Comments on: Online print job

Question: Online print job

lirael2008 — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 21:07:20 -0800

I'm interested in printing some color documents. I can go to my local UPS store, but I'm curious whether there are good options online so I don't have to go to the store. Do you know of reliable and reasonably priced (including shipping) vendors who do this service of printing a document and shipping to you?

By: Sara C.

Sara C. — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 21:48:07 -0800

I think FedEx does that. My guess would be that it's not as cost effective as going to a FedEx/Kinko's store, though.

They seem to be marketing the service more towards telecommuters and business travelers. The idea being that you could print and have the documents shipped directly to, say, the Home Office, rather than scooping them out of your home printer, tossing them in an envelope, and FedExing them there yourself. Or print from the airport and have your documents arrive at the office where your big presentation is actually going to happen, rather than having to finish your work several days before the presentation and schlep the materials yourself.

As someone who does the "print document and fedex it across the country" workflow a lot, I can see how that would be convenient. But for things I want on hand right here? I'd rather go to Kinko's here and have it in twenty minutes as opposed to tomorrow.

By: Levi Stahl

Levi Stahl — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 06:17:46 -0800

Depending on what kind of printing you're looking for Digital Room might do. I've had them print postcards and they've been good, reliable, and cheap.

By: amanda

amanda — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 07:46:09 -0800

When I do printing with my local print shop, they deliver to me. I don't know if there's a minimum but when I did my biz cards ($180) they dropped them off. I also do printing with a large format printer (architectural sheets) and those get delivered if I want. However, I think there's a fee for that for low amounts.

By: Sara C.

Sara C. — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 08:19:12 -0800

Yeah, if we're talking about something like business cards, brochures, unusual sizes, and the like, the printer will usually deliver or ship to you rather than requiring you to go there.

But if you're talking about, like, you want to print a google map in color so that it's easier to read the map? Just go to your local copy place. Anything else is going to be expensive and have a long lead time.

By: lirael2008

lirael2008 — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:50:29 -0800

Oh I wanted to print a "book"--an almost 100 page pdf of craft projects and instructions. Copyright is not an issue because I'm allowed to print for personal use, but I just don't want to use my color printer for so many pages!

By: Sara C.

Sara C. — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 14:03:49 -0800

That might be worth using FedEx print & ship service for, if you'd rather pay for shipping than whatever the negligible cost of taking a thumb drive to Kinko's would be.