ad size you like and build your ad to that measurement. In terms of maximizing your space, that's just up to you....if you wanted to build the ad to slightly smaller than the full 2 column width that would just mean you'd end up with some extra space as padding around your ad. I don't know if this answer goes to the meat of your question, but there's my 2 cents...;)

[DoctorWu]

Originally Posted by Double H

I'm trying to get the most ad for the dollar in my local paper with a 3x5 or 4x6 shot. My contact at the paper was quite vague and said that they charge by column width. The paper is 6 columns wide at 1 3/4 inches per column (3 1/2 inches for 2 columns) - or so it appears. To use all the "space" I am paying for, should I resize my shot to 3 1/2 x ??? I don't have enough knowledge of the newspaper business to know how to optimize my ad space at the lowest cost. Does anyone have any experience in this area? Thanks in advance. RM

In that paper 1 column inch would be 1" high by 1.75" wide. 2 column inches would your choice of 2" high by 1.75" wide or 1" high by 3.5" wide and so forth. If you want an ad that is 3"x5" you need 6 Column inches, or for 5"x3" you need 7 column inches. Just devide the width of your ad by 1.75 and round up, then add the height and you get your column inches.

Does that answer your question?