printing pdf's vs. books - cost comparison?

[philreed]

. . . heck with some of the Ronin Arts books I cut and paste the entry I am using straight into the adventure as I am doing it up on Word Perfect.

Which is the biggest advantage PDF has over print. There should really be a free PDF or website that promotes all of the ways that RPG PDFs can be used.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

...heck with some of the Ronin Arts books I cut and paste the entry I am using straight into the adventure as I am doing it up on Word Perfect.

Which is the biggest advantage PDF has over print. There should really be a free PDF or website that promotes all of the ways that RPG PDFs can be used.

You know, I should have mentioned this over on the 'How Do You Use Ronin Arts PDFs' thread, but I've done it so often that I didn't even think of it....

The Auld Grump

 

[Lars Porsenna]

For those of you that have used printing services, what sort of binding options are there? Can you, for example, have the pdf bound into a hardback format? I have some PDFs of 1e and 2e products that I would love to have up on my shelf...

Damon.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I only wanted spiral bound of the sort that can be completely folded over (I can't stand that Cerlock crap) to minimize space and for ease of use.

Proper binding would be more expensive.

 

[scourger]

12

Which is the biggest advantage PDF has over print. There should really be a free PDF or website that promotes all of the ways that RPG PDFs can be used.

Or "A Dozen Ways to Use a Dozen PDFs"

 

[Aristotle]

It ran me about $12 at kinkos to get Elements of Magic done in black and white on their cheapest paper and spiral bound in a cover (black back/clear front). That was a little more than I wanted to pay, but I really wanted that book in an offline format that was easily portable.

I just took a position that has me working more closely with the marketing department. I got access to the color laser printer and all of their nice paper. They have a laminator and couple of different binding machines. I haven't gotten a chance to learn how to use any of that yet, but when I do... I'll definately be printing out all sorts of game materials.

 

[scourger]

FastDraft

I use an HP inkjet all-in-one. When I want to print something routine, like a pdf, I use the FasDraft setting in the Preferences section of the Print menu. It saves A LOT of ink and makes printing much faster. The art is decent-looking, too. If I just want a section of a pdf, I just print it on a normal setting.

 

[woodelf]

I used to print them off at work and then get them spiral bound with plastic covers at Kinkos for about $5 (Canadian). I would package several books of a similar theme together (e.g. all my demon/devil books).

I've since stopped b/c I have a pile as tall as I am and I rarely use them. So I figure why bother printing them if I'm not going to use them that often. Now, if I'm looking for something, I'll just look at the pdf.

p.s. the laser printer idea is a good one, but keep in mind that most rpg books have lots of pictures and borders that can eat up A LOT of ink (thus, the reason why I printed them off at work ).

Right. So you'll only get 5000pp per toner cartridge, instead of 10000. It'll still pay for itself, compared to either an inkjet or printing at Kinko's, in rather short order.

But, i do concur: only print stuff you actually want/need in hardcopy. For a lot of RPG products (whether sold as PDF or hardcopy), especially for a crunch-heavy system like D20 System, you only need them occasionally, for reference, and often only between sessions. At which point, save a tree, and work on screen. But for others, you either just want to read them, or want hardcopy for some other reason. At which point, print them--the cost will still be on par with hardcopy products, though not cheap enough to make the PDF cheaper than an actual hardcopy of the same product.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I have access to a laser printer at work, so it costs me nothing!

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

For me, the ink costs were irrelevant since I was printing them off at work. It's the binding that starts to add up. Afterall, you can't have hundreds of books in loose page format; that's a recipe for disaster!

I've found that I'd rather have them all on my computer/laptop/CD so I can take them with me and when I want to know some miniscule detail I can look it up at work (that is, when I'm not printing stuff off! Heehee!).