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Subject:Re: Print on Demand From:"David R. Warfield" <davidw -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 17 Nov 1995 17:12:15 -0500
Thanks everyone for your postings & e-mail in response to my queries
on 7 x 9 page size and POD.
I should have mentioned that the 500 copy number I gave is probably an
upper limit, with 200-300 more likely. Also, my "vendor" is actually
my own company, a publishing division that I haven't deal with before.
In essence, I just give them a postscript file and like magic,
printed copies are available world-wide. Sales people, field engineers,
and others will be able to look up and order the documents on various
on-line systems. Offset and POD are available, but not paper-plate.
As I mentioned in a previous posting, the 7 x 9 size is availble,
but not with the binding option I was looking for. I guess these are
the "realities of the printing process du jour" that Robert Plamondon
mentioned.
Also, to date my documents are formatted and printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper.
(The postscript files will also print on laser printers loaded with A4 paper,
but the margins are off.)
I've been planning on providing the 7 x 9 size, (hence my original
posting), but I've been dreading the amount of work to re-format.
Sometimes it seemed like 8 1/2 x 11 was not enough space for the
illustrations. I also "wrote to fit" some sections.
Today I print copies on my locally attached printer and our LAN printer.
I provide Postscript files so other people can print their own copies.
The same Postscript files are used for a FAX-back service (for small
documents). All of this is most convienent when formatted for
8 1/2 x 11 or A4.
On the other hand, the 7 x 9 size, or there-abouts, is really
pervasive for semiconductor data books. I have 5 shelf (or is
it 5-shelf) bookshelves where four shelves hold nothing but
7 x 9 data books and one shelf where the few 8 1/2 x 11 books
are turned on their side so they fit. Because the 7 x 9 format
is so prevalent I was afraid that readers would form a negative
opinion about my documents simply because they were a "weird" or
"non-standard" size.
Nobody in this group has given such an opinion, so I guess tech writers
would prefer the "right" size versus the "standard" size.
--
David Warfield, IBM Microelectronics Speaking only for myself
davidw -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
