How many tree-plantings is this going to cost me?
July 16, 2010 9:54 AM Subscribe
Just how ethically wrong would it be to use lulu.com as a printing service?
I have a 300 page PDF I'd like to read non-trivial amounts of. I find much more productive and convenient to read from an actual paper book. For smaller documents, I can fake a book using mpage, duplex and my own printer. For 300 pages, this is unwieldy.
My idea is to submit it to lulu and have them make me a perfect-bound BOOK book and ship it to me. But I'm feeling qualms over the probable waste of paper, not to mention the shipping impact.
One mitigating idea would be to find a local printer. I don't know about in general, but it looks like Staples and Fedex/Kinkos doesn't do the binding and sub-letter sized pages I'd like.
Alternatives?
I have a 300 page PDF I'd like to read non-trivial amounts of. I find much more productive and convenient to read from an actual paper book. For smaller documents, I can fake a book using mpage, duplex and my own printer. For 300 pages, this is unwieldy.
My idea is to submit it to lulu and have them make me a perfect-bound BOOK book and ship it to me. But I'm feeling qualms over the probable waste of paper, not to mention the shipping impact.
One mitigating idea would be to find a local printer. I don't know about in general, but it looks like Staples and Fedex/Kinkos doesn't do the binding and sub-letter sized pages I'd like.
Alternatives?
If you live in a town with a reasonably sized university, there will be a printer who can do this for you (likely cheaper and faster, unless it's May or December).
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:00 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:00 AM on July 16, 2010
Response by poster: What will a local full-service print shop charge, though? Assuming they mail it media mail, it looks like I could get it online for around $10. A coworker was telling me a horror story about a poster, a local print shop and almost $100...
posted by DU at 10:03 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by DU at 10:03 AM on July 16, 2010
Printing posters is very different from printing on regular-sized paper and having it bound (spiral-bouns is usually the cheapest way to go). I had a bunch of journal articles printed and bound at the local FedEx Kinko or whatever it's called now (200+ pages). If I recall correctly, the cost was less than $10, I submitted it online and picked it up in an hour.
posted by halogen at 10:15 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by halogen at 10:15 AM on July 16, 2010
Same experience here with Kinko. Had a technical reference pdf that I wanted bound, got it spiral bound with card stock covers, submitted online, picked up in under an hour, cost about $10.
posted by Lokheed at 10:17 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by Lokheed at 10:17 AM on July 16, 2010
Response by poster: Well, I'm going to want perfect-bound though. (I mentioned that, but not as prominently as my desire is.)
posted by DU at 10:23 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by DU at 10:23 AM on July 16, 2010
Response by poster: But I guess I'll ask at a local printing place and see.
posted by DU at 10:23 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by DU at 10:23 AM on July 16, 2010
Why not just print it yourself, duplexed, and take it to any print shop and have it velobound? They can add plastic or card covers, and it won't fall apart, guaranteed (I have a few velobound volumes that are close to 1000 pages, and I've carted them around for years).
posted by Admiral Haddock at 10:32 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by Admiral Haddock at 10:32 AM on July 16, 2010
I'd imagine it'd take quite a bit longer with Lulu (I think it's 3-5 days for them to get from submission to shipped, then another 3-5 for the shipping) but I don't really see the difference ethically - it'll be a similar amount of paper either way, won't it? If they offer the option to buy one copy, you can take advantage of it. It's just probably not the most efficient method.
posted by mdn at 10:41 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by mdn at 10:41 AM on July 16, 2010
My local printing place offers perfect bound from $9-25, depending on the size of the order. They take about 3 days.
posted by quadrilaterals at 10:51 AM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by quadrilaterals at 10:51 AM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Someone shipped the paper to your local print place. Either way, one book's worth of paper travelled from a tree to you. Print wherever you like.
posted by mendel at 11:20 AM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by mendel at 11:20 AM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
Can you do this? Ethically, I mean - if the PDF is copyrighted, you might have a problem getting it printed.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:24 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by caution live frogs at 11:24 AM on July 16, 2010
From their terms of service:
You must own the copyright to any material you publish on Lulu.
posted by smackfu at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2010
You must own the copyright to any material you publish on Lulu.
posted by smackfu at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2010
Response by poster: The document is under the GNU Free Documentation License.
posted by DU at 11:54 AM on July 16, 2010
posted by DU at 11:54 AM on July 16, 2010
Response by poster: Not to mention the fact that I wouldn't be publishing. I'm printing. Do I have to own the copyright of stuff I print on my home printer?
Anyway, thanks for the pricing info on your local place. I contacted a local one here but haven't heard back yet.
posted by DU at 11:55 AM on July 16, 2010
Anyway, thanks for the pricing info on your local place. I contacted a local one here but haven't heard back yet.
posted by DU at 11:55 AM on July 16, 2010
If you want a hard copy, you'll have to deal with your ethical dilemma somewhere along the line. In this case, I think the least expensive solution would probably work out to be the most ethical.
posted by 2N2222 at 12:05 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by 2N2222 at 12:05 PM on July 16, 2010
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posted by mkb at 10:00 AM on July 16, 2010