# PDF Book Printing/Binding



## Calico_Jack73 (Dec 2, 2008)

There are a couple of PDF books that I'd love to get printed and bound since I am not one to read a full book while sitting at my computer (I'm always too tempted to boot up a game).  What is the best way to get PDF books printed?  Please consider the following:

Quality
Price
Service
Convenience

My ideal would be a web service that I could upload the PDFs to and have them ship me perfect bound copies of each at a reasonable price.


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## theskyfullofdust (Dec 2, 2008)

You could do a lot worse than use Lulu.com. I've used them for my self-published work, personal projects, and they've always be great. And since you're in the US, the postage should be cheaper too.


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## Calico_Jack73 (Dec 2, 2008)

theskyfullofdust said:


> You could do a lot worse than use Lulu.com. I've used them for my self-published work, personal projects, and they've always be great. And since you're in the US, the postage should be cheaper too.




I checked them out. When using the cost estimator do you use the total number of pages in the PDF or the number of physical pages that will be in the book? For example... if I have a PDF that is 402 pages do I use that value or 201 for double sided?

Even at 201 pages the cost was a little steep.


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## Vascant (Dec 2, 2008)

The solution I found to this problem was actually pretty simple.  I purchased an old workhorse laser printer at an auction (The one I have gets 15k pages per toner cart) and I print them myself and then have like Staples or Kinkos do the binding.


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## Aus_Snow (Dec 2, 2008)

I'd go with using a b&w laser printer, then taking the document to a print shop (I've used the local Xerox a few times, f'rex) to bind for cheap. . . or just take the file in to them and get them to print _and_ bind it, still for cheap, most likely. Cheaper than anything that includes postage costs, I suspect. Faster too.


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## PeelSeel2 (Dec 2, 2008)

I print them off on a B&W laser or my color laser, depending on what I want.  I buy the self refills, which brings my cost per page to practically nothing.  I bought a BIG stapler that does up to 1 inch thick ($40.00).  Bought some thick covers that my printers can handle and, Voila!  Handled.


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## PapersAndPaychecks (Dec 3, 2008)

Calico_Jack73 said:


> I checked them out. When using the cost estimator do you use the total number of pages in the PDF or the number of physical pages that will be in the book? For example... if I have a PDF that is 402 pages do I use that value or 201 for double sided?
> 
> Even at 201 pages the cost was a little steep.




If you're talking about the OSRIC .pdf, which is 402 pages, then 2 of the pages are the cover, and each "page" is a side of paper.  So you'd need to figure it out based on 400 pages.

However, you won't be able to do it with the .pdf because it doesn't match Lulu's formatting requirements (the cover needs to be uploaded as a separate image).  Also, I propose to use a much sharper image resolution for the Lulu version which will look a lot better in print.

Expect the economy version to cost about $8.50 plus postage.


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## CleverNickName (Dec 3, 2008)

I've tried to use Kinko's for printing and binding, but they wouldn't do it.  They said it was against company policy to make copies of copyrighted material.  Has anyone else run into this problem?  How did you get around it?


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## Darrin Drader (Dec 3, 2008)

CleverNickName said:


> I've tried to use Kinko's for printing and binding, but they wouldn't do it.  They said it was against company policy to make copies of copyrighted material.  Has anyone else run into this problem?  How did you get around it?




Use their online service. I was expecting a problem but ended up not having one. - https://printonline.fedexkinkos.com/


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## EP (Dec 3, 2008)

Calico_Jack73 said:


> My ideal would be a web service that I could upload the PDFs to and have them ship me perfect bound copies of each at a reasonable price.




Perfect bound requires a full spread file of the front + back covers with the side, bleed, and stuff that would be available from the actual publisher.  If you're looking to use a web service and go perfect bound, you'll need to do some Photoshopping.  Then there's the interior pages themselves - they have to be re-ganged and if you don't know how that needs to be set up, you'll need the print shop to do it for you.  If you upload it to a web service, these are the same conditions they'll need to, but I'm not sure they'll do it for you - they expect it done already.

If you have it spiral bound instead, you can just have the pages printed as if you did it at home and the spiral on decent paper will last a long time with proper care.  

Personally speaking, you're better off going to a print shop for this.  They can take the PDF and print it out as they need (though they will charge you for any work on the file to make it printable).  Try a college or university print shop if you have one nearby - they are generally cheaper than regular print shops and love printing out anything that isn't a text book.

