dathomps@vela.acs.oakland.edu (dathomps) (03/22/91)
Hello People,
A friend of mine is beta-testing for a new full-color printing service
that allows him to print Full-Color Postscript output at some pretty
cheap prices - FROM MICROSOFT WINDOWS. Apparently,
this is like Slide Productions from Powerpoint, but much cheaper.
He says that all he has to do is "Printer-Setup" and select the service
bureau as the output device (Postscript Printer on "Bureau") . Then,
"File-Print" from any Windows application like Corel Draw, Word,
Pagemaker, etc... Then a dialog box pops up and asks for order
information. The next day he receives the output !!!
Is this stuff for real? Wouldn't it take a long time for the file to
transfer over a modem (unless it does compression) ?
Does anybody know of similar services?
I have applied to be a beta-tester, I can't wait to see if I can
actually print CorelDRAW files for a reasonable price. The company is
apparently also offering special prices on 9600 V.32bis modems,
which I am going to get definitely.
I can forward any questions to him...
But I would like to know anyones view on how this type of thing
works, and if there are other services similar to this.
Any input would be appreciated.
---
Dondana@hardy.hdw.csd.harris.com (Dan Aksel) (03/22/91)
In article <5490@vela.acs.oakland.edu> dathomps@vela.acs.oakland.edu (dathomps) writes: >Hello People, > > A friend of mine is beta-testing for a new full-color printing service > that allows him to print Full-Color Postscript output at some pretty > cheap prices - FROM MICROSOFT WINDOWS. Apparently, > this is like Slide Productions from Powerpoint, but much cheaper. [ ... process to create file deleted ... ] > Does anybody know of similar services? Sure do. Your local print shop. The printing industry today is very advanced and most COMMERCIAL quality print shops routinely use PageMaker and Ventura. I've come across one about a mile and half from my office that uses WordPerfect for newletters, etc. I use ANY application, windows or not, and write to "File" with a PostScript printer selected. This creates what is commonly known as a form of an encapsulated post script (*.EPS) file. I drive over during lunch and he prints in full color for $4/page. I print all the B&W material here at work for about a penny a page. Collolate in your color pages and presto! top quality work. The printer drops his price to $2 per page for pages 11-99 and $1 per page for 100 and up. Granted these prices are EXTREMELY high. Anything over about five pages and you'd be better off having him print it than laser print it. Of course he is a print shop and thats what he wants to do.... The only way a service bureau can provide fast service is to couple their product with transport service like Federal Express, or Airborne. The cheapest you'll get away with is about $20 for handling alone. If you don't like the drive to your local print shop, maybe he has a modem you could down load to and then drive over to pick it up... some print shops offer "free" pick up and delivery... Pick up a floppy, drop off a print... IMO you should conisder purchasing your own color printer if you require more than about 100 copies per month... ---- Dan Aksel
dathomps@vela.acs.oakland.edu (dathomps) (03/23/91)
In article <2737@travis.csd.harris.com> dana@hardy.hdw.csd.harris.com (Dan Aksel) writes: >In article <5490@vela.acs.oakland.edu> dathomps@vela.acs.oakland.edu (dathomps) writes: >>Hello People, >> > Sure do. Your local print shop. The printing industry today is very > advanced and most COMMERCIAL quality print shops routinely use PageMaker and > Ventura. I've come across one about a mile and half from my office that uses > WordPerfect for newletters, etc. I use ANY application, windows or not, and > write to "File" with a PostScript printer selected. This creates what is > commonly known as a form of an encapsulated post script (*.EPS) file. I drive ^^^^^^ Actually an EPS file is not usually created. > over during lunch and he prints in full color for $4/page. I print all the > B&W material here at work for about a penny a page. Collolate in your color > pages and presto! top quality work. We are talking about different things here, low-quality separations and manual labor. > > The printer drops his price to $2 per page for pages 11-99 and $1 per page for > 100 and up. Granted these prices are EXTREMELY high. Anything over about > five pages and you'd be better off having him print it than laser print it. > Of course he is a print shop and thats what he wants to do.... > > The only way a service bureau can provide fast service is to couple their > product with transport service like Federal Express, or Airborne. The > cheapest you'll get away with is about $20 for handling alone. If you don't That depends if you are distributing things from one major site. > like the drive to your local print shop, maybe he has a modem you could down > load to and then drive over to pick it up... some print shops offer "free" > pick up and delivery... Pick up a floppy, drop off a print... Can you give some names. > > IMO you should conisder purchasing your own color printer if you require more > than about 100 copies per month... At 1ppm, or less, you'll be waiting a long time. > ---- > Dan Aksel Dan, I believe were talking about Imagesetter Productions here and not 300dpi Thermal Wax Technology. Are you telling me that you would prefer a manual process rather than printing Press-Productions as easy as "File-Print" Also, most users must manually compress their files before they send them over (if they have a comp. app.). Apparently, this process uses compression (30%) and sends the file in the background... I think you have a valid point - but I also think you are about spot color output... Also, from what I heard, the equipment used here has not even been released to the public but is in demo. Can you say A-D-O-B-E R-I-P...
dathomps@vela.acs.oakland.edu (dathomps) (03/23/91)
Oh, some have told me that I forgot to give info. on
how to get the remote printing service software. For
those interested, send mail to,
76114.1615@compuserve.com
I finally got to see some sample output, It's GREAT!
It prints 400dpi, 16.8 million colors, various paper
sizes, and from quantities of 1 to 2,500. And all I
had to do is "File-Print". Although it did take about
five minutes to send the file.
I guess students can get output as low as $2.00 for
first page, and 85 cents for each additional page.