Printkeg vs. ShortRunPosters: Which Poster Printer Is Right for You?
If you've been shopping around for poster printing, you've probably come across both Printkeg and ShortRunPosters. On the surface, they seem to do the same thing. Dig a little deeper, though, and you'll find two companies built for very different customers. Here's an honest breakdown to help you decide which one belongs in your workflow.
Who They're Built For
ShortRunPosters is a Nashville-based printer that has been operating since the 1970s. Their entire identity is built around one thing: affordable poster printing at low quantities with no minimum order. If you need a single 18x24 event poster or a dozen promotional prints for a local show, they've perfected that lane.
Printkeg is a US-based print fulfillment company located in Beaufort, South Carolina (near Hilton Head Island, built specifically for artists, designers, and small creative businesses. The product catalog runs deep — fine art prints, giclée, posters, flyers, booklets, stickers, postcards, greeting cards, and more. Printkeg isn't just a print shop; it's a fulfillment partner designed to handle orders that come through your own storefront.
Print Quality
ShortRunPosters
Uses a toner-based printing process on archival matte paper (80# coated cover stock for standard sizes, 46# bond matte for larger formats). The output is solid for the price point — vibrant enough for event signage and promotional use, with an optional lamination add-on if you want a glossy finish. Customers consistently praise the quality relative to cost.
Printkeg
Prints on professional-grade paper stocks chosen for fine art and photographic reproduction. The process is calibrated for CMYK accuracy, which matters when you're reproducing original artwork and every color shift affects the integrity of the piece. For artists selling prints as a product — not just as decoration — that distinction is significant.
If you're printing a larger concert or classroom poster, ShortRunPosters delivers. If you're printing limited-edition art prints to sell to collectors, Printkeg is the right call.
Product Range
ShortRunPosters does one thing: posters. Their standard sizes are 18x24 and 24x36, with a few additional formats available. That focus keeps their operation lean and their prices low.
Printkeg offers a much wider range of print products. Beyond posters, you can order fine art prints, giclée prints, flyers, postcards, greeting cards, booklets, stickers, and more — all from a single fulfillment partner. For artists and small businesses managing multiple product lines, having everything under one roof simplifies operations considerably.
Pricing
ShortRunPosters built their reputation on price. A single 18x24 poster costs just a few dollars — a rate that undercuts most competitors by a wide margin, especially for small quantities. If raw cost-per-print is your primary concern, they're hard to beat at those two sizes.
Printkeg pricing reflects the quality of materials, the breadth of the product catalog, and the infrastructure built around artist fulfillment. You're paying for CMYK-calibrated output, archival paper options, and a system designed to route orders directly from your storefront to production. For artists building a print business, that's not a cost — it's an investment in consistency and scalability.
Shortrunposters brands YOUR prints unless you pay more. Printkeg never brands your prints.
Shortrunposters brands YOUR prints unless you pay more. Printkeg never brands your prints.
Prices exclude shipping. Verify current rates at shortrunposters.com and printkeg.com.
Turnaround and Shipping
ShortRunPosters lists a standard production time of 5 business days, with express options available. Orders arrive rolled in a tube or flat, depending on what you select.
Printkeg is optimized for fulfillment, meaning turnaround is built around getting print orders processed and shipped to end customers efficiently. If you're running a storefront and your customers expect professional packaging and reliable delivery timelines, Printkeg is set up for exactly that.
File Preparation
ShortRunPosters accepts standard image formats and keeps the process simple. It's designed for the casual user who uploads a file and hits order.
Printkeg is built for print-ready files. If you're a professional working in CMYK with proper bleed and resolution, you'll be right at home. The workflow assumes a level of file preparation that matches the quality of the output.
The Core Difference
ShortRunPosters is a great service for what it is — a fast, affordable way to get a poster printed with no minimum quantity and no fuss. For personal use, event promotion, and non-commercial printing, it's a genuinely solid option.
Printkeg is built for a different customer entirely. If you're an artist selling your work, a designer fulfilling client orders, or a small business that needs a reliable print partner integrated into your sales workflow, Printkeg offers the quality, product range, and infrastructure that ShortRunPosters simply isn't designed to provide.
The question isn't which printer is "better" — it's which one matches your actual use case. For a one-off poster, ShortRunPosters gets the job done. For print products that represent your brand and your art, Printkeg is the right partner.
Ready to see what Printkeg can do for your print business? Browse our products at Printkeg.com.
