Best way to print a draft for editing

AnneMarble · Aug 20, 2005

I would like to print a partial draft of my WIP to take along on my trip, preferably something bound. So far, it approacheth 75,000 words.

My printer doesn't seem to like me anymore, and it's too slow anyway. I do have a cheap laser printer, which is hooked up to my parents' computer because it doesn't like mine. (Printers hate me.) However, the draft might be too long for that because I know they warn you that you should only print 100 pages per month per cartridge on those cheaper laser printers.

In the past, I've printed out a draft and then brought it over to the office supply store (Staples or whatever) to get it bound. (A couple of jobs ago, I could get my draft bound at the office, but that alternative is no longer available for me...) I considered getting a bound copy done at Kinko's or even Lulu.com, but the prices seem a little high. On the other tentacle (too much Lovecraft?!), a perfect bound copy (or even a spiral-bound copy) would beat the pants off an unwieldy ring-bound copy.

Are there better alternatives? What have you tried?

StoryG27 · Aug 20, 2005

Personally, I don't like my manuscripts bound at all. I'd much rather print it out and have it in a manuscript box, loose. For me, it's much easier than dealing with a notebook of sorts. But, if you do want yours bound, I wouldn't spend a lot of money just to go through your rough draft, so I wouldn't take it to someone else. Printing copies already takes a good chunk of change, so I'd suffer through less efficiency than a professional job and save your money for all the postage you'll need when publishers and/or agents request your work.

Cathy C · Aug 20, 2005

Yep. Take the DISKETTE to your local office supply store! The larger ones have computerized copiers that can take a Word document or a PDF file and print/bind it all in one step, without wasting your toner at all! Call and ask what format they prefer.

HapiSofi · Aug 20, 2005

This is what I do when I'm the only one who's going to see the edit. Working in MSWord, I format the text in double columns, single spaced, using ten-point type in a compressive and proportionally spaced font like Times New Roman. Paragraphs start with an indent, 0.2", and there's no additional space between paragraphs unless there's a text break. I set all the margins for 0.75" unless I'm going to be binding it, in which case the left margin is 1.0".

If other people were going to be reading this version, I'd set it for mirrored margins and have a 1.0" left margin on verso pages and a similar margin on the right for recto, then copy it off double-sided. I don't do that when I'm editing because I want to leave the backs of the pages blank for my longer notes.

If I have access to a heavy-duty stapler, I'll staple the margin. If not, I use binder clips. They work best when their maximum width is only a bit larger than the thickness of the stack of pages.

It's very compressive, good for traveling. Mind, I would never format a manuscript like this if it were going to production, and I would never, ever write on the back of a manuscript page. I can get away with this system for personal use because I generally know what I had in mind when I marked something.

No matter what your intentions for your printout, always put your name, the title of the work, and a page number somewhere on the page.

AnneMarble · Aug 20, 2005

HapiSofi said:
This is what I do when I'm the only one who's going to see the edit. Working in MSWord, I format the text in double columns, single spaced, using ten-point type in a compressive and proportionally spaced font like Times New Roman. Paragraphs start with an indent, 0.2", and there's no additional space between paragraphs unless there's a text break. I set all the margins for 0.75" unless I'm going to be binding it, in which case the left margin is 1.0".

Ooh. Thanks! That works wonderfully well. Just testing it out quickly with the longer margins, I was able to get my document into less than 80 pages! For the types of edits I often do, that might be all I need. (I have made edits on some of my older stories using just the marking function on my eBookwise, although most of those marks consisted of "Delete this" and "?!?" and the like with longer notes now and then.)

HapiSofi said:
No matter what your intentions for your printout, always put your name, the title of the work, and a page number somewhere on the page.

Oh my oh yes.

stormie · Aug 20, 2005

Anne,
For my drafts, I use one very large binder clip. And, I know you said you have trouble with printers, but the software on your computer's hard drive for a printer should have a properties tab, set it for "custom" then "economy." Uses much less ink and takes a short time to print pages.

Hapi,
I'm going to try doing my drafts in that two-column mode. Uses less paper, too. Thanks!

TheIT · Aug 22, 2005

I have an HP ink-jet printer which has the option to print in "Draft" mode (under the Options or Properties button when you try to print). Draft mode isn't the cleanest of copies, but it prints extremely fast and uses less ink.

maestrowork · Aug 22, 2005

Draft mode. If you can print 2-up or duplex, go for it because that would save paper and you don't have to lug a thick folder around. I usually change the font to be 2 pts larger, then print 2-up, double-sided, and clip the whole thing together... about 100-120 pages, that's all.

AnneMarble · Aug 22, 2005

maestrowork said:
Draft mode. If you can print 2-up or duplex, go for it because that would save paper and you don't have to lug a thick folder around.

I'm not sure I can print "oneplex" anymore.

(My grandmother used to kill watches. I kill printers.)

vmtwriter · Aug 23, 2005

Word has an easy way to cut your printing in half by using a feature that allows you to print two pages per sheet.

Go to the print option and look in the bottom right corner. You should see a Zoom section. There is an option to print "pages per sheet". It's a drop down selection option. You choose how many pages you want on your single sheet. I usually choose 2 as that's as small as I want my font to be. If you have younger eyes you can choose 4 pages per sheet if you want.

Leave the page orientation to "portrait" so that your pages print in the proper orientation and you're good to go.

I also use the "draft" or "fast normal" quality. The type is lighter, but you don't burn out a ink cartridge in one print job.

Aconite · Aug 23, 2005

vmtwriter said:
Word has an easy way to cut your printing in half by using a feature that allows you to print two pages per sheet.

