My own personal HP printer hell.
Today and yesterday were portfolio day. I spent all of yesterday preparing files in Illustrator (yeah, that's right), and then last night went to buy ink and photopaper, to prepare to start printing today.issues and problems with this scenario:
- i don't really know how to use illustrator, but after messing around i figured out how to print full bleed borderless tabloid prints high quality.
- rachel's printer is the only one that will print borderless, mine is a piece of shit.
- the ink for rachel's printer is $20 more expensive than mine...even though my printer was more expensive.
so basically what i needed was 40 pages for my portfolio....38 pages of images (including double page spreads) and a title page, as well as a back contact page. Not only do i need this, i also need at least 3 copies of the whole thing...keeping one for myself as a master copy. Initially i was going to just go to kinkos and do the whole thing there...but figured since i didn't really know what i was doing i would print the master copy at home, and then go make copies at kinkos.
So after spending 100 bucks on ink and paper at Office Depot Last night I have now run through 2 color ink cartridges, and i still have 10 pages to print...and no way of getting new ink until tonight. Not only this, i have no idea how much 120 + color gloss copies is going to cost me at kinkos when this whole thing is done. Needless to say, this has become a pricey endeavor....and i am hoping to god that kinko's color machines do full bleed...because of not i am basically screwed.
and this could all be very easily solved if my fucking HP printer did full bleed...because i have plenty of ink for that. Oh, and on top of that...i cant find my rebate for rachel's printer.
So yeah, a bunch of shit. But the good thing is that these prints look absolutely gorgeous...i am jealous of rachel's printer. And now, with the Illustrator knowledge i have gotten out of this i have big plans for the future....in other words, GIANT pieces that will fix any concerns i have ever had with doing gallery shows.
Also, i have basically figured out what i am doing with the redesign of Ghostco...so as soon as things settle down, and i get a bit of time i will work on that.
so in the end, my apologies to anyone who is expecting work from me in the next day or so....oh, and NEVER play Rapala Tournament Fishing for the Wii....NEVER.
posted by matthew at 11:29 AM
6 Comments:
ok...i'll bite...what are you doing with 30 portfolios?
I'm living vicariously through your illustrator foibles...I'm not quite there yet. What do you mean "preparing" in illustrator? didn't you create them in photoshop?
jes' curious...and its a lot cheaper to watch you do it!
How big a print are we talking here? The gallery references i mean. That would be something I would be interested in...keep me posted.
dave
I was wondering, which model/brand is Rachel's printer? I'm interested in purchasing a quality printer for my stuff as well. And how are you going to enlarge stuff in Illustrator for gallery exhibitions? (unless you make all your artwork in illustrator)?
later man, and a little reminder: your work is very inspiring and kick ass! I'm subscribed to your blog so I don't miss a thing!
later,
GriNGo
You should invest in a descent printer that prints 13x19" / 13x X" When I was in college I got an Epson Photo 1280 (about $400 at the time) and it's served me very well. I find sometimes that exacto-ing can be a lot less frustrating than trying to get full-bleed prints out of a home printer as well. Just a thought. Keep up the good work.
i'm glad your pritns came out looking OK. But yeah, doing all those prints on an inkjet type pritner is very expensive. Those cartridges just don't last.
Kinkos is probably a better choice. If you go there, don't ask for "tabloid borderless printing," insted just say you need files printed tabloid sized with full bleeds. They'll probably print them on a larger sheet and then cut it down to size for you or let you cut it yourself. Bottom line, just tell them what the finished product you want is and ask for options on how to get it done. They have commercial grade printers and buy ink in bulk, so don't worry about enormous charges for printing....at least not more than you've spent already. Along those lines, ask abotu digital printing. If they have a quality digital printer, that's really cheap for them to print because it's toner based.
One more thing, don't be afraid to go to other commercial printers in town. Call them up and ask if they have digital printing. If so, ask for a quote on what you need. Depending on the size of the shop, they can be very reasonable (relatively).
OK, I wrote a ton. But I've been through all this before with my own design portfolio and I work with printers all the time at my job.
Thanks a lot for what You are doing!Information, that I managed to find here
is extremely useful and essential for me!With the best regards!
Frank
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