Just want to print 2 or 3 copies of a large document

[sivey@pdx]

Since I am going to all sorts of trouble to learn Indesign for other purposes, I am thinking that I might as well also use it for logging my recent trip to South America, rather than using proprietary services such as Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc.

I expect to do about 100 pages but only want two or three copies - most companies require 6 copies.

What DO people who use InDesign use for this sort of a home project?

[Derek Cross]

Are you producing a 100 page document and do you want recommendations for a printer who can print just two or three copies of your journal.

Which version of InDesign and OS?

Size (dimensions) of your publication?

Colour or black and white?

Do the images bleed?

Will the PDF they'll be printing from have reasonably Effective resolution of the images?

What kind of binding?

Which country are you in?

[sivey@pdx]

InDesign CC 2016, Windows 10

8.5"x11"

mostly color pages

no bleeds

good resolution

Not sure

USA

[Derek Cross]

Have a look at Blurb

Create, Print, and Sell Professional-Quality Photo Books | Blurb

You can get a free Blurb InDesign plugin.

You may find this online video tutorial helpful (you can get a 30-days free trial): Creating Photo Books with Blurb

[sivey@pdx]

Oh yes, I met someone who uses Blurb and she uses it for all her travel albums (I think not with InDesign but their proprietary system??).

I was put off by the pricing but maybe I should go with Blurb. It appears that one can use the InDesign Blurb plugin to create and convert your document to PDF. Once you produce the PDF I expect that then you still have the option to print with Blurb OR another company.

[Derek Cross]

Blurb's plug-in is very good, and includes a PDF spec that might not be suitable for other printers, so you would need to export to your other printer's spec. So. apart from that, you can use the Blurb templates.

With such a small print run you can expect it to be expensive. Blurb's quality for photo books is very good.

As you're new to InDesign, and it has a steep learning curve, it might be a good idea to produce a practice book first, using some of your existing pictures and text and producing (say) only a 32 page book to get the hang of using InDesign, and maybe trying out one or two printers.

By the way, there isn't a CC2016 version of InDesign, the current versions are CC2017/2018.

Make sure you understand what the Effective PPI resolution of your images in InDesign are and that your images (in your InDesign document) are between 200 and 300PPI.

[sivey@pdx]

thanks!

[Bill Silbert]

Most people who use InDesign for personal use usually own an ink jet printer such as those made by EPSON, HP and CANON. The machines themselves are usually not very expensive to buy but the ink cartridges will generally be where the manufacturers make their money. You will need one each of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to operate the printer and they will need to be replaced on a regular basis as they do not have a tremendous supply of ink in each. The machines are sold as either just a printer or as combination machines which can also function as a copier, scanner and fax machine. The quality is usually excellent but they do generally run slower than the laser printers that are usually used commercially by businesses.