Paper printing

Procedures

Print 200 pg A5 book -

  • Open the print window and select print to pdf instead of printer and select booklet mode.
  • That will make it a booklet of A4 size with 2 A5 pages in each A4 page. Print it.
  • Fold or cut it in the middle.

Binding -

  • can use a multi hole punch (eg spiral binding) plus good twine to bind books. Simple, fast, long lasting and replaceable.
  • Bind it. Paste the cover.
    • Can make A4 covers and cut the excess book - Since, A4 photo papers are readily available.
      So, book becomes little smaller than A5.
  • Distribute it.

So, for thick books, split the pdf and make multiple booklets then merge it.

Printers & their inks

  • Consumer printer:
    • A3 printers print faster
    • Laser printer:
      • Solid powder ink (fades away). 20 to 50 years on acid free paper.
    • Inkjet printer:
      • Dye ink (water soluble). Can last for 5 to 20 years without significant fading on acid free paper.
      • Archival grade Pigment ink (water-proof). 50 to 100 years or more on acid free paper.
  • Enterprise printer:
    • Offset printer:
      • Offset ink:
        • Min. 100 copies
        • Uses aluminium offset plates printed using laser
    • Digital printer:
      • Ink similar to inkjet printer

Offset printing process

Typical workflow -

  • On some sheets (eg. aluminium/ plastic), they can print 1 set of around 32 pages at a time.
  • Then, they use these aluminium sheets with ink to press on paper like rubber stamping.
  • In case of Al - You can recast these sheets a few times for new pages, after which they’re discarded.

Cutters

  • A3+ size ream cutter - cut 400 sheets very easily

  • A4 cutters can’t cut more than 25-50 sheets at a time

  • hyd TW 12.5k

  • blr TW

Creasers

Creasing machine can be A4 as well. We first cut then crease. Big printing presses first crease and then cut because they print on A0, A1, A2 etc. sizes.

Punches

  • Kangaro - Source: TW

Setups

High Capacity Automated Best Quality Home Press

Cost estimates including GST:

  • Printer (other brands can also be checked):
    • Epson C879R ₹ 2+ lakh (Including Optional Tray)
    • Epson AM-C4000 ₹ 5.25+ lakh
    • Epson AM-C5000 ₹ 5.5+ lakh
    • Epson AM-C6000 ₹ 6.5+ lakh
    • Epson WF-C21000 ₹ 12.5+ lakh
  • Finisher Epson Saddle Unit-P1 ₹ 5.25+ lakh

Printer Features

  • Document+Photo or Document or Photo Printer
  • High GSM paper input 300+ GSM
  • High ADF input & output capacity 100 sheets
  • High Multi-purpose or Rear tray input capacity 100 sheets
  • Supports Finishers: Saddle Unit, Staple Unit, Booklet Finisher etc.
  • Supports Papers: Gloss Photo, Matt Photo, Gloss Digital, Matt, Digital, Gloss Offset (SBS), Matt Offset (SBS), Uncoated Thick etc.
  • Borderless printing on custom size cover sheets
  • High A3 Duplex Black and Color Same Speed 35 ipm
  • Atleast A1 or A2 or A3+ width
  • Atleast A1 or A2 or A3+ length
  • RAM 8 GB
  • SSD or HDD 320 GB
  • WiFi 5.0 Hz, USB 3.0, WiFi Direct, Web, Ethernet etc. connectivities
  • Duplex Printing A1 or A2 or A3+
  • Duplex Auto Scanning using ADF single pass A1 or A2 or A3+
  • Huge paper input capacity 2,500 A1 or A2 or A3+ or A3 sheets. (Don’t want to feed paper every 30 mins.) A3 capacity is double of A4.
  • Huge paper output capacity 500 A1 or A2 or A3+ sheets
  • Large & water proof pigment (not dye) ink packet input
  • Multiple front cassette paper trays - 4 A1 or A2 or A3+ (500 sheets each)
  • High pages warranty: 30 lakh for 1 year
    • Page warranty does not consider A3, A4 etc. So, for same page warranty, A3 prints double than A4.
  • High Recommended Monthly Duty Cycle
  • Color or Monochrome Inkjet
    • Make sure digital inkjet coated paper (used for book covers, usually acid paper) is supported in your printer. “My pigment ink printer does not support it. Takes a very long time to dry. I use my dye printer for covers and glossy photo paper of A4 size.” - KN
  • Print, Scan, Copy and Fax
  • Auto Document Feeder (ADF) - 150 A1 or A2 or A3+ sheets
  • Digital cut sheet fed Ink Tank Printer
  • Big latest touchscreen color display
  • Memory Card Slot
  • Flash drive support
  • High Resolution
  • Latest release, model and available
  • Xerox or Canon or Epson
  • Long Document Scanning
  • Print does not fade away after few years Print Permanence 100 years

