Xerox rant!

[YourCastle]

Most of my booklets, the cover is only full bleed, so I run the cover through the inserter tray which bypasses the fuser. On occassion, I have projects that are full bleed guts. So, I'll print the entire booklet bleed, then trim down on my Duplo, then run the entire booklet through my inserter for finishing (stitch, fold, and face trim). I did this on my v80 because jams through inserter only jobs was way less than running it through the fuser. And losing just one page in a pre-printed booklet is a pain in the butt!

Well, Xerox wasn't getting paid for that finishing, so they software restricted that option.

I'll quote the movie Boondock Saints and hope it doesn't get me banned...

Rocco : F###in'- What the f###in'. F###. Who the f### f###ed this f###ing... How did you two f####ing f###ks...
[shouts]
Rocco : F####k!
Connor : Well, that certainly illustrates the diversity of the word.

Yes, Connor, and quite fitting for my mood this morning.

I asked my sales rep to tell Xerox to fix the software restriction, at least temporarily. If they need to click charge for finishing only jobs run through their machines, fine. But this function worked on my v80, which my company upgraded to the v280 last month. It's too late to find another option!

/rant

 

[tngcas]

That's one of my favorite things about our switch to canon. We preprint a lot of books (2-up) and then run them back through, or with full bleed we follow the same steps you do. Xerox would always charge us the black and white rate for "blank" sheets. Canon does not charge us for blank sheets at all. It's great.

 

[TJPrinter]

I don’t have an inserter but I had a booklet job in the rip and I just added 2 inserts after the last page (pulled from tray 7) and the counter did not go up for the inserts. Maybe this could be a workaround until they correct it? Add as many inserts as sheets in booklet to get to page count. They do go through the fuser though and add a bit more gloss when doing this.

 

[YourCastle]

I don’t have an inserter but I had a booklet job in the rip and I just added 2 inserts after the last page (pulled from tray 7) and the counter did not go up for the inserts. Maybe this could be a workaround until they correct it? Add as many inserts as sheets in booklet to get to page count. They do go through the fuser though and add a bit more gloss when doing this.

thank you but I'm not following your suggestion?

My goal is to run the entire booklet through the inserter/Tray T1 and avoid the fuser. If I add blank sheets before the fuser, then I have tear them out of each booklet?

 

[kslight]

I used to do the same trick all the time, didn’t know they patched it. I can still cheat the recent non Xerox machines I’ve used.


However the bigger problem - I know that inline booklet makers sound cool and convenient on paper, but they are super expensive (and you throw them away with every new printer you get), problematic, the technicians rarely are trained / supported adequately on them, often severely slow down the printer, and they have lots of limitations (size, bleeds, thickness, etc).

When we got our new printer, we ditched the inline booklet maker option and bought a Duplo DBM150. It’s awesome for our use, so far reliable, and so much better than any inline system I’ve had access to.

Obviously what makes sense to your business may vary, but hand feeding books doesn’t really take that long…for reasonable (usually 100-500, sometimes 1000) runs this is perfect and all we need

 

[Ynot_UK]

+1 for the DBM150 and the flexibility it offers over inline. Imposition and maximising the click on small booklets, flexibility when the heavier weight cover needs precreasing, etc. Ours is also hand feed at the moment, there’s always the option to add a DSF2200 or a tower, although we’re tight on floor space. The little SQ104 on the end takes up less than 2ft and creates the all important squarefold finish

 

[TJPrinter]

thank you but I'm not following your suggestion?

My goal is to run the entire booklet through the inserter/Tray T1 and avoid the fuser. If I add blank sheets before the fuser, then I have tear them out of each booklet?

Hopefully you can get the inserter to work the way you need it to. But if you can't this may be a workaround.

Sorry, didn’t explain this well. It’s a kind of convoluted way around what they won’t let you do anymore. You load all your preprinted collated sheets in tray 6 or 7, you're just calling them inserts. You’ll have to pay at least 1 click to make this a booklet but it can be just a black click.

Create a 4 page booklet and then add as many inserts as you need to complete the booklet.

Unfortunately you're correct they will go through the fuser but you won't pay for them.

I only use the inline finisher for booklets that don’t have bleeds. All my booklets with bleeds are done offline.

 

[YourCastle]

your preprinted collated sheets in tray 6 or 7

yeah, thanks, that's what i'm doing

however, I have more jams going through the fuser than bypassing the fuser using just the inserter, Tray T1. And a jam on a multi-sheet booklet is annoying to clear.

 

[TJPrinter]

yeah, thanks, that's what i'm doing

however, I have more jams going through the fuser than bypassing the fuser using just the inserter, Tray T1. And a jam on a multi-sheet booklet is annoying to clear.

That sucks, what a pain!

 

[kslight]

+1 for the DBM150 and the flexibility it offers over inline. Imposition and maximising the click on small booklets, flexibility when the heavier weight cover needs precreasing, etc. Ours is also hand feed at the moment, there’s always the option to add a DSF2200 or a tower, although we’re tight on floor space. The little SQ104 on the end takes up less than 2ft and creates the all important squarefold finish

Yeah I thought about the feeder, but space is a major issue, and it is not inexpensive. The idea was that we could always add it later if our use dictated it. 1.5 years in I feel like we made the right decision. I think I’d rather add a square fold, if I changed anything.

 

[Craig]

It doesn't help now but next time consider offline finishing so you aren't tied to the printer.

 

[brettbygrave]

Agree regarding the DBM150....my last position was as an all-rounder at a small family business and in 1 year there I would have finished thousands of booklets with only one breakdown. Had a pre-owned Duplo creaser as well for creasing the thicker covers. Printed the booklets on a KM and inserted the cover with the post insert tray, cut top and bottom on the guillotine and then hand fed the books to fold, stitch and front edge trim. You work out a technique and can hand feed the books very quickly.