4 ms·

> I wonder why there isn’t a print-on-demand service for those folks There is. It’s called a copy shop.

kstrauser 3y ago
Another user, elashri, asked this: "Not sure if I can just take a pdf(epub..etc) file to a copy shop and just ask them to print the book for me. Wouldn't they be concerned about copyrights?" and their comment got voted down and killed. It's a good question, though. Can you take a random book to a copy shop and have it printed? I've never tried it and I don't know, but I'm curious. Before scanners were common and affordable, I had one heck of a time duplicating a professional photo of my parents. The photographer had died, and none of the local copy shops would dupe it for me without a release (which I eventually just forged, because it was getting ridiculous). It seems at least plausible that the same shops might say "nah, that's clearly not your own work, and we won't print it". How does this work in real life?
isametry 3y ago
A copy shop where they grab whatever bleached-to-death paper they have at hand, print it using consumer-grade powder toner with questionable quality and longevity, and if you’re lucky you will only pay slightly more than you would’ve for the industrially produced book? (And not significantly more.) You have it the other way round: copy shops for books exist – they are called print-on-demand book services. Amazon is doing a whole lot for example. These are production lines with huge digital presses, running almost completely automated, spitting out individual books each tied to a specific order (starting from one copy). The average copy shop and its glorified office printers will never match it in quality, and especially not in quality per dollar.
elashri 3y ago
Not sure if I can just take a pdf(epub..etc) file to a copy shop and just ask them to print the book for me. Wouldn't they be concerned about copyrights?

Another user, elashri, asked this: "Not sure if I can just take a pdf(epub..etc) file to a copy shop and just ask them to print the book for me. Wouldn't they be concerned about copyrights?" and their comment got voted down and killed. It's a good question, though. Can you take a random book to a copy shop and have it printed? I've never tried it and I don't know, but I'm curious. Before scanners were common and affordable, I had one heck of a time duplicating a professional photo of my parents. The photographer had died, and none of the local copy shops would dupe it for me without a release (which I eventually just forged, because it was getting ridiculous). It seems at least plausible that the same shops might say "nah, that's clearly not your own work, and we won't print it". How does this work in real life?

isametry 3y ago

A copy shop where they grab whatever bleached-to-death paper they have at hand, print it using consumer-grade powder toner with questionable quality and longevity, and if you’re lucky you will only pay slightly more than you would’ve for the industrially produced book? (And not significantly more.) You have it the other way round: copy shops for books exist – they are called print-on-demand book services. Amazon is doing a whole lot for example. These are production lines with huge digital presses, running almost completely automated, spitting out individual books each tied to a specific order (starting from one copy). The average copy shop and its glorified office printers will never match it in quality, and especially not in quality per dollar.

elashri 3y ago

Not sure if I can just take a pdf(epub..etc) file to a copy shop and just ask them to print the book for me. Wouldn't they be concerned about copyrights?