Delighted that the plan worked
Oct. 20th, 2021 12:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
studio1009I have started a tradition of using one of my watercolor paintings on our holiday card. For two of them, my painting instructor arranged for the printing. It was expensive, about $3/card. The next year, I scanned my painting on my all-in-one printer and used Shutterfly to print the cards. With shipping, that was about $2/card. This year, I thought I'd use Shutterfly again, but my painting is too large for my scanner. I asked around for suggestions on where to take it to get a good quality scan. Nothing helpful; people just took a photo of their art. That might be good enough. Then I thought about Staples, the office supply store. I had used them to copy large stained glass patterns. I'm sure their flatbed scanner is big enough.
I gathered my courage and took the painting to the local Staples. (I need to have courage because I'm hard-of-hearing and people still need to wear masks against the coronavirus.) The woman at the print center very carefully scanned the painting, checked the quality, and copied the file to my thumb drive. I noticed that Staples prints various business material, including greeting cards. I asked about pricing. It would be less than a dollar a card for the quantity I wanted. So since I was there, I decided to order cards. She started helping me do the layout. It is on their website. So I told her I would put together the order at home, since there were other customers waiting and this could take some time. I asked her what I owed for the scan. She waved her hand dismissively and said "Forget it". Wow. For the other company I used, it was $25 just for the scan.
I'm glad I decided to do the layout at home. There were so many options. I needed the time to decide on the text and I needed to crop the scan a bit. The color was a bit better than my photo. Also the scan was a higher quality, not that it mattered for a 4x6 image. I was amazed that I could get the cards the next day. (It would have been longer if I'd chosen the foil option or a better quality paper. Then it would have been 5 days, not bad.) In the past, I had to allow several weeks for printing and delivery, which was why I was starting the card ordering process in October.
I decided to do a non-folded card like I did last year. It is less wasteful than a folded card. Image on the front and greeting on the back. I usually include a newsletter, so don't need to write a long message in the card. The website also provides a proof PDF. I sent that to my husband for proofreading and approval.
I placed the order around noon and got an email at 8:30pm that the order was ready. I picked it up the next day and it looks great. The woman who helped me before was there and I thanked her for her help. I am delighted with the whole process.
It is nice when a plan works.
I gathered my courage and took the painting to the local Staples. (I need to have courage because I'm hard-of-hearing and people still need to wear masks against the coronavirus.) The woman at the print center very carefully scanned the painting, checked the quality, and copied the file to my thumb drive. I noticed that Staples prints various business material, including greeting cards. I asked about pricing. It would be less than a dollar a card for the quantity I wanted. So since I was there, I decided to order cards. She started helping me do the layout. It is on their website. So I told her I would put together the order at home, since there were other customers waiting and this could take some time. I asked her what I owed for the scan. She waved her hand dismissively and said "Forget it". Wow. For the other company I used, it was $25 just for the scan.
I'm glad I decided to do the layout at home. There were so many options. I needed the time to decide on the text and I needed to crop the scan a bit. The color was a bit better than my photo. Also the scan was a higher quality, not that it mattered for a 4x6 image. I was amazed that I could get the cards the next day. (It would have been longer if I'd chosen the foil option or a better quality paper. Then it would have been 5 days, not bad.) In the past, I had to allow several weeks for printing and delivery, which was why I was starting the card ordering process in October.
I decided to do a non-folded card like I did last year. It is less wasteful than a folded card. Image on the front and greeting on the back. I usually include a newsletter, so don't need to write a long message in the card. The website also provides a proof PDF. I sent that to my husband for proofreading and approval.
I placed the order around noon and got an email at 8:30pm that the order was ready. I picked it up the next day and it looks great. The woman who helped me before was there and I thanked her for her help. I am delighted with the whole process.
It is nice when a plan works.
