Printing with MS Publisher is Slow?

[gambu]

ok guys.. here's the scenario..
i'm using ms publisher 2003 to do a mail merge with a double sided kind
of brochure letter size and a Canon IR5020 Multi function
copier/printer.. what it does.. is printing into batch of 10 brochures
double sided (which is 20 pages) and is very very slow..

is there anyway i could get it faster? i think memory is not the issue
here.. lots of memory in printer and pc.. maybe the file size? by the
way.. its connected via cat 5 cable..

thanks in advance..

 

[Mary Sauer]

Maybe an updated driver?
Canon has a driver on their site with an October 15, 2004 timestamp. Might be newer
than yours...
http://tinyurl.com/57dk9
There are many support documents on the Canon site as well.

 

[gambu]

What about the printing in batch problem.. do we have any solution to
that like sending just one file to the printer? im only doing a mail
merge of 22,000 names in a double sided letter size brochure.

let me know

 

[Mary Sauer]

This is from Ed Bennett, may help
Most versions of Publisher I've come across print merges in batches of 10
records.

There is a way you can set the number of records per batch using the
Registry (fix courtesy of KATMA)

Attached is a registry file which sets the batch size for Publisher 2002 to
1, so each record will have its own print job, which should allow the
stapler to staple correctly.

(The .reg file will work on Windows XP, but might not work on 98. If it
doesn't, use the instructions below)

Open registry using regedit.exe

Go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0 \Publisher\Printing

Create new "string value" called:
NumberOfRecordsPerBatch

Double click and set a value for your batch size (0, or 99999, in this
case).

 

[gambu]

i did try installing the new printer driver but no help at all.. still
slow. any more suggestions? specially in batch printing..

thanks again

 

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

ok guys.. here's the scenario..
i'm using ms publisher 2003 to do a mail merge with a double sided kind
of brochure letter size and a Canon IR5020 Multi function
copier/printer.. what it does.. is printing into batch of 10 brochures
double sided (which is 20 pages) and is very very slow..

is there anyway i could get it faster? i think memory is not the issue
here.. lots of memory in printer and pc.. maybe the file size? by the
way.. its connected via cat 5 cable..

thanks in advance..

Examine what you're doing: you're printing what is in essence a static
piece (the heavy graphical part) with varying names and addresses onto
it (the variable part).

Publisher (and Word) is too dumb to know how to do this correctly, and
your printer isn't really equipped to do this, either. So, together
they do the only thing they know to do: create 22,000 pages, each with
the same graphic on it, the only thing varying being the name and
address.

Publisher must send the same static graphic 22,000 times, and your
printer must process the same graphic 22,000 times. Just imagine how
much processing your printer is doing--the same static image over and
over and over and over again.

That's pretty wasteful. However, with what you have, it's the only way
this will work. It's the brute force method.

You're far, far better off to take this to Kinko's. They can send your
static graphic to a printing system one time and store it as a processed
image, then they can send the 22,000 names over as just name and address
documents--name and address where it needs to be on the page, and blank
space where your background brochure would be--and have their printer
place those names and addresses onto the already processed static
brochure.

The processing of this into 22,000 composed brochures will take very
little time.

You should seriously evaluate your cost of doing this in time and
materials vs. Kinko's doing this at some negotiated rate.

 

[gambu]

i did try this solution to no avail "There is a way you can set the
number of records per batch using the
Registry (fix courtesy of KATMA)"

which is better? set it to 0 or 99999 in printing 22000 names..

let me know

 

[°°MS-Publisher°°]

The other alternative and what I would do as even getting Kinko to print
22,000 sheets on their copiers would be mighty expensive.

I would find an offset printer that is Publisher file friendly and get them
to offset print your 22,000 sheets with a blank space to then run the merge
through your printer with only the names and/or addresses on.

Printing 22,000 copies in colour an on inkjet with heavy graphics on a
reasonable size sheet of paper would even send me broke.

 

[gambu]

Well... i'm hanging in there after 2 days (16-hours) i got 60% done
hehehe

but for now, im thinking of getting another program to suit my needs
instead of ms publisher.. maybe quark? but i m gonna need the xdata
mail merge plugin which cost a lot!!!

but i guess its worth it.

thanks everybody.

 

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

Well... i'm hanging in there after 2 days (16-hours) i got 60% done
hehehe

but for now, im thinking of getting another program to suit my needs
instead of ms publisher.. maybe quark? but i m gonna need the xdata
mail merge plugin which cost a lot!!!

but i guess its worth it.

Ah, but you don't understand.

Without a printer that can handle doing this the right way, you're stuck
sending the entire static image over to the printer 22,000 times (once
per name and address).

 

[°°MS-Publisher°°]

Why buy Quark when you can buy Serif PagePlus 10 with merge and everything
else all built in for a fraction of the price
http://www.serif.com/pageplus/pageplus10/index.asp

 

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

Why buy Quark when you can buy Serif PagePlus 10 with merge and everything
else all built in for a fraction of the price

And a fraction of the capability, in this respect.

He's talking about buying Quark AND a merge plug-in which is more
sophisticated.

Your vaunted PagePlus does exactly no better for mail merge than does
Publisher.

My guess is, though, that his printer is a bigger limitation.

 

[PB]

Let me add a twist, if I may.
I had WinME and Pub 2000 and once/month, I print 150 copies of an 8 page
document. No variable data. It would send one copy to a Minolta
copier/printer, and the Minolta would take over from there. No problem.

We upgraded PC to new PC and WinXP and Pub2003. Now, it prints as gambu
describes. It's trying to spool 1200 pages before it prints, which takes
forever. I never waited to see how long it would take. While it is spooling,
it is sending material to the printer, which does not have enough mem and
then just blanks out.

What do you think? Is it Publisher? Is it Printer driver?