Home mini printing press (kamala-nayanaH)

Actually for preserving ancient texts we need many people to setup mini presses at their home. Once set up cost per page will be very low for preservation needs. While printer is in warranty use costly branded imported inks generally in small bottles. After warranty is over cheap indian inks like (Pro Dot) can be used to lower printing costs.

kamalanayana’s 2025 setup

  • Printer:
    • Epson L15150:
      • Inkjet A3 Duplex Pigment Printer
      • Cost ₹ 68k
      • Warranty 2,00,000 pages
      • Does not support general photo paper
      • Does not support offset coated paper
    • Brother DCP-820DW:
      • Inkjet A4 Duplex Dye Printer
      • Cost ₹ 17.5k
      • Warranty 50,000 pages
      • Supports general photo papers
      • Does not support offset coated paper
  • Normal Paper:
    • A3 75 GSM Century Star:
      • 2,500 sheets/box ₹ 1,960
      • 23.5 kg/box
  • Photo Paper:
    • A4 180 GSM Inkjet KlaauS C1S Gloss:
      • 20 sheets/packet ₹ 50
    • A4 210 GSM Inkjet KlaauS C1S Gloss:
      • 50 sheets/packet ₹ 160
    • A4 180 GSM Inkjet Laminex Gold Digital Prime HD C1S Gloss:
      • 50 sheets/packet ₹ 100
    • A4 180 GSM Inkjet de’Smat klik! Cast Coated C1S Gloss:
      • 20 sheets/packet ₹ 90
      • 50 packets/peti
  • Ink:
    • Epson:
      • BK 008 Pigment 127 mL ₹ 830
        • 1 peti 30 bottles ₹ 24,900 / peti
      • C 008 Pigment 70 mL ₹ 700
      • M 008 Pigment 70 mL ₹ 700
      • Y 008 Pigment 70 mL ₹ 700
    • Brother:
      • BK BTD60 Dye 108.0 mL ₹ 480
      • C BT5000 Dye 48.8 mL ₹ 360
      • M BT5000 Dye 48.8 mL ₹ 360
      • Y BT5000 Dye 48.8 mL ₹ 360
  • Hand operated manual paper creasing or folding machine:
    • A3+ wide (17") ₹8,800
  • Hand operated manual stapler
    • Kangaro Distributor
    • HD-23L24FL ₹3,000
    • Range: 250 mm
    • Max. 210 sheets
    • Supported staples’ sizes 23/6 to 23/24
    • Central Pin Binding with cover max. A3 sheet (A4 book)
    • Weight: 4.5 kg
  • Manual Staples (Kangaro):
    • 23/24-H 10 staples’ sets 1,000 staples ₹ 90
    • 23/20-H 10 staples’ sets 1,000 staples ₹ 80
    • 23/17-H 10 staples’ sets 1,000 staples ₹ 55
    • 23/15-H 10 staples’ sets 1,000 staples ₹ 50
      • 1 dibba 10 dibbi ₹ 460 ₹ 46 / dibbi
    • 23/13-H 10 staples’ sets 1,000 staples ₹ 44
    • 23/10-H 10 staples’ sets 1,000 staples ₹ 42
    • 23/8-H 10 staples’ sets 1,000 staples ₹ 30
      • 1 dibba 20 dibbi ₹ 540 ₹ 27 / dibbi
    • 23/6-H 10 staples’ sets 1,000 staples ₹ 25
    • 24/6-1M 20 staples’ sets 1,000 staples ₹ 15
  • Hand operated manual staple removers:
    • SR-300 Kangaro ₹140
  • Manual Ream cutter (Bright office):
    • A3+ (17") ₹9,800
  • Fevicol (Pidelite):
    • 200 mL ₹90
    • 500 mL ₹180

