Staples refuses to print my PDFs....

[jdrakeh]

They are selling a printed work which they have made. You are charged a sales tax on the copies.

You're incorrect. The sales tax is (again) levied on the service and the materials used in the performing of the service (check your itemized receipt sometime), not "Book X by Author Y". It's the difference between a book store receipt and a copy service receipt. One lists one lists a single product, the other breaks down costs by individual services and materials (e.g., copies, binding, paper, etc). You're free to believe what you like, of course.

 

[Jim Hague]

Just got a laser myself and am very happy about it. My toner is a bit more expensive (it's a $400 printer/scanner/copier/fax), but even then it's much, much cheaper than ink.

joe b.

Absolutely. I was forced to get a laser when my multifunction inkjet blew its print head and about $50 worth of color ink, and I've never looked back.

For those that're interested, a good, solid, no frills laser runs about $100-$150 at places like NewEgg, and comes with a decent toner cart. You've probably got something like Cartridge World in your area, so the toner can be refilled professionally for about 50-75% of a new cart's price. FYI.

 

[jdrakeh]

For those that're interested, a good, solid, no frills laser runs about $100-$150 at places like NewEgg, and comes with a decent toner cart. You've probably got something like Cartridge World in your area, so the toner can be refilled professionally for about 50-75% of a new cart's price. FYI.

Before I'd give up the local copy shop that I use, I'd have to buy a laser that does double-sided prints. . . and I suspect that would run me a great deal more than $150. Also, page-protected and binders are a very inefficient way to store printed documents of any size (more than 80 pages). I did this for years, but it took up too much space and ended up costing me more than printed books did (heavy duty page protectors aren't cheap).

 

[Jim Hague]

Before I'd give up the local copy shop that I use, I'd have to buy a laser that does double-sided prints. . . and I suspect that would run me a great deal more than $150. Also, page-protected and binders are a very inefficient way to store printed documents of any size (more than 80 pages). I did this for years, but it took up too much space and ended up costing me more than printed books did (heavy duty page protectors aren't cheap).

Ayuh, and entirely understandable - hence my wondering on what binding options (aside from the ol' three-ring or comb binding) are out there. As for double-sided, my cheapie laser has a duplexer, though it's manual insert. I don't think one that does it as a matter of course would jack the price up too badly.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Mine is also able to do double sided copies, if you do a manual insert. No harder than putting the paper in to the tray in the first place. I am also just on my second cartridge - laser printers get a heck of a lot more out of a toner cartridge than an inkjet does out of an ink cartridge.

The only downside is that I keep kicking myself for not getting one sooner - mine was $70 at Best Buy, on sale, and with an open box.

For binding I tend to use three ring binders and a three hole punch or page protectors.

The Auld Grump

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I still dislike anything that shifts the costs of printing from a company that has economies of scale to me.

I could have bought several game books or bound several pdfs for the price of my current copier...and the results I get are not up to Kinko's/Staples etc. standards, either.

That may just be me...but c'est la vie. The more stuff that goes to pdf or similar format the less stuff I'll buy.

Its not like I don't have other hobbies to suck up my cash!

 

[Thurbane]

A reciept of purchase does not give you the right to make copies of copyright material.

That depends on what part of the world you are in. Many countries allow you to make a copy for archival purposes, in case your original is lost or damaged.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That should read:

A reciept of purchase does not give you the right to make unlimited copies of copyright material.

There are exceptions- like archiving/working copies.

But even with those exceptions, you generally have to give up the copy if you also permanently divest yourself of the original.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

However, if I or he went out and used each others' trade dress, or directly copied concepts specific to our games whole cloth, that'd be another matter entirely. So to be clear - when I speak of IP, I'm talking things like trade dress, direct concepts and the like linked to specific creators and works.

Yeah I see that we're really closer than I first thought. I've always felt that trade dress was a very nebulous thing for a legal concept and should probably be eliminated. Really I think it should be more closely connected to plagiarism, unless you can actually show that one individuals actual work, not something "similar" the work itself, was used it shouldn't be grounds for a copyright argument between producers. And in this day and age there needs to be a simple and sane law regarding digital material and copies.

I'll agree that patent law is way, way out of whack right now, especially here in the U.S.

Thanks, I see I'm not alone at least. There's a lot of truly questionable stuff built into patent law and it probably needs to be completely torn down and rebuilt to work again.

Dude, go laser. The initial investment has dropped to former inkjet prices, and even my own $100 Samsung has cranked out over 5000 pages on a $30 toner cartridge.

That's the thing, beginning of the year I got a high end cannon inkjet for printing very high resolution art. As a result it will be a while until I can afford a second printer, though I intend to maybe sometime in the fall. Given that I occasionally need to print out a nearly 1000 page long document I'll be looking at automatic duplexers which drives the price up a bit.

On a semi-related note - who out there knows about good, inexpensive home binding techniques or materials? I know thermal is hideously expensive, and comb binding tends to shred the paper eventually. Why not cut the problems entirely out of the loop and take a cottage industry approach? Sell the PDFs, and folks can self-bind. Hmm...

I don't know anything cheap that's got decent quality and lasts. Somewhere I found a binding system that looked very attractive but it was out of my price range if I can relocate the link I'll send it for you to look at.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There's a lot of truly questionable stuff built into patent law and it probably needs to be completely torn down and rebuilt to work again.

Really? What?
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html#patent

Or did you actually mean to refer to Copyright?

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/copyright/copyrightrefresher.htm

I'm not saying its perfect, mind you, but I'm more of the mentality that the framework is sound and just needs some tweeks, rather than wholesale demolition & reconstruction.

And, just for the record, a little info on changes they're considering.

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/dapp/opla/presentation/focuspp.html