But then where is there room to make corrections? I could print everything out in 6-point type with 1 centimeter margins if all I needed was to reduce the number of pages I'm printing, but I need to be able to edit on the sheets. Do you have a good solution to that?

vmtwriter · Aug 23, 2005

Aconite said:
But then where is there room to make corrections? I could print everything out in 6-point type with 1 centimeter margins if all I needed was to reduce the number of pages I'm printing, but I need to be able to edit on the sheets. Do you have a good solution to that?

Grammar edits and proofreading marks can be made in the text. Anything more, like changing whole sentences or adding text, I use the back of the previous page. I find that works for me, but it might not for others.

Aconite · Aug 23, 2005

vmtwriter said:
Grammar edits and proofreading marks can be made in the text. Anything more, like changing whole sentences or adding text, I use the back of the previous page. I find that works for me, but it might not for others.

I could see how that could work...but that means no double-sided printing, which cancels out the printing of two pages on one sheet. Sigh. Thanks anyway for the suggestion. Back to my drawing board.

scarletpeaches · Aug 23, 2005

Double space everything in 12-point type. It's what I do. Uses up the same amount of paper as only printing one side, but at least you get to make your corrections as near to the original text (i.e. between the lines) as possible. Don't go smaller than 12pt if you're using economy settings (or 'draft') because you'll get lines through the text that make it unreadable if it's too small.

HapiSofi · Aug 23, 2005

scarletpeaches said:
Double space everything in 12-point type. It's what I do. Uses up the same amount of paper as only printing one side, but at least you get to make your corrections as near to the original text (i.e. between the lines) as possible. Don't go smaller than 12pt if you're using economy settings (or 'draft') because you'll get lines through the text that make it unreadable if it's too small.

If you find that easier, more power to you.

It might repay your time to learn proofreader's marks as well as copyeditor's marks. The former are designed to make it possible to make intelligible corrections immediately adjacent to a tightly-set column of single-spaced text.

TheIT · Aug 23, 2005

Aconite, I believe printing 2 pages per sheet means printing both pages on the same side of the sheet. Word will automatically shrink the text to fit. The only ways to get double-sided printing are 1) if your printer has the appropriate hardware, or 2) if you print one side, then feed the already printed paper through again so the other side is printed.

To manually print double sided, you can tell Word to print odd or even pages (under the Options button from the Print dialog box, I believe). So what you do is print all the odd pages, then take those pages and put them back in the tray and print the even pages. You'll need to play with orientation to be sure you're printing page 2 on the back of page 1 in the correct direction. Beware - if the printer has a problem such that it feeds two pages instead of one, you can rapidly get the pages out of order. I used to print like this to save paper, but now I like printing one sided and using the blank pages for notes.

FYI, I'm not sure if you know this but you can also tell Word to print in reverse order. This will put page 1 on top, so it makes it easier to three hole punch everything and put the pages in a binder.

scarletpeaches · Aug 23, 2005

It's something for me to look into HapiSofi - however, the double spacing is just a precaution in case I need to change entire sentences, for instance. In which case I guess I could get away with printing an asterisk and a number and noting the relevant changes to that paragraph in a separate notebook.

I seem to work better if my notes are on the actual manuscript, though. Kind of keeps everything in one place. This thread's been interesting, though, noting the different methods people use. Double spacing makes it look like a bigger book!

But then, being a Scot, perhaps I should be a bit meaner and try to save paper!

Aconite · Aug 23, 2005

TheIT said:
Aconite, I believe printing 2 pages per sheet means printing both pages on the same side of the sheet. Word will automatically shrink the text to fit. The only ways to get double-sided printing are 1) if your printer has the appropriate hardware, or 2) if you print one side, then feed the already printed paper through again so the other side is printed.

Yes, I got that. But printing two pages on one side means any corrections that can't be made with proofreader's marks have to go on the back of the previous sheet, which means you can't print on both sides, which means printing two pages on the same side of one sheet gets me nowhere in terms of fewer sheets printed.

Argh.

scarletpeaches · Aug 23, 2005

Maybe that thing I mentioned could come in handy? Use a highlighter pen to underline a particular sentence, then put a number in the margin, and use a separate notebook to note the (numbered) corrections. Unless you're like me and prefer to keep the MS and corrections in the same place, and you're back to square one.

Argh indeed.

stormie · Aug 23, 2005

TheIT said:
FYI, I'm not sure if you know this but you can also tell Word to print in reverse order. This will put page 1 on top, so it makes it easier to three hole punch everything and put the pages in a binder.

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but how do you do that? I've wondered about this, hating to rearrange every batch of 30 pages that spew out of my printer.

HapiSofi · Aug 23, 2005

scarletpeaches said:
I seem to work better if my notes are on the actual manuscript, though. Kind of keeps everything in one place.

Then by all means do it. The only point to any of this is that it works for you.

TheIT · Aug 23, 2005

Printing in Reverse Order

To tell Word to print in reverse order (page 1 on top), click on File->Print. In the dialog box, click on the Options button, then check "Reverse Print Order."

I believe this setting will be remembered so you don't have to reset it every time you print. It makes life a lot easier not having to recollate every time you print a document.

TheIT · Aug 23, 2005

I hear you, Aconite. I know it might be messy, but would post-it notes help? It might give you the option to make additions when you don't have enough space on the page.

Aconite · Aug 23, 2005

TheIT said:
I hear you, Aconite. I know it might be messy, but would post-it notes help? It might give you the option to make additions when you don't have enough space on the page.

I have cats. Fluttery bits of paper are just an invitation to disaster. *weak grin* If it's not one thing, it's another. *sigh*

HapiSofi · Aug 23, 2005

TheIT said:
I hear you, Aconite. I know it might be messy, but would post-it notes help? It might give you the option to make additions when you don't have enough space on the page.

Post-it notes are evil. They fall off.

Best way to print a draft for editing

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