John H. Rodgers on sat 27 dec 97
-- [ From: John H. Rodgers * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --
Russel,
>> i am currently researching the purchase of an inkjet printer... printing
of exhibition catalogues, promo material etc etc.. <<
>> I am looking at 2 main contenders..cannon bjc 7000 and the epson stylus
800 <<
I got into using an injet printer for catalog production. Used an Epson
Stylus .... don't remember model number now, but it was wonderful for color
work. 720 dpi resolution at that time. I guess now they are up over 1400 dpi
.. My biggest problems were (1) cost of ink, (2) cost of paper, (3) not water
resistant....ink ran if even a drop of water got on a page, (4) time to
print high resolution was lengthy.
I found that by getting my work prepared ahead of time, ie, any captions,
words, etc, and putting that together in the computer image, I could put my
entire catalog on a Zip disk, take it to the local printing service, and
there they would up-load it into their network, and transfer it directly to
their big Kodak or Zerox color laser copier, where it would print out as
laser color copies. I would have two or three hundred pages printed at a
time this way. Found that on a bulk basis this way I could get them for $.
75/each. That was in Alaska, at Alaska prices. Still expensive, but cheaper
than the special paper for my Epson printer at the time, the ink... which
was expensive, and the wear and tear on the printer, which really wasn't
designed to do "production printing". Even now, if I have color printing
done on a more than a dozen or so pages basis, I get it done on the laser
copiers. The disadvantage I have found to this method is that printing on
the back side of the picture is very iffy. I worked it out so any necessary
copy on the back of the page would be printed first, the the image printed
on the reverse side. Even so, the print often will show through the picture
on the other side, so I avoid it whenever possible.
I often print copy on one page and images on another. Then I put them in a
nonglare plastic protector. I put a picture in one side and a page of copy
in the other, so picture and copy are back to back in the same protector.
These are then put in a standard three ring binder. These are arranged so
that when the book is open, there will be a picture on the right, and
related copy on the left. What this means in assembly is, that picture and
its related copy are not in the same plastic protector, but different
protectors, arranged so the related copy and picture are across from each
other in the binder. The viewer can read the copy and view the picture at
the same time.
This notebook method has been successful, but is very expensive. I don't
give these away. I charge $35 for the catalog, with the understanding the
cost of the catalog will be deducted from the cost of the first order from
the customer. Minimum order is $500. This applies to commercial customers
only.
With collectors, I promote the book as part of the collectors ensemblage.
After all, if one is to be a collector, would one not want the record of
those pieces that have been produced, so that one can see, and show, where
ones own collected pieces fall in the grand scheme of things?
Finally, a method I have found quite effective, is to have the local
photoshop print a bunch of reprints for me. In volume, I have at times
gotten the price as low as $.25/ea. for the "Jumbo" size prints. I print an
information label and stick it on the back of the picture, and mail it with
a sale sheet,etc. Thats hard to beat. A high res quality "Photograph" direct
to the customer. And a funny thing about photographs.......people don't
throw them away as readily as they do printed flyers. A photo will wind up
stuck on the mirror, or on the fridge, or on the desk. It becomes a reminder
to the holder. But a flyer? Right in the garbage unless the consumer is
really motivated.
A word of caution. For my porcelain figurine reproduction work, the catalog
has worked great, because two people on opposite sides of the world can
expect to get exactly what they saw in the catalog. But in doing pottery, I
have tended to be a bit random in what I make and nothing ever seems to be
repeated exactly. Consequently, my pottery stuff tends to be one of a kind
in nature, and a printed catalog doesn't work very well for that. So, one
should keep that in mind when planning a brochure, catalog or flyer, from
which any orders will be generated. Otherwise, go for it.
John Rodgers
Enjoying a mild winter in Alabama, while Alaska suffers.
Ray Carlton on sun 28 dec 97
hi john i can see your point.....i have used photos and found it difficult
to get the right prints and having them reproduced en masse the same as the
original can be problematic and the time cost of putting the brochures
together is high......I have used printing bureaus and found similar
problems with color reproduction even though the images are prepared in
photoshop and are cmyk tiffs the calibration of my machine [sony multiscan
100sf] is not perfectly matched to the ones in the bureau..I guess what i
am saying is that to set up the printing process here would save me some
headaches and time in pasting up individual brochures from photographs...I
would love to be able to take the time to produce this type of presentation
but at this point it is not viable..My hope is that i can hit the happy
medium of a class production that has a minimum of collating time as well
as avoiding jobs returning late from outside...
thanks for your comments
cheers
At 11:55 27/12/97 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>-- [ From: John H. Rodgers * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --
>
>Russel,
>
>>> i am currently researching the purchase of an inkjet printer... printing
>of exhibition catalogues, promo material <>>>rated.
Otherwise, go for it.
>
>John Rodgers
>Enjoying a mild winter in Alabama, while Alaska suffers.
>
>
Please note My NEW!! email address
Ray Carlton
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