neilslade
Getting Fingers Dirty
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2004
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Greetings forum users!
Ah, but its been a while since I visited- thought I would let you know what's up--
I've recently begun FULL inhouse printing of all of my books that I sell on my web site www.NeilSlade.com
you can view the vast catalog here http://www.neilslade.com/order.html
The challange was to print all of my titles (5 books) and bind for less money, yet as fast as my paid printer was doing-
I decided to go with Brother 5140 mono laser printers for the text- about 175-225 pages per book. I have two 5140s and two Brother 1440s.
The 5140 prints 21 pages per minute, and the text is much sharper and cleaner than the high speed Xerox I was paying for commercially.
The paper for the text is 24 pound PRECUT 19 hole GBC paper.
I created new color covers for my books--- see here http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/covers.html which I print on Kirkland heavy photo paper (Costco at $19 for 120 sheets) on 4 Canon i960. The Kirkland paper is this best photo paper bargain on the planet, very good stuff. The back cover is heavy 80 pound cover stock krome coat paper, which I use for black and white text, using the photo paper setting on the Canons. Black ink for text from an inkjet works fine on this stuff, typical glossy cover stock (not photo paper), but it does not take color ink well. I put a 10 mil clear acetate sheet over the cover.
I bind using a GBC binder that I bought used for $75 on ebay.
The cost of each book is under $2 plus my labor, compared to nearly $6 a book from the printer. Multiply this tims THOUSANDS of books I sell each year. It pays to do the little bit extra work myself. Besides this, I can modify book contents at any time.
I run the Canon printers from my desktop, all USB2, and the lasers from 2 laptop computers all USB.
It is a little bit of a challange printing here- the laser printer curls the paper a bit when it first comes out, but it quickly cools and flattens out. I have learned NOT to rely on MANUAL DUPLEX printing- because if one page gets screwed up in the bunch, it is impossible and time consumming to fix the run. Instead, I print one side at a time, stack up a dozen books, then run them through again, printing the other side. This way, if one page gets messed up, I simply replace the one page. In duplex printing, if one page gets messed up, it ruins all the following pages, which can easily get out of order.
I found that it is imperitive when printing two sides, to remove any extra sheets in the laser paper tray-- otherwise, the printer grabs the last several sheets at the same time at the end of the second side of printing. Just place the paper that has one side printed in the tray, and remove any extra unprinted sheets first. It will then finish the print job without screwing up the last pages.
The Canon printers can be a challenge. Blowing out the heads with compressed air fixes most clogs (see my web page http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inkjetstuff.html But more often than not, problems arise from a bad cartridge-- usually after several refills-- if you refill, you will eventually have to replace with a new cart.
NO NO NO-- using good second party ink does not clog the heads. I've been using MIS ink for years without problem, and I print TONS of stuff.
I use MIS ink exclusively to refill-- since the ink appears to have as good a life as WAAAAAAAAAY more expensive Canon ink. I'm sure there are many brands of bulk ink that work as well, but I've found one that works, so I stick with it. Please note, I've been told by MIS that the ink in their PREFILLED carts is not as good as their bulk ink.
Otherwise, stuff like G&G ink- The $2 cheapo ink carts are okay for CD labels, but I wouldn't use this ink on my book covers. The color is a dead on match for Canon, but I've read that it does not have the light fastness for long life.
You CAN refill the cheap carts with better ink like MIS, and that's fine.
If I need to start a new cart, I will just use a Canon OEM cart since it has good ink to start with. I keep 3 of my printers running MIS ink, and the last i960, and a spare ip3000 I will keep cheap ink carts in for labels or throwaway color print jobs. When that ink gets used up, I then refill with MIS ink, and its then suitable for covers or permanent photos.
Well, that's it!
Email me some time-- glad that this forum has become such a great success!
later
Neil
neil@neilslade.com
And don't forget the BRAN ADVENTURE www.NeilSlade.com
Ah, but its been a while since I visited- thought I would let you know what's up--
I've recently begun FULL inhouse printing of all of my books that I sell on my web site www.NeilSlade.com
you can view the vast catalog here http://www.neilslade.com/order.html
The challange was to print all of my titles (5 books) and bind for less money, yet as fast as my paid printer was doing-
I decided to go with Brother 5140 mono laser printers for the text- about 175-225 pages per book. I have two 5140s and two Brother 1440s.
The 5140 prints 21 pages per minute, and the text is much sharper and cleaner than the high speed Xerox I was paying for commercially.
The paper for the text is 24 pound PRECUT 19 hole GBC paper.
I created new color covers for my books--- see here http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/covers.html which I print on Kirkland heavy photo paper (Costco at $19 for 120 sheets) on 4 Canon i960. The Kirkland paper is this best photo paper bargain on the planet, very good stuff. The back cover is heavy 80 pound cover stock krome coat paper, which I use for black and white text, using the photo paper setting on the Canons. Black ink for text from an inkjet works fine on this stuff, typical glossy cover stock (not photo paper), but it does not take color ink well. I put a 10 mil clear acetate sheet over the cover.
I bind using a GBC binder that I bought used for $75 on ebay.
The cost of each book is under $2 plus my labor, compared to nearly $6 a book from the printer. Multiply this tims THOUSANDS of books I sell each year. It pays to do the little bit extra work myself. Besides this, I can modify book contents at any time.
I run the Canon printers from my desktop, all USB2, and the lasers from 2 laptop computers all USB.
It is a little bit of a challange printing here- the laser printer curls the paper a bit when it first comes out, but it quickly cools and flattens out. I have learned NOT to rely on MANUAL DUPLEX printing- because if one page gets screwed up in the bunch, it is impossible and time consumming to fix the run. Instead, I print one side at a time, stack up a dozen books, then run them through again, printing the other side. This way, if one page gets messed up, I simply replace the one page. In duplex printing, if one page gets messed up, it ruins all the following pages, which can easily get out of order.
I found that it is imperitive when printing two sides, to remove any extra sheets in the laser paper tray-- otherwise, the printer grabs the last several sheets at the same time at the end of the second side of printing. Just place the paper that has one side printed in the tray, and remove any extra unprinted sheets first. It will then finish the print job without screwing up the last pages.
The Canon printers can be a challenge. Blowing out the heads with compressed air fixes most clogs (see my web page http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inkjetstuff.html But more often than not, problems arise from a bad cartridge-- usually after several refills-- if you refill, you will eventually have to replace with a new cart.
NO NO NO-- using good second party ink does not clog the heads. I've been using MIS ink for years without problem, and I print TONS of stuff.
I use MIS ink exclusively to refill-- since the ink appears to have as good a life as WAAAAAAAAAY more expensive Canon ink. I'm sure there are many brands of bulk ink that work as well, but I've found one that works, so I stick with it. Please note, I've been told by MIS that the ink in their PREFILLED carts is not as good as their bulk ink.
Otherwise, stuff like G&G ink- The $2 cheapo ink carts are okay for CD labels, but I wouldn't use this ink on my book covers. The color is a dead on match for Canon, but I've read that it does not have the light fastness for long life.
You CAN refill the cheap carts with better ink like MIS, and that's fine.
If I need to start a new cart, I will just use a Canon OEM cart since it has good ink to start with. I keep 3 of my printers running MIS ink, and the last i960, and a spare ip3000 I will keep cheap ink carts in for labels or throwaway color print jobs. When that ink gets used up, I then refill with MIS ink, and its then suitable for covers or permanent photos.
Well, that's it!
Email me some time-- glad that this forum has become such a great success!
later
Neil
neil@neilslade.com
And don't forget the BRAN ADVENTURE www.NeilSlade.com