BTW, if you bought something in PDF form only, you are legally entitled to one print copy for your own purpose (but I'm not a lawyer and print shops have the right to refuse printing if they have copyright concerns).

Hope some of this helps.


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## CleverNickName (Dec 3, 2008)

EP said:


> BTW, if you bought something in PDF form only, you are legally entitled to one print copy for your own purpose (but I'm not a lawyer and print shops have the right to refuse printing if they have copyright concerns).



Do you happen to have a link to this information?  I'd like to print it out and take it in to Kinko's with me, so that they have some sort of release of liability.  It's not that they don't want to help; they just feel like their hands are tied.


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## EP (Dec 3, 2008)

CleverNickName said:


> Do you happen to have a link to this information?  I'd like to print it out and take it in to Kinko's with me, so that they have some sort of release of liability.  It's not that they don't want to help; they just feel like their hands are tied.




Not really.  This is just from some random legal sources and a quick seminar on copyright issues in school (and I'm from Canada - we're a bit more lenient on these things).  When it comes down to it, unless you have something in writing from the copyright owner, they will probably still say no.


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## GMSkarka (Dec 3, 2008)

You're talking about wanting print copies of the PDFs you've purchased from a company (in other words, not PDFs you've produced yourself), so you don't have the right to produce a print copy.  (Hence the term "copyright")

The simplest way to get what you're looking for -- and one that most PDF publishers would be happy to do for you -- is to simply fire off an email to the publisher, and ask them to produce a print copy for you.     The publisher produces a copy (via Lulu or Amazon's Createspace or similar services), and it gets sent to you from the printer.    Expect to pay production costs, shipping & handling, and maybe a small percentage for the publisher for the service.

Seriously -- ask.    The publisher is the copyright holder, and we're all more than willing to provide stuff that our customers want.....


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## Aus_Snow (Dec 3, 2008)

CleverNickName said:


> I've tried to use Kinko's for printing and binding, but they wouldn't do it.  They said it was against company policy to make copies of copyrighted material.  Has anyone else run into this problem?  How did you get around it?



Yes, I had that problem. Not with exactly the same company, but one very similar, it seems.

I went elsewhere. Another local place, but one that focuses more on selling big laser printers and stuff to businesses, as it happens. Anyway, it turns out that they know more about printing and binding etc., than [those other guys] do anyway!  Oh, and they charge less, as a rule. And never ask about the owenership, copyright or whatever.

It all worked out pretty well, I thought.


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## justanobody (Dec 4, 2008)

Doesn't LuLu have huge shipping costs or something unless you sell only digital copies?


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## Tetsubo (Dec 4, 2008)

Darrin Drader said:


> Use their online service. I was expecting a problem but ended up not having one. - https://printonline.fedexkinkos.com/




I tried that. They called me and told me that they wouldn't print what I wanted because it was copyrighted material. It was a legally free PDF given to the world by the author. Kinkos wants a bloody Papal Bull before they will print anything.

Go find a small local shop.


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## Qwillion (Dec 4, 2008)

No, Lulu does not have huge shipping costs, you get a choice of your shipping, I have not seen anything excessive as all of our products are available via LULU, and have not had any complaints from our customers.


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## davethegame (Dec 4, 2008)

CleverNickName said:


> I've tried to use Kinko's for printing and binding, but they wouldn't do it.  They said it was against company policy to make copies of copyrighted material.  Has anyone else run into this problem?  How did you get around it?




I was a manager at Kinko's for about a year. If they say that, ask for a Copyright Release form, which is a waiver that you can sign saying you have permission to duplicate it. 

Employees get to be in the fun position of having to be copyright cops, else the company gets sued for many thousands of dollars (happened at the shop I worked at for something fairly inoccuous). So either they end up being too strict and getting guff from customers, or too lenient and getting in trouble with the bosses.


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## CleverNickName (Dec 5, 2008)

davethegame said:


> I was a manager at Kinko's for about a year. If they say that, ask for a Copyright Release form, which is a waiver that you can sign saying you have permission to duplicate it.
> 
> Employees get to be in the fun position of having to be copyright cops, else the company gets sued for many thousands of dollars (happened at the shop I worked at for something fairly inoccuous). So either they end up being too strict and getting guff from customers, or too lenient and getting in trouble with the bosses.



Thanks for the advice!  I will do exactly that, when I go back into Kinko's this weekend.

+1 XP for the brilliant tip!


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