Shreds and Patches technical information
We use MicroSoft Publisher 2000 to produce each issue of
Shreds and Patches, which is in A5 format (take a sheet of A4 paper,
turn it to landscape position and make a vertical fold).
We have a list of the fonts we use. There are
usually between 48 and 56 pages (12 to 14 A4 sheets printed both
sides, folded and fixed with pairs of centre staples). We print a
camera-ready copy of the set of sheets and make a copy of the
Publisher files on a CD-ROM, which are then taken to our printers
(Premier Office Supplies, Rowley Regis, near Blackheath, Birmingham).
They usually return 1500 copies stapled, folded and cropped within
ten days, often inside a week. We then stuff them into lightweight C5
envelopes of recycled manilla paper, affix 2nd class stamps and address
labels, then carry them to our local post office aligned ready for franking,
or more correctly "cancelling".
Our printers use offset litho printing, so although they have a good camera room,
and use fine screens, the magazine is nevertheless limited to monochrome halftone
reproduction (small, variable-sized dots, as in old-fashioned newspapers) for
photographs or artwork. [We did investigate the prospect of colour printing,
but that would require calendared (glossy) paper to take the inks properly, and
such paper weighs considerably more than simpler material, thereby raising the
postage costs.]
We usually post over 700 envelopes, using computer-printed labels with information
from our Access database (which is never exposed to the Internet).
When anyone sends us an email request to put them on the mailing list, the
email is removed from the web server as quickly as possible.