Help! Printing black cover

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Basically, the issue is as follows: I have an all-black cover/title page for a manuscript that needs to be printed on A4-sized stock. It is all black, from head-to-toe, with the exception of some white text (about 8-10 lines). The title is currently in PDF (vector format).

A normal printer, even super-high quality ones will leave black streaks, not to mention won't be able to print to the edge. I've realized that if I want to print this, then my only option is to probably go to a photo printing service. I've had A4 pictures done which have been predominantly black, and they've looked good. No streaks or anything.

I've got two questions:
  1. Is there a UK-based printer (like photobox.co.uk) that accepts vector-formats like PDF? Or will it necessarily have to be converted to JPG or PNG?
  2. If it has to be converted to JPEG, then how do I ensure that my text stays crisp?

Any other suggestions would be great. This needs to be done in the next couple days. Turnaround time for the printer would have to be within 2-3 days, strict.
 
mattyh said:
Go to a high street digital printer. Doesn't need to be a photo printing service.
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Several years ago, I did try high-end printers, but the results were still streaky. This could have been because I used a glossy finish at the time, but I think it might still be easier to just have it printed as a photo.
 
Hi Phil,

For your DPhil thesis don't Oxford have prefered printers/printers round town who are regularly printing these and able to print the whole thing to the university's requirements
 
boyfalldown said:
Hi Phil,

For your DPhil thesis don't Oxford have prefered printers/printers round town who are regularly printing these and able to print the whole thing to the university's requirements
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Yes...but that's a different matter [university regulations and all that], which was why I avoided mentioning the word, 'thesis'. For the moment, I'm just asking about the all-black cover.

I've tried one of the printers around town and their results are streaky at best. You just can't get a solid black using a conventional printer. Moreover, as I've pointed out, a regular printer won't be able to print to the edge. There are apparently printers that can print white ink onto black stock, but that would require some searching on my part...
 
Theo Moore said:
Yes...but that's a different matter [university regulations and all that], which was why I avoided mentioning the word, 'thesis'. For the moment, I'm just asking about the all-black cover.

I've tried one of the printers around town and their results are streaky at best. You just can't get a solid black using a conventional printer. Moreover, as I've pointed out, a regular printer won't be able to print to the edge.
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I understand the printing issues - I'm just struggling to understand why you'd need to print a thesis cover that it would seem to me the university experienced printers can't manage and (leap of logic here) so would seem to fall outside of what Oxford want?

It wouuld seem easier to order a cover that does fall into those guidelines and avoid the printing issues? - just curious thats all?
 
boyfalldown said:
It wouuld seem easier to order a cover that does fall into those guidelines and avoid the printing issues? - just curious thats all?
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Because this version will not be the version submitted to the university library.

I avoided mentioning the word 'thesis', precisely for the reason that people would start asking me about university guidelines and regulations...but if you want a quick answer, I hope that suffices...
 
Theo Moore said:
Because this version will not be the version submitted to the university library.

I avoided mentioning the word 'thesis' for precisely this reason...
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you did put an image of a DPhil thesis on the page though. As explained it just struck me as curious why anybody would want to print a copy of a manuscript that was different then the submission version - but each to his own though
 
mattyh said:
If it's coming out streaky, as you put it, how have you set the blacks up? I've sent lots of black to various printers and never had an issue with them coming back any less than perfect :)

http://photoshopninja.com/techniques-print/better-cmyk-black-printing/
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Oh, thank you. I didn't know this, so I've been using pure black 0/0/0. This doesn't take care of the issue that printers won't be able to reach the borders, but I suppose I can insert a white border if I like.

I think I will give photobox a try, first, and see how it comes out as an A4 photo. But thanks for that info and I'll keep it in mind :)
 
It this a dumb question: why don't you ask a commercial printer to use black stock and print with white ink? Isn't that possible?
 
Depends how thick you want it really...

Anything from 100gsm upwards should be fine, but I'd look at something like a 150-180gsm. Ask to see some samples at the printers when you go... Shame it's such a tight turnaround, I could've helped but not in the timescale you need.

Carol.... There is such a thing as a white ink, but it's not really used for printing, more mixing with other colours :)
 
Just a thought, what type of paper are you using. I've never had problems printing even blacks on quality ink jet paper. Are you using normal Letter grade paper. This may be the problem. Also if you have nozzle problem this could exacerbate the problem. Try a good Photo quality paper and see if that helps. also what printer are you using ?


I've had no real problem printing large areas of black on a conventional "Photo" inkjet printer, most of which have a boarderless option that usually works well if the paper is aligned properly
 
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