Getting stuff printed
Discussion
I don't have a printer at home as I've always used the printers in the office but now I need to print some stuff but not sure how to go about it as I'm working from home.
The obvious solution would be to buy a printer but does anyone know whether there are any companies I can use where I can upload my document to a website and get them to print and then mail it to me? Or maybe a shop I can visit that has printing facilities similar to supermarkets where you can upload and print photos?
We are not talking large scale printing here; maybe 10 sheets a week, mainly A4 but some A3 and some colour too.
Thanks.
The obvious solution would be to buy a printer but does anyone know whether there are any companies I can use where I can upload my document to a website and get them to print and then mail it to me? Or maybe a shop I can visit that has printing facilities similar to supermarkets where you can upload and print photos?
We are not talking large scale printing here; maybe 10 sheets a week, mainly A4 but some A3 and some colour too.
Thanks.
There's loads of them.
For photos I use a company called DS Colour Labs.
https://dscolourlabs.co.uk/
You can get just about any combination of size and paper type.
For documents I can't particularly help, but in the past when I had to print large documents I found it cheaper to buy a cheap printer and do it myself - making sure to buy a printer where black cartridges can be found third party and very cheap!
For photos I use a company called DS Colour Labs.
https://dscolourlabs.co.uk/
You can get just about any combination of size and paper type.
For documents I can't particularly help, but in the past when I had to print large documents I found it cheaper to buy a cheap printer and do it myself - making sure to buy a printer where black cartridges can be found third party and very cheap!
I had a similar situation and have survived on using old / used / no longer needed printers, either from car boot sales, or just printers that mates are throwing out because they've bought something better. But, I don't care if the print quality is slightly iffy from time to time - if you're printing things to send to potential or current customers, you probably would want better. That said, if you're doing that, it wouldn't be too much to expect work to provide one, so that's probably not the case.
Each time I spend ages pushing head clean after head clean through it because it's clogged up through lack of use, I wonder about just buying a £40 printer from Tesco, but I remember that will probably do the same thing after a while for the same reason.
Each time I spend ages pushing head clean after head clean through it because it's clogged up through lack of use, I wonder about just buying a £40 printer from Tesco, but I remember that will probably do the same thing after a while for the same reason.
Pilchard said:
The obvious solution would be to buy a printer but does anyone know whether there are any companies I can use where I can upload my document to a website and get them to print and then mail it to me? Or maybe a shop I can visit that has printing facilities similar to supermarkets where you can upload and print photos?
Go for the obvious solution. Tip- Get one with wifi so you can print without wires, and print directly from your phone too.Why on earth are you even thinking of uploading normal a4 print tasks and having them sent via the mail
Edited by hyphen on Tuesday 6th July 18:40
I’m WFH due to COVID and occasionally need something printed. I don’t want to buy a printer because I don’t want a printer, I’m only here until restrictions are lifted and I dont want a printer. It’s my house, not my office.
There’s a Mail Boxes Etc. shop a few minutes walk away, Whenever I need something printed I email it to them and it’s ready waiting for me to collect. It’s kind of expensive but It’s a work expense so I claim it back from my company.
https://www.mbe.co.uk/
There’s a Mail Boxes Etc. shop a few minutes walk away, Whenever I need something printed I email it to them and it’s ready waiting for me to collect. It’s kind of expensive but It’s a work expense so I claim it back from my company.
https://www.mbe.co.uk/
If you are printing around 10 sheets a week on a regular basis, it probably is a good idea to get yourself a cheap inkjet printer.
We don't print anything very regularly, so have had issues with that option as the print heads tend to dry up if left unused for some time.
As a result of this, I thought about getting a laser printer, but couldn't justify the cost due to the very low volumes so I did look at other options:
UKPostbox are pretty decent when you need to print a letter and post it, as you can just upload the letter and address and they do the rest. They also offer incoming mail management.
Docmail provide a similar service.
Doxdirect offer document printing, binding etc, along with a bunch of others. It is probably a good idea to batch several print jobs together as they offer free postage for orders over £10.
For photos, as has already been mentioned, DS Colour Labs provide a good service. For really high quality photo printing, Loxley Colour are another option. For just general snapshots, Photobox are also pretty decent.
We don't print anything very regularly, so have had issues with that option as the print heads tend to dry up if left unused for some time.
As a result of this, I thought about getting a laser printer, but couldn't justify the cost due to the very low volumes so I did look at other options:
UKPostbox are pretty decent when you need to print a letter and post it, as you can just upload the letter and address and they do the rest. They also offer incoming mail management.
Docmail provide a similar service.
Doxdirect offer document printing, binding etc, along with a bunch of others. It is probably a good idea to batch several print jobs together as they offer free postage for orders over £10.
For photos, as has already been mentioned, DS Colour Labs provide a good service. For really high quality photo printing, Loxley Colour are another option. For just general snapshots, Photobox are also pretty decent.
paralla said:
hyphen said:
paralla said:
I’m WFH .... It’s my house, not my office.
It appears to be both!I also refuse to buy a printer for WFH even though it seems to be saying it permanent luckily it’s flexible
My way around it is planning any printing required for the days I’m in the office but what I am realistically finding is that much of what I did using paper is perfectly fine on screen.
I guess more people pushed towards going paperless is a possible benefit from this situation
I work on mainly a3, sometimes a2 constructing plans and so long as my bone screen is big enough, there is software I can use to take scale measures where needed
My way around it is planning any printing required for the days I’m in the office but what I am realistically finding is that much of what I did using paper is perfectly fine on screen.
I guess more people pushed towards going paperless is a possible benefit from this situation
I work on mainly a3, sometimes a2 constructing plans and so long as my bone screen is big enough, there is software I can use to take scale measures where needed
We also have an office receptionist/ admin based in the office full time.
They will print off any hard copy requests and either post for next day or people can collect once printed if urgent (saves the effort of loading large files for printing)
Do you have anyone in the office who can do that for you?
They will print off any hard copy requests and either post for next day or people can collect once printed if urgent (saves the effort of loading large files for printing)
Do you have anyone in the office who can do that for you?
hyphen said:
You should have got a temporary printer for your temporary office and sold/given it away.
It would have printed about a dozen pages in 18 months then gone to landfill. It’s my experience that giving away low value items is more trouble than it’s worth. It’s certainly more trouble than walking around the corner a couple of times to collect printing.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff