chuq@plaid.UUCP (05/07/87)
Date: Wed, 6 May 87 10:17:38 PDT
From: James Bond <bond@nsc.NSC.COM>
I certainly can't give you any help on magazine printing, but some of
what we've learned in pubs about low volume printing may be useful to you.
My first comment is actually a question. Have you priced copiers and
checked their pp/min rating? A copier in the Canon 800-based range
would require about 5 hours of steady copying to do your 3000pp/month.
It's true that you don't have to watch the thing constantly, but you do
have to be around it to restock the paper, clear jams, etc. bleecch.
Second comment is that you may be selling xerography too short. If you
go to a print shop that also does xerography, you can get card stock,
photos, binding, etc. (They might want to offset print the pages with
photos, but if the copier is a good enough one, and maintained well, it
is possible to make a half-tone that will come out well on the copier.
Third is that, at least with our printers, the cross over point between
offset and xerography is in the few hundred copies range. So you are
actually pretty close to the point where offset will be cheaper.
In terms of volume of printing my department has never been that
major. Many of our print runs are not much larger than what you are
talking about. Of course we've have been at it steadily for many
years, and so we may be able to get deals with our printers that they
would not extend to you. It seems to me though that it would be worth
looking into finding a printer to work with.
(I have no idea if printers can be influenced with this type of thing,
but since at least part of the people reading Otherrealms are people
with influence with companies in the Bay area, a blurb such as:
Otherrealms is done on a Apple Macintosh using XXXXX and
printed by .......
might get you a discount.:-)
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Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM [I don't read flames]
There is no statute of limitations on stupidity