Finding a Place to Print


It's entirely possible to carry your own small portable printer along with your laptop computer, but it's generally not necessary unless you're traveling to an extremely isolated location. In most places, you can find an existing printer service that probably produces better quality at the same or lower per-page cost.

Among the likely places that can print your reports, proposals, and other documents are

  • Airport business centers: Just about every major airport has one or more commercial business centers in the departure area, with computers, Internet access, and related services available at a nominal cost. If the business center's location isn't immediately obvious, ask at an information booth or look for it on one of those "You are here" directory panels. Because travelers often have no other choice, airport business centers are often more expensive than other places that can provide similar services.

  • Airport club lounges: Many airlines offer private waiting areas and other services for members of their VIP clubs and premium-class passengers. If you're a member of one or more of those clubs (or if you are traveling in first or business class), ask if they can provide business services at your destination.

  • Hotel business centers: Most hotels that cater to business travelers can provide computer support to their guests. Look in the book or brochure that describes available hotel services or ask the concierge or the front desk for assistance.

  • Conference and convention centers: Business services are often available at venues for conferences, conventions, and other business meetings. The event staff or reception desk can tell you where to find them.

  • Print and copy shops: Most print shops, copy shops, and office supply superstores can print documents from a CD or a flash drive. Several major chains, including FedEx Kinko's, OfficeDepot, and OfficeMax can accept document files through the Internet and either hold the job for pickup or deliver it to you.

  • College and university libraries or print centers: Many students don't have their own printers, so print centers are common in educational institutions. Some of these centers can only provide service to students and faculty, but others happily take anybody's money.

  • Public libraries: Most public libraries have computers and Internet access for on-site patrons. Many also offer free Wi-Fi service. Ask the librarian if they have a printer for public use.

  • Friends or business colleagues: Within limits, you can sometimes convince friends or colleagues to let you print your documents on their home or office printers. If you're making more than a handful of pages, you might want to offer to replace the paper and pay for the ink you consume with your print job.

If you can't transfer a document to a print service through the Internet, the easiest way to print is to copy the document file to either a USB flash drive or a CD and open the file from a second computer connected directly to a printer. It's a safe bet that the people who work in the copy shop or business center do print jobs all the time, so they know exactly how to do it for you.

image from book
Checking Documents for Errors

It's always a good idea to carefully proofread a copy of your printed document for errors, even if you have used your program's spell checker and double-checked it on your computer's screen. If possible, ask the copy shop or business center to print one copy for proofreading before they print multiple copies for distribution. Don't forget to check every word on the title page and headlines. There's nothing more embarrassing than spelling your own name (or your client's name) wrong in 36-point type.

If you're concerned about protecting confidential information in Microsoft Office programs, open File image from book Properties to be certain that there's nothing in any of the tabs that you don't want other people to see.

image from book




PC User's Bible
PC Users Bible
ISBN: 0470088974
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 372

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net