PLOT LINES COLOR FILL


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If you are not paying for the ink they work well. Just the odd time you may want to make some material adjustments to avoid the darker colors or it can start to look like a heap of coal. Also watch for offset issues on larger plan files especially.

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17 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

If you are not paying for the ink they work well. Just the odd time you may want to make some material adjustments to avoid the darker colors or it can start to look like a heap of coal. Also watch for offset issues on larger plan files especially.

very true....looking at some HP 24" printers. It will pay for itself in no time.

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37 minutes ago, Doug_N said:

Which printers are you looking at?   I have toyed with a wide format printer purchase for a few years now but the cost still causes me pain.  How do you get a payback on this Rob?

I charge for prints per sheet whether I use a plot shop or were to buy a printer. I am looking at some HP printers for about a grand. I don't want any big obnoxious ones taking up space on a stand. Here is one that got my attention a while back.......for what I need it for this will be just fine since I won't print on a daily basis.

 

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Just now, Doug_N said:

How much do you charge?  This is really interesting.

Right now I just charge for what it costs me at the plot shop which is roughly $2 a sheet. Most people want atleast two prints and I average about 18 sheets for a set of plans. I do multiple homes per month so $900 won't hurt me nowadays. Tax write off as well.

 

They have this printer in a local office depot. They charge $3 a sheet and it prints damn good. awesome clarity.

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i always wonder what the ink costs are for these printers.  I've stayed away from ink/bubble jets for years after getting raped and pillaged for ink.

 

looks like they are $40 per cartridge and you need 3 plus B&W.

 

if you get it, I'd be curious on how many sheets you get before you need more ink (it will be varied I'm sure based on plans, but it would be good to know even a ballpark). I print infrequently, but the print shop is a long ways away.

 

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1 hour ago, jasonn1234 said:

i always wonder what the ink costs are for these printers.  I've stayed away from ink/bubble jets for years after getting raped and pillaged for ink.

 

looks like they are $40 per cartridge and you need 3 plus B&W.

 

if you get it, I'd be curious on how many sheets you get before you need more ink (it will be varied I'm sure based on plans, but it would be good to know even a ballpark). I print infrequently, but the print shop is a long ways away.

 

yeah, I have searched for laser jets but no luck for this size.

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@ChiefUserBigRob if you are going to provide the printing, you need to make sure you are compensated for the time away from the computer baby sitting the printer. I've been there, done that....sold the printer. I figured that if the local shop was charging $3 per sheet, I needed to charge $6 to cover the paper, ink, and my time away from getting the drawings to the print stage. I bumped up the price and people stopped asking me to print them, which is what I wanted.

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3 hours ago, joey_martin said:

if you are going to provide the printing, you need to make sure you are compensated for the time away from the computer baby sitting the printer. I've been there, done that....sold the printer. I figured that if the local shop was charging $3 per sheet, I needed to charge $6 to cover the paper, ink, and my time away from getting the drawings to the print stage. I bumped up the price and people stopped asking me to print them, which is what I wanted.

100% matches my experience. Not to mention the additional hassle of accounting. I'll gladly email the plans to the printshop and cc the client. 

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I have an Epson SC-T2170, It goes through ink a little faster than my older HP. I do not print a lot for clients. When I do, I charge $350/sht for full color since I always have color in my con docs. The time to deal with the outfeed and assembly of pages is daunting so when I have more than 30 sheets to run I will hire my son to manage it for $1/sht. The actual cost to run a sheet is about $1. I have yet to rig up my stand so that the outfeed system is clean. One day?

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On 1/7/2022 at 6:09 AM, joey_martin said:

@ChiefUserBigRob if you are going to provide the printing, you need to make sure you are compensated for the time away from the computer baby sitting the printer. I've been there, done that....sold the printer. I figured that if the local shop was charging $3 per sheet, I needed to charge $6 to cover the paper, ink, and my time away from getting the drawings to the print stage. I bumped up the price and people stopped asking me to print them, which is what I wanted.

I agree and have thought about this but I would only print when they are 100% happy and no more changes to the home which would cut down printer usage. It would also be beneficial to have a full size print of the floorplan to markup during meetings without having to run down the road for the 3 sheet minimum. My 8.5X11 prints just won't cut it as it is now.

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1 hour ago, ChiefUserBigRob said:

I agree and have thought about this but I would only print when they are 100% happy and no more changes to the home which would cut down printer usage. It would also be beneficial to have a full size print of the floorplan to markup during meetings without having to run down the road for the 3 sheet minimum. My 8.5X11 prints just won't cut it as it is now.

I use a Brother MFC-J6945DW Printer, which will print 11 x 17 copies in colour.  The printer was less than $500, has two media automatic feeders and will scan 11 x 17 as well.  This size is pretty useful, and covers about 95% of all my client paper needs, and most applications that still require paper copies.  Ink is not out of this world expensive either. I still wish that I had a 24" wide printer though, even though realistically it wouldn't pay for itself.

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