From: tonyb@juliet.ll.mit.edu ( Tony Berke )
Newsgroups: rec.audio.pro
Subject: Cassette J-Card Printing
Date: 9 Nov 92 16:06:28 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: M.I.T. Lincoln Lab: Group 43 (Weather, not Weapons)

There was some discussion on the topic of printing J-Cards a month or
two ago.  As it seemed a topic of interest to several people here, I
thought I'd post the results of a few things I've been playing with.

First of all, after much evaluation I decided to sell my old HP
Desk-Jet 500C and replace it with the new 550C.  This new model will
print solid black (blacker, cheaper) at the same time as CMY output
from a 3-color cartridge.  That's not the cool part, however... the
really neat thing is that the 550C has a vastly improved paper
handling system, and appears to be completely happy printing on just
about any paper you can think of.  I've run many sheets of 110# index
stock, and several sheets of 80# coated cardstock through the thing,
and it feeds very accurately and reliably.  HP's new windows 3.1
printer driver is much improved over the old one, with a very nice
random dither pattern that gets pretty usable color shading results
that are a lot less hokey looking than fixed dithers.

I'm still trying, but so far I haven't found any inexpensive laser
printers that are completely happy printing on heavy stock.  While
many printers will feed the stuff, the toner often fails to fuse
adequately, and can rub off a little easier than I'd like.  I'm
running some tests with a new paper, however, and will get back with
the results ASAP.

Here's the part you guys might be interested in: I've done some
research, and it appears that I can have a custom die made to
perforate and score J-cards, for not too huge an amount of money.
While pre-perforated J-cards are available from a number of sources
(PolyLine, Full Compass, etc), the paper choice is limited (to white
100# stock).  Booooring.

I'm going to have a die made sometime in the next week, and will be
making a paper and stamping order soon thereafter.  Pending further
testing on my new printer, I'm thinking of setting up the die to
allow printing 4 double-fold J-cards on a legal-sized sheet, with the
extra flap perforated instead of scored, so it can be removed if not
needed.

The kinds of paper that I've been looking at are not cheap, but look
about six thousand times slicker than boring cardstock.  For about 10
to 15 cents a sheet (qty 1000) I can get this wonderful stuff from
James River Paper that is VERY glossy, 80# weight (improved
laser-prinatability, as far as toner fusing goes), recycled, and comes
in several flecked greys, browns, and greens.  For about 5 cents a
sheet, I can get a glossy white stock from quite a few different
suppliers.  This still looks much better than uncoated stock, and
works great on the DeskJet (so does the other stuff).

So now I have a few questions: First of all, do any of you
laser-printer gurus know if these high-gloss coated stocks can
contaminate the print drum?  The DJ's inkjet cartridge doesn't contact
the paper, so it's no worry (most inkjets actually prefer clay-coated
stock), but I wonder about the LaserJets.

Second question: Does anyone want to buy some of the resulting J-Card
stock?  Most of these entertaining papers are prohibitively expensive
(ie 50 cents per sheet) in small quantities, so I'm hoping to find
some interested parties that would allow larger quantities -- which
would let all of us indulge ourselves with more color choices.

If anyone is seriously interested, give me a call or e-mail.  I can
send some paper samples, and we can talk money.

Thanks,

Tony
Newsgroups: rec.audio.pro