# Printing Program and Printer



## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

Does anyone here use Print Artist Platinum, Version 23? I researched as much as I could to find the best program to print greeting and note cards. I installed it Saturday and tried to print a card. It printed four panels which meant I had to fold the card twice to get a quarter sized card. But what I need is a half size card. I did a practice card using Word and printed two panels...the front and back. Then turned the card over and printed the inside verse. It didn't look too bad, but I want to use a good program that has a lot of fonts and graphics to use. So far I haven't figured out if there is any way to print just two panels at a time with this print program. So if anyone uses it and can help me, I would appreciate it. If it doesn't work the way I want I will have to sell it for whatever I can get and find another program. My printer is also going bad. I keep getting verticle lines in the prints. I've done every cleaning and aligning thing it has and it still does it. It's probably getting old. I've had it a few years. I need to find an inexpensive yet quality printer that will be able to print on 65lb and 110 lb stock. The only way I'm going to be able to market our cards is to make a good product and things aren't going well. I'm looking in chair cushions for spare change to buy what I need and it is so frustrating. We have enough art and finished verses for two, six card sets, but no way to get them printed. I got that great deal on a website, so all I need now is a product. Sorry, I guess this ran kinda long. First thing is the print program, then the printer. I have a $25 off coupon for Staples, so I'd like to use that if I can. Thanks.

Nomad


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

Not familiar with the Print Artist Plat. program you are using but...

It sounds to me that you are going to use a printer to duplicate hundreds if not thousands of these cards.

Don't throw your money away on any printer that you will find at Staples.

Although the quality of the print may be OK, you will soon find that these printers are going to start to discombobulate before your very eyes using that heavy a card stock over and over. You will spend much more money on cartridges and printers.

I would suggest that you look for a real commercial grade printer that can handle many many jobs of this size.

You may want to stop by a local print shop and chum up to them and see what they would recommend for 'home' use.

Sure you will probably pay more for the printer and cartridges initially but you will be rewarded as to how long the actual hardware will last as opposed to fighting the flat roller issues you are going to run up against.

That's my two cents ( Adjusted for Inflation)

L


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I used to mail out hundreds of cards at a time and I bought a color duplicator. It requires 1 pass per color. If you are doing very large numbers of copies, I would check out a print shop that has a duplicator. At the time, that was by far the cheapest way to go. With printers being so cheap today, I don't know where the break even point is.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

If you have a vertical line, I'm guessing you have a laser printer. (Inkjets go side to side with lines) Cleaning is vital, and sometimes you may have to take it to a pro to get the job done right.

What you have is a template program. Those are inherently limiting. You might consider using it just as a starting point and then using one of the following - Photoshop, GIMP (free), Corel, or PagePlus (both free and pay versions available). Those are decent graphics/photo programs that don't limit you.

Once you have a design, you may find it cheaper to take an output file to a copy center and have it churn out the copies. On a page by page basis for color copies, some of those end up costing less than home printing.


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## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

Harry Chickpea said:


> If you have a vertical line, I'm guessing you have a laser printer. (Inkjets go side to side with lines) Cleaning is vital, and sometimes you may have to take it to a pro to get the job done right.
> 
> What you have is a template program. Those are inherently limiting. You might consider using it just as a starting point and then using one of the following - Photoshop, GIMP (free), Corel, or PagePlus (both free and pay versions available). Those are decent graphics/photo programs that don't limit you.
> 
> Once you have a design, you may find it cheaper to take an output file to a copy center and have it churn out the copies. On a page by page basis for color copies, some of those end up costing less than home printing.



I have made an error. :ashamed: The lines in the pictures appear to be vertical, but that's because I printed them rotated 90 degrees. I didn't make the connection until I read your post. The lines are indeed Horizontal and I have an inkjet printer. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks for the heads up on the programs you listed.

Nomad


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## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

Never let it be said that I don't own up to doing something really stupid. I was clicking on some buttons to see how much ink I had left and I happened to see a list of choices. Seems like I had the printer set for text. Actually it came that way cause I never saw that page before. I saw a choice for photo and chose it. Now I am getting perfect pictures. All I need is to find the right program to use and I'll be in business. :bash:


Nomad


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## Mistyf (Apr 4, 2008)

Not sure what version I have, but the four panels are front, inside left, inside right, and back. You print one panel, turn the paper around, and print the other until all four are done.


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## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

Mistyf said:


> Not sure what version I have, but the four panels are front, inside left, inside right, and back. You print one panel, turn the paper around, and print the other until all four are done.


Is that two panels on one side and two panels on the back? This program prints all four on one side which isn't what I need.


Nomad


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## Mistyf (Apr 4, 2008)

Yes two panels on one side, front and back, and then two panels on the other side, inside left and inside right. But it only prints one panel at a time.


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## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

Mistyf said:


> Yes two panels on one side, front and back, and then two panels on the other side, inside left and inside right. But it only prints one panel at a time.


And that is Print Artist? If it will do that I can use it. I'm so busy I haven't had time to read the whole book yet, so maybe it will work. Thanks,

Nomad


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## Mistyf (Apr 4, 2008)

Yes, print artist.


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## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

Mistyf said:


> Yes, print artist.


Ok thanks. I'll have to see if I can do it.

Nomad


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## Birchbark (Apr 3, 2008)

Here's an online tutorial for Print Artist. Hope that helps. It is talking about what you wanted to know. All the different ways to fold them.

http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/publishing/articles/13485.aspx


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## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

Birchbark said:


> Here's an online tutorial for Print Artist. Hope that helps. It is talking about what you wanted to know. All the different ways to fold them.
> 
> http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/publishing/articles/13485.aspx


Thanks, I'll take a look later today.

Nomad


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## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

I did it!!! I finally got a card printed and it turned out right. It took a few tries to get everything in the right place, but I can finally print the cards. I'm wondering if 110 lb stock is too heavy though. It feels good but sometimes the inside fold looks a little rough. Maybe it just takes practice. Thanks for all of the help, I really appreciate it.

Nomad


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

Nomad said:


> I'm wondering if 110 lb stock is too heavy though. It feels good but sometimes the inside fold looks a little rough.


What are you using for stock? The grain is running the wrong way for good folding the way you want it. The grain should run parallel to the short dimension before it's folded. Look at the size marked on the package, is one of the dimension numbers underlined? If so, which one?

If you are cutting it before printing, that's important to know when trying to figure out the grain.

Peg


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## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

I am using Staples 110 lb card stock. I have everything working and even the test folds came out the way they should. There are no underlines on the numbers of the package. I think I've got a handle on it and I'll be getting production underway this week.

Nomad


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