>--- "Ryan S. Dancey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>> My point was, and still remains, even with the strides in the printing
industry, you would not be able to buy
>> > the PHB on Thursday morning at Gen Con and then run to the printers and
have a quality, professional
>> > publication for sale on the table by that afternoon or the next day as Ryan
suggested.
>>
>> I think you could be very surprised.
>Well, now you have me curious. Care to elaborate as
>to overnight printing and as to why anyone would do
>such a thing? I am just not receiving what you are
>hinting at. Why would you need to wait for the PHB to
>come out if some version of a PHB SRD subsidized with
>monster stat blocks will be released prior to the PHB?
>Mac Golden
>Troll Lord Games
I'll chime in on this one. There are a ton of options available at the
overnight printers these days. The Kinko's I deal with can do tape binding,
saddle stitching, and even perfect binding on an hour or two turn around at
night.
Unfortunately I will not be attending as my wife is due to give birth the week
before the 'con, but here is the plan I would use to do an overnight product:
Before the 'con -
-Talk to a rep from one of the big 24 hour printers like Kinkos to find out what
file format you will need to bring in, what printers they use, etc... You may
need to provide graphics at a specific dpi other than 300. Get a really good
layout software package like Pagemaker, Framemaker or Quark.
-Have your cover ready to print OR print it in advance and bring it to the 'con
-Format your document for either the specific printer they specify OR for an
external print service compatable with the printer.
-Decide on your binding format (usually tape, perfect, or saddle stapled)
Tape - Good choice overall, you can use separate front and back cover pieces.
Perfect - Looks the best, requires a wrap around cover
Saddle Stapled - Still used a lot for smaller page count documents, used a lot
for modules with a wrap around cover, or a separate cover.
At the 'con -
-Bring a laptop (Not a full size computer!!! You want to be able to make
changes at the printer if necessary)
-Have your document as close to ready as you can, use a GOOD quality layout
software like Pagemaker, Framemaker or Quark.
-Mark all the areas you will need to fill in as such.
-Finish the document at the hotel
-Wait until 7 or 8 pm to go to the printer (it will be less busy)
-Rent time in their "computer corral" (This is why you made the changes at the
hotel, they charge a lot for time!!!)
-Print a single copy of the document, and the cover. Check the document and
cover, make any changes you need, and print again.
-Manually copy the cover (If its color expect to spend approx $1 per copy, $2
for front and back.)
-Either manually copy or have the staff copy the document. (Expect to pay approx
$.05 per side, per page copied if it is 8 1/2 X 11 B&W)
-Assemble the books, or have the copy shop assemble them
-Have the copy shop bind them (Expect to pay approx $1-$2 each for tape binding,
more for perfect, less for saddle staple)
So, lets check costs for two options: A 96 page manual, and a 32 page module.
96 page manual, front and back color covers
$4.80 each for copying
$2.00 for front and back covers
$2.00 for tape binding
Total cost - $8.80
32 page module, color front and back cover (saddle stapled)
Note: This is cheapest to do as a "booklet". In other words, printed 4 sheets on
an 11 X 17 landscape paper (2 pages on the front, 2 on back). This is why your
page count for this will be a multiple of 4.
Color Cover (11 X 17) - $2 per
32 page booklet - Approx $220 per 1,000 another $200 for each extra thousand.
500 will be approx $130.
Total cost each at 1,000 - 2.22 each, at 500 2.26 each.
There you go! Any questions, feel free to email me!
John Bacon - NERO Int'l
www.nerolarp.com
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For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