Other costing

Material cost (2025)

  • Acid paper A4 - 200 Rs / ream(=500 sheets) or .5 Rs/ sheet. 75 gsm is common.
  • Acid free paper
    • A4 - 4-5 INR / sheet (Kirti paper, hubli. 100 GSM. Min. order: 40 kg or 40/(0.06237*.1) = 6413 sheets. )
    • A3 - 7 INR/ sheet (Kirti paper, hubli)
    • letter - 7k / ream online

  • On regular paper - ₹ 2,000 (plain paper) + ₹ 2,000 (ink and cover paper) for 2,500 A3 sheets

  • For an avg. 400 pg A5 book, tAra-prakAshana quoted around 600 Rs per copy (pigment ink on acid free paper).

  • navbhArat 2025

    • Pigment ink, acid free paper is available only in bulk for printing 1000 books plus.
    • rates for 30 copies A5 size books 450 pages approx using 80gsm maplitho b/w print , cover in colour 300gsm. Rs 28,900/- + gst - So 1k per copy. (Material cost approx - ₹ 400 for acid paper and ₹ 50-100 for ink.)

Glossary

Full Forms

  • GSM Grams per Square Meter
  • SBS Solid Bleached Sulphate
  • SBB Solid Bleached Board
  • C1S Coated 1 Side
  • C2S Coated 2 Sides
  • APP Asia Pulp & Paper
  • pt points
  • mic micron
  • px pixel
  • ipm images per minute
  • ppm pages per minute

Extra Details

  • 1 mm 5.7 px (for 144 DPI of MS Paint)
  • 1 pharma 32 pages of A5 size
  • Max. custom page width in A4 printer 215.9 mm
  • Resin Coated (RC) Inkjet Photo Paper Fully water proof
  • Cast Coated (CC) Inkjet Photo Paper Partially water proof
  • 8.5" wide A4 width and A5 length
  • 13" wide A3 width and A4 length
  • 17" wide A2 width and A3 length
  • Thickness Unit Conversions:
    • 1 mic 0.001 mm
    • 1 pt 0.001"
  • Paper Types:
    • Normal Paper NA
    • Digital Paper Gloss & Matt
    • Photo Paper Gloss & Matt
    • Offset Paper Gloss & Matt
  • Paper Thickness Uncoated:
    • 70 GSM 90-100 mic = 0.09-0.10 mm
    • 210 GSM 250 mic = 0.25 mm
    • 250 GSM mic = 0. mm
    • 300 GSM 350 mic = 0.35 mm
  • Paper Counting & Weight:
    • 250 GSM A3+ C2S Gloss 1 peti 7 packets 700 sheets 28 kg
    • 70 GSM A4:
      • 1 quire 25 sheets 110 g 0.25 cm
      • 1 ream 20 quire 500 sheets 2.2 kg 5 cm
      • 1 bundle 2 reams 40 quire 1,000 sheets 4.2 kg 10 cm
      • 1 bale 5 bundles 10 reams 200 quire 5,000 sheets 22 kg 50 cm
  • Paper Sizes:
    • A3 297 mm x 420 mm 11.7" x 16.6"
    • A4 210 mm x 297 mm 8.3" x 11.7"
    • A5 148 mm x 210 mm 5.8" x 8.3"