How / where to print...

[Lee Taylor]

I'm not sure if anyone already posted anything about this but I was wondering how and where everyone else gets their zines printed / copied? At the moment I'm at Uni and thankfully have access to free photocopies by borrowing lecturers' copy cards mwah haha so I can do it pretty easily there, but I leave in about 7 months and I'm not sure how I'll do it from then on.

Does anyone print stuff from home on their own printer, or do people tend to get them done somewhere or go to places like libraries and use their photocopiers...?

Thanks :)

[Lee Taylor]

Ah thanks for the link to Footprint :) I'm pretty sure I've seen their logo somewhere; I think they print Beat Motel maybe..? It looks like they do larger quantities than I need since I'm likely only gonna make like less than 50 but I'll definitely check 'em out and quote hunt their next time I come to do printing and stuff :D
xox

SteveLarder said:

I use footprinters workers co-op in Leeds for printing. They can run tight deadlines, are cheap and proper friendly and savvy about zines. Obviously it depends on your print run but they have price guidelines on there, along with a selection of paper thicknesses/colours to choose from. They’re total winners!

www.footprinters.co.uk

[Elaine]

I used to get coupons for Staples in the mail, but the closest one to me was 75 miles north... pretty useless.

[Jeff Somers]

Lee,

I use www.docucopies.com. I upload a PDF file specify what I need and they ship me my copies. I've been using them for years and so far they've never messed up an order and the quality is great. I'm currently only printing ~200 copies of my zine at a time, which is 25 double sided originals a pop plus double-sided covers on card stock. The cost last time out was $0.029 per copy for the pages and $0.075 for the cover stock - though they have sliding pricing so the cost goes down if you're doing more copies.

Just FYI.

Jeff

[Lee Taylor]

Ooh, cheers for that link Jeff; they do actually seem to have a lot of options for printing, binding etc. so that's cool :) I'm kind of looking for somewhere in the UK for environmental reasons and to save a little more money but thanks anyway. They'll definitley be worth considering :D
xox

Jeff Somers said:

Lee,

I use www.docucopies.com. I upload a PDF file specify what I need and they ship me my copies. I've been using them for years and so far they've never messed up an order and the quality is great. I'm currently only printing ~200 copies of my zine at a time, which is 25 double sided originals a pop plus double-sided covers on card stock. The cost last time out was $0.029 per copy for the pages and $0.075 for the cover stock - though they have sliding pricing so the cost goes down if you're doing more copies.

Just FYI.

Jeff

[fantasmagoric]

i go to a locally owned shop. if you're printing more than 50 sheets it's 2.9 cents per side.

[Lee Taylor]

Hmm, that might be worth considering then since I don't make many either. I'll have to browse for laser printers; any recommendations? I know nothing about computers haha :)
Cheers for that :D
xox

Teresa Watson said:

I don't get tons of requests for zines but I use a black and white lazer printer, it prints a lot of copies. Ink jet printers run out of ink really fast.

[Lee Taylor]

Haha any idea what the dollar-pound conversion rate is at the moment? Thanks for the advice though :) I'll look around; they may be cheaper than larger places like Staples. Not sure.
xox

fantasmagoric said:

i go to a locally owned shop. if you're printing more than 50 sheets it's 2.9 cents per side.

[Milo]

Currently $1 = £0.61 :)

I usually run proofs off at work (I could probably make tons of copies there, but I try not to cheat my job toooo much) and then go to a local print shop. I've gotten to know the folks there, and they're always super helpful. Also, even if it's a little more expensive than Staples/OfficeDepot/OfficeMax, I think it's important to support local businesses.

Lee Taylor said:

Haha any idea what the dollar-pound conversion rate is at the moment? Thanks for the advice though :) I'll look around; they may be cheaper than larger places like Staples. Not sure.
xox

fantasmagoric said:

i go to a locally owned shop. if you're printing more than 50 sheets it's 2.9 cents per side.

[Lee Taylor]

Ah thanks for that; I thought it was around that :) the local businesses point you made was interesting too. I also have a little vendetta against Staples for supplying stationery to Huntingdon Life Sciences. Grr... > : (
Cheers,
xox

Milo said:

Currently $1 = £0.61 :)

I usually run proofs off at work (I could probably make tons of copies there, but I try not to cheat my job toooo much) and then go to a local print shop. I've gotten to know the folks there, and they're always super helpful. Also, even if it's a little more expensive than Staples/OfficeDepot/OfficeMax, I think it's important to support local businesses.

Lee Taylor said:

Haha any idea what the dollar-pound conversion rate is at the moment? Thanks for the advice though :) I'll look around; they may be cheaper than larger places like Staples. Not sure.
xox

fantasmagoric said:

i go to a locally owned shop. if you're printing more than 50 sheets it's 2.9 cents per side.

[Lee Taylor]

Hmm, I heard Kodak printers were supposed to be the most eco-friendly and cheap in the long-run, but when I read some reviews of them the general idea was that they were a tad rubbish. And preferences on make / model? I'll only need to print black and white anyway so laser should be cool :)
xox

Teresa Watson said:

Laser printers cost more and so does the ink cartridge, but you save money in the long run because you don't have to constantly replace the ink like with cheap ink jets. I got mine at staples on sale, I would look for sales and different stores.

Lee Taylor said:

Hmm, that might be worth considering then since I don't make many either. I'll have to browse for laser printers; any recommendations? I know nothing about computers haha :)
Cheers for that :D
xox

Teresa Watson said:

I don't get tons of requests for zines but I use a black and white lazer printer, it prints a lot of copies. Ink jet printers run out of ink really fast.

[Lee Taylor]

Hmm, I see. I was thinking of getting one of those all-in-one thingy majigs since I don't have a scanner at home either :/ if I can find somwehere cheapish to print stuff then I may still do that but if not, I'll consider the laserjet option I guess :D
xox

Teresa Watson said:

Well, I have a HP laserjet, and I like it. It's a personal laser jet for the home,some are bigger and made really for the office and more expensive. It's on sale here at amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Hewlett-Packard-P1006-HP-LaserJet-Printer/dp/...

[TimT]

Office Works. But that's only one copy, then I take it into Sticky Comics in the city and photocopy for cheap there.

Of course cut-and-paste ziners and those who do everything about hand don't have to worry about that!