[OT] Printing User's Manuals -- Copying Quandries

[W. Watson]

It seems as though for application users manuals for many products that pdf
files are the method of choice. I sometimes take them to our local Staples
store, and have them double-sided printed in b/w, and wire bound. There are
times when I'd like to see the color material reproduced. In many cases, it
seems to occupy 10-15% of the ink used, my estimate. However, Staples is an
either or proposition. $0.40 for color or $0.08 for b/w, so who wants to pay
$0.40 for every page. I happen to like wire binding, but after you've
accumulated more than, say, 3 such documents, identifying them in a book
case becomes a little aggravating. As far as I know, no one has end labels
that can be put on the wire. Perhaps a good way is to use tags with a
string, or some DIY approach.

Here are the questions. Has anyone out there found a way to deal with
labeling wire bindings or getting a price on copying that works on an
approach other than either b/w or color? In the latter instance, it's too
bad the copiers (Xerox, e.g.) can't tell the operator what % of color was
used out of the whole run, and then charge accordingly. Comments?

Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

"Has it occurred to you that the lust for certainty
might be a sin?" -- Archbishop of York, cited in
the book "Chances Are" by Kaplan & Kaplan

 

[Poprivet]

It seems as though for application users manuals for many products
that pdf files are the method of choice. I sometimes take them to our
local Staples store, and have them double-sided printed in b/w, and
wire bound. There are times when I'd like to see the color material
reproduced. In many cases, it seems to occupy 10-15% of the ink used,
my estimate. However, Staples is an either or proposition. $0.40 for
color or $0.08 for b/w, so who wants to pay $0.40 for every page. I
happen to like wire binding, but after you've accumulated more than,
say, 3 such documents, identifying them in a book case becomes a
little aggravating. As far as I know, no one has end labels that can
be put on the wire. Perhaps a good way is to use tags with a string,
or some DIY approach.
Here are the questions. Has anyone out there found a way to deal with
labeling wire bindings or getting a price on copying that works on an
approach other than either b/w or color? In the latter instance, it's
too bad the copiers (Xerox, e.g.) can't tell the operator what % of
color was used out of the whole run, and then charge accordingly.
Comments?
Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

"Has it occurred to you that the lust for certainty
might be a sin?" -- Archbishop of York, cited in
the book "Chances Are" by Kaplan & Kaplan

Make two jobs out of it; one with just the B&W, then give the second which
consists of only the color. Then manually collate them and have them bound.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

If you are in the habbit of printing a lot of useless materials then you
can save money by buying yourself a good color laser printer. May I
recommend Dell Colour Laser Printer 5110cn?
(http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&sku=222-2144&redirect=1)

Secondly, to get your stuff bound, I suggest go to your nearest
university where they must have such a service for students which you
can use it as they are in need of money all the time!

If all this fails, then I suggest come and live in advanced city like
London, UK where somebody like me can help you out for a fee!!

hth

 

[W. Watson]

Thanks for the tips. If you measure the ratio of our town to your city, 18
million maybe to 6,000, then you have an edge of 3,000 to 1. Not to mention
that your city is the "nearest city" and our nearest big city is 60 km away,
Sacramento, CA. For awhile, I did have contact with someome who would do the
copying at a fair price. The university approach is a nice touch the next
time I'm near one. We use waxed string for communications here.