Serving Santa Rosa and Sonoma County's businesses for over 50 years

About Us

A 1963 drawing of Ajalon Printing in Sebastopol, by Val Twiggs

People often ask where our name, Ajalon, comes from. It's actually derived from a biblical reference to Joshua's battle in the valley of Ajalon, where the setting sun was halted to aid Joshua's army in their long road to victory.

Ajalon Printing & Design was so named in dedication to that spirit of finishing the task before us, no matter the obstacles - even a setting sun!

We're one of the oldest and most respected printers in Sonoma County. While other printing firms are only the end-station for your needs, Ajalon serves you all the way from start to finish - from conception to completion.

Printing your work isn't our only concern...we want your printing to work for you!

Sustainable... Green... Environmental

These are words that are used a lot today when talking about conducting business. Here at Ajalon Printing& Design they are not just "catchwords" we recently started using. For over twenty years, we have always sought to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Here are some of the things we do to reduce our environmental impact:

Waste Paper - Twenty years ago it was difficult to find somebody who would pick up our paper to be recycled. We had to pre-sort it into coated and uncoated. Prior to this, the paper had been going into a landfill. Now, our waste paper is collected in large bins by a recycling company.

Plates/Film/Photo Chemistry - For many years, we have been recycling metal printing plates (they are aluminum), photo chemistry and film (they contain silver). This makes economic sense as well.

Waste Ink - We have collected our left over ink over the years and have disposed of it according to local and federal guidelines. I believe it is incinerated in special facilities that capture the heat to use as energy and purify the smoke of harmful chemicals.

Soy-Oil Ink - We have been using soy oil inks since they were first introduced over 15 years ago. We are always on the look out for better products to clean and leave our environment better off.

Packing Material - We reuse packing material that we receive, partly because it is cheaper to save it and reuse it, than to go out a buy it when we need it. When it starts collecting around here, I go crazy with boxes of it sitting around, so we then give it to neighboring businesses so they can use it.

Surplus Paper & Materials - For years we have cooperated with a local organization that provides surplus materials to schools and other businesses. It is gratifying to see teachers getting excited about paper that they can use in the classroom that would otherwise just be recycled.

Administrative/Customer Service - We have seen the transition from when we had to send proofs back and forth physically (by mail or with cars being involved), to using the fax machine when it came out. Today most all of our communication with customers is conducted by email, and with no paper copies. We also endeavor to place orders with vendors electronically.

Tree-Free & Recycled Paper - In the letterpress aspect of our printing we use tree-free paper that is 100% cotton. And, if clients chose to use other alternative fiber material, such as bamboo, kenaf, or agriculture waste fibers, we have ready sources to obtain them. Much of the paper we order for our customers is either FSC certified or has post-consumer recycled fiber.

So for us here at Ajalon Printing being environmentally friendly and saving the resources of our planet is not the latest business trend, but a way of life to which we have always been committed. Heck, I even have boxes of my dog's hair that I have collected over the years when I groomed him. I hope to have it spun into yarn some day.

Community Involvement

We love living in Sonoma County and make opportunities to give back when we can. We regularly support a variety of local non-profit organizations including: