Publish first in the format your buyers already order from. If most orders come over the counter, on site visits or at exhibitions, print the catalogue first. If they come through WhatsApp enquiries, email and tenders, or your range changes every few months, start with an e-catalogue and print a shorter edition later.
Start with how your buyers place orders
Suppliers often choose a format by habit. The last catalogue was printed, so the next one will be. Or a nephew says nobody reads paper any more. Neither is a reason. Watch how an order reaches you over one ordinary week and count the routes. Most UAE suppliers have one or two that carry the bulk of the business.
Counter sales
Picture a trade counter in an industrial area of Sharjah. A site foreman walks in, leans on the counter and flips pages until he finds the fitting he needs. He points. Your staff write down the code. Nobody is going to hand him a tablet. A printed catalogue with large codes and clear photos is the tool for this, and a copy goes back to the site with him.
Site visits
When your sales engineer visits a contractor’s site office, the catalogue left on the desk does the selling after he has gone. Someone else picks it up a week later. Site offices are dusty, and basements often have no signal. Print first, with a PDF on the rep’s phone for the moment a buyer says “send me that page”.
WhatsApp enquiries
A buyer sends a photo of a worn part and asks if you stock it. You need to answer with the right page in under a minute. That calls for an e-catalogue: a light PDF of the full range, plus smaller section files that open quickly on a phone. A printed book cannot be forwarded.
Tenders
Procurement teams usually want documents they can file, compare and forward to a consultant. A PDF with product data, specifications and certificates laid out consistently is easier for them to work with. The tender documents normally say which format and which attachments they want, so read those first. Our guide to a company profile for tenders covers the companion document.
Exhibitions
Visitors collect paper, and by mid afternoon their bags are full. A thick catalogue gets left at the hotel. A slim printed range guide with a QR code to the full e-catalogue is carried home and still gives the buyer everything. If exhibitions are your main source of new accounts, print the short guide and build the full version as a PDF.
How often does your range change?
Print is fixed on the day it leaves the press. If codes, pack sizes or models change every quarter, a printed book starts ageing at once, and staff end up correcting it by hand at the counter.
An e-catalogue can be reissued whenever the range changes. Put a version date on the cover and in the footer of every page so your team and your buyers know which copy is current. Old PDFs stay on phones for years.
Two habits help with either format:
- Keep prices out of the catalogue. Issue them as a separate dated price list.
- Keep product data in one spreadsheet that the designer works from, so an update is an edit and not a rebuild.
If your range is steady for a year or more, as it often is with fasteners, fittings and standard sizes, print is a safe first choice.
How many products do you carry?
With a few dozen products, one document can serve both purposes. Design it once, print some copies and send the same file as a PDF.
With several hundred, the printed book becomes heavy to carry and costly to reprint. The e-catalogue takes over the full listing, with bookmarks, a clickable contents page and text that can be searched. The printed piece becomes a selection: the lines that move fastest, or one edition per sector.
With thousands of items, the complete list belongs in a searchable PDF or on your website. What you print is a range overview that shows the categories and brands you hold and sends the reader to the full list.
Printed catalogue and e-catalogue compared
| Question | Printed catalogue | E-catalogue (PDF) |
|---|---|---|
| Where it works | Counters, site offices, exhibition stands | WhatsApp, email, tender submissions, your website |
| Updating | Needs a reprint | Reissue the file with a new version date |
| Large ranges | Gets heavy; suits a selection | Handles the full list with bookmarks and search |
| Finding a product | Index and tabs | Search, links from the contents page |
| Sharing | Handed over in person | Forwarded in seconds, page by page if needed |
| Cost pattern | Design once, then printing for every run | Design once, small cost for each update |
| Without signal or power | Always available | Only if already downloaded |
| Next step for the buyer | Call or visit | Tap a link to call, message or email |
Read down the first row and you will probably recognise your own business in one column more than the other. That column is your first edition.
Design once, publish twice
Choosing which to publish first does not mean paying for two separate designs. If the second format is planned from the start, most of the work carries over.
A few decisions make that possible. Use a page size that suits both, and A4 upright is the usual answer. Set type large enough to read on a phone without zooming, which also helps at a dim counter. Photograph products once, at print quality, on a plain background. Use the same codes everywhere. Then the print edition gets bleed and print colour settings, and the digital edition gets bookmarks, links and a compressed file size.
This is how we set up catalogue projects at CPDA, where the team has handled 1300+ projects since 2012. We do not print. You receive print-ready files for the printer you choose, along with the screen version. The details are on our product catalogue design in Dubai page. If you are still unsure which document you need at all, compare a company profile, brochure and catalogue before you brief anyone.
A five-question test to settle it
Answer each with “print” or “PDF”.
- Where is the buyer standing when they choose a product: at your counter or on site (print), or at a desk or on a phone (PDF)?
- How did your last ten enquiries arrive: in person (print), or by message and email (PDF)?
- Will codes or models change within the next six months? No (print), yes (PDF).
- Could a salesperson comfortably carry the full range as a book? Yes (print), no (PDF).
- Does anyone ask you to upload or email product documents? Rarely (print), often (PDF).
Three or more answers the same way gives you the first edition. A split result usually means a full e-catalogue with a short printed guide beside it, which is also a sensible place to end up within a year whichever you start with.
When you have an answer, send us your product list and a few sample photos through the contact page. We reply with a scope and a quote in AED.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send the print file as my e-catalogue?
You can, but it will be clumsy. Print files are large, carry crop marks and have no links or bookmarks. A proper screen edition is exported from the same design at a smaller file size, with a clickable contents page and tappable phone, email and WhatsApp details. It is a modest extra step once the layout exists.
How large should an e-catalogue PDF be?
Small enough to send and open on a phone without a long wait. There is no single correct figure, since it depends on page count and photos. A practical approach is one compressed full catalogue, plus separate section files for the categories buyers ask about most, so staff can send only what is needed.
Should prices go in the catalogue?
In most trade catalogues we would leave them out. Prices change more often than products, and a printed price is hard to withdraw. A separate dated price list, or a quotation on request, keeps the catalogue useful for longer and lets you quote different terms to different buyers.
Do I need the catalogue in Arabic as well as English?
It depends on who reads it. Many trade buyers work from codes and photos in English. Government buyers and some retail customers may expect Arabic. Ask your main customers, and check any tender documents for a stated language. A bilingual edition needs planning from the first page because Arabic runs right to left.