Online printing service recommendations

June 4, 2023 6:52 AM

I'm looking for an online service where I can get a ~50 page color PDF file printed and shipped to me within the US. This is for personal use so I don't need any special finishing, etc. Has anyone used a service like this they would recommend? I'm familiar with FedEx Office and UPS' offerings in this space, but they charge $.61 per sheet - I'm hoping to find a more economical option if it exists.
posted by jason and the garlic knots to Shopping (6 answers total)

PDF Plotting specializes in printing large format stuff (sewing patterns, calendars, blueprints) but will also print and ship 8.5 x 11" PDF documents. My link goes directly to that page ("Instruction Book Printing"). I double-checked a recent 56-page PDF I had close at hand and it came out to 35 cents/page in color. You'll also have to pay shipping on top of that, but I find their turnaround times are excellent and have never had any issues with print quality.
posted by sparkling at 10:08 AM on June 4, 2023 [3 favorites]

I've had good luck using Walgreens for printing PDFs, I can't find their color pricing for you though.
posted by drezdn at 10:40 AM on June 4, 2023

Do you have a college or university near you? Printing rates are usually far enough below FedEx/UPS (typically around half the price, or even less) that you could probably get a student to do it for a small bonus.
posted by the tartare yolk at 12:03 PM on June 4, 2023

Sorry for the double post! Just to add, as an example: University of Michigan charges 23 cents a page for color printing, and postage through USPS (since I missed the online-only part of the prompt) would probably be, idk, $2-3? Which, distributed over 50 pages, would be something like an extra 4-6 cents for each. It might take a little longer than an online service and is certainly less secure, but I think that (or similarly paying anyone else with access to a cheap or subsidized printing source—or a home printer) is the cheapest way to have things printed and shipped remotely.

(If your local public library offers color printing, you could even ask a neighbor to do you a favor, and skirt the whole "mail" issue entirely!)
posted by the tartare yolk at 12:13 PM on June 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

I don't think you're going to get much better of a price. I checked out Office Depot, and the cost is about $29. But if you have a Staples or Office Depot near you, you can save on shipping costs.
posted by hydra77 at 8:32 AM on June 5, 2023

Best answer: Have not used it myself, but printme1.com has been recommended a few times on music production sites I visit for printing and binding PDF user manuals. From their FAQ it looks like color printing is 24.9 cents per page.
posted by alb at 4:37 PM on June 5, 2023