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The cover of a custom tally book is what most people will see, so it's worth getting right. This guide covers the three ways we print covers, a few designs from real customers, and the mistakes to avoid.

The three print methods

All three come in standard and junior sizes and fit our standard and junior refill pads. We also offer foil stamping. See each option: silk screen, full color entrapment and full color vinyl.

Designs from our customers

Entrapment with color photos. A Texas oilfield equipment manufacturer used entrapment to show off its whole business: an eye-catching logo on white at the top, a lineup of the tools and equipment it makes in the middle, and color photos of its work in action along the bottom. It's a good example of how much one cover can say.

Silk screen simplicity. An Arkansas transportation and hauling company kept it simple: forest green and royal blue on a khaki background. The logo sat in the top third, the middle third was left as white space, and contact information went in the bottom third. Nothing flashy, and it looked sharp.

Wrap-around color vinyl. Full color vinyl is the hardest of the three to pull off, but one drilling company made it work with four photos of its operations on the front and its worldwide locations on the back. Busy, but effective.

Browse more on our projects page.

Five tips for a great cover

1. Get the layout right first. A clear layout makes or breaks the book. If you're not comfortable laying it out yourself, our design team will do it at no additional charge.
2. Choose colors that read in the sun. Your company colors are usually the right starting point, but test how the cover looks outdoors, because that's where most people will see it. Sometimes a different combination grabs more attention.
3. Match the method to the artwork. Simple logo? Silk screen. Photos or detailed art? Entrapment.
4. Don't sacrifice function for looks. These books get used hard in the field. Make sure the size, binding and paper suit the job (see what to put inside a custom tally book).
5. Proof before you print. Ask to see a proof of your tally book before finalizing the order.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Forgetting functionality. A beautiful cover on the wrong book won't get used.
• Leaving out the inside. Custom inserts are one of customers' favorite features. Plan them along with the cover.
• A cluttered layout. Give the logo and contact details room.
• Poor color combinations. Low-contrast colors disappear in daylight.

Let's design yours

Send us your logo, or just an idea, and we'll put together a concept. Contact us or call (800) 715-9255 for a quote. Wondering whether custom books are worth it? Read why custom tally books pay off.

The cover gets your company noticed, but the inside is what makes a custom tally book worth carrying. With custom inserts and pads, you decide exactly what's in every book, so your crew has what they need without fumbling for a phone, a calculator or a binder.

Here's what our customers put inside, and how to choose the pads that hold it all.

Inserts that earn their place

Measurement and conversion tables. Nobody remembers every equation in the field. Put the conversions, units of measurement and quick calculations your crews use most at the front or back of the book. Oilfield customers often include references for thermal gradient, bottom hole pressure and stretch due to weight in hole.

Company standards and policies. Condense the essentials, like how to record figures, uniform policies and on-site conduct, into a few pages. New employees learn the standard way faster, and experienced hands have a reference when something unusual comes up. It beats reprinting training manuals for field crews.

Best practices. A supervisor can't be on every site. Printing your best practices inside the book, or on the inside covers, reinforces training every time someone opens it.

Emergency and company contacts. List local emergency numbers, the right company contact for an incident, and numbers for things like vehicle repairs. Add the steps to follow after an accident. You hope nobody needs them, but your crew will feel better knowing they're there.

Custom forms. Custom pads can carry printed forms or formats on any number of pages, from a single page to all 200.

A tip from customers who've done this well: before ordering, run the list past your most experienced field employees. They know which references actually get used on the ground.

Pick the right size and layout

Tally books come in two standard heights, standard (8.25") and junior (6"), and our covers fit both. Think about how each crew records information:

• Taller, narrower pages suit fast, frequent notations.
• Wider layouts suit detailed notes.
• Different field units can get different books if their jobs differ.

Choose your refill pads

Stone paper deserves a closer look for crews working outdoors. It has no grain, collects no static charge, is acid-free, and resists water, grease and insects. It can be recycled with No. 2 plastics, and it's photodegradable and compostable in commercial settings.

Plan for refills

Once your custom book is set up, refills are simple. We keep your specifications on file, so a reorder repeats everything, from manuals and tables to emergency numbers, and your crews never have to make do with a different book while waiting. Refill pads can also be bought in bulk without covers.

Next step

Ready to plan your inserts? Contact us or call (800) 715-9255, and we'll help you lay out the pages. For the outside of the book, see our custom tally book design guide.

Tally books are the industry standard in oil and gas, and they're just as useful to engineers, surveyors, cable installers and contractors. Out in the field they do a lot of work: quick calculations, recording estimates and figures, and serving as a reference for company policies and contacts.

A generic book does the basic job. A custom tally book does that job better and puts your company's name in front of everyone who sees it. Here's what customizing gets you.

1. Your crew works faster

Time on a job site is expensive. When the tables, conversions and references your team needs are printed right inside the book they're already carrying, nobody has to dig for a phone, a calculator or a binder in the truck.

Custom inserts can hold measurement and conversion tables, shorthand calculations, your standard format for recording figures, and the contacts people need when something goes wrong. Instead of reformatting a generic log to fit the day's tasks, your team gets a book built around the rounds they actually make, which also makes the records easier to review back at the office.

2. Company standards travel with every employee

New hires have a lot to absorb, and even experienced employees forget the standard format for an unusual entry. Condense your key policies, recording standards and best practices into a few pages inside the book, and every person in the field has them at hand.

That's also a lot easier than reprinting training manuals for field crews. Once the contents are set, every refill comes with the same pages. (See what to put inside a custom tally book for ideas.)

3. Your brand goes everywhere your team does

Every time an employee pulls out a branded tally book, on a drilling site, at a lunch stop or with a customer, your name and logo make another impression. It's the same idea as the logo on your trucks, and people learn to connect the two.

You can also hand books to customers and partners. Unlike buttons, stickers or key chains that end up in a drawer, a tally book is something people use every day, so your brand stays in front of them every day. For a small investment per book, that's more lasting presence than a billboard, a radio spot or a mass mailer.

4. It builds pride and looks professional

Crews carrying a well-designed company book feel more like part of the team than crews carrying mismatched generic ones. It shows employees you've invested in giving them good tools, and it shows customers and competitors that your operation runs professionally. That counts when you're recruiting and trying to keep good people.

Custom vs. generic: the short version

Getting started

Custom tally books are built from two parts: a custom cover and refill pads in standard, wire-bound, waterproof stone paper or fully custom versions. Don't have artwork or a design concept yet? Our design team will help create one at no additional charge. Read our custom tally book design guide to see the options.

For more information or a quote, contact us or call (800) 715-9255.