» printing Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

A Great Online Printing Tool

May 29, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

Here’s a really neat (and free!) online printing application from HP: HP Smart Web Printing. There’s a sufficient tutorial at the website, but basically this application allows you to “select, collect, store, combine, and print” the graphics and text you want on a single page or two or whatever. It’s like a newspaper editing application– you can move your graphics and text around in various areas until you have them just where you want, and print it as it is seen on your screen. Nice! It’s free, too.

I wish I’d known about this all those years ago, when the kids and I labored over their school reports cover sheets. :-p It took FOREVER to get those graphics with the text *just right* in Microsoft Word, UGH!

Posted in business services, desktop publishing, educational programs, free stuff, image editing. Tags: HP, online program, printing. Comments Off »

“Check” It Out

April 10, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I have to order new bank checks. Have you noticed your bank increasing the price of printing bank checks, or is it just me? I forked over $50 for two boxes of printed bank checks a few months ago! Yow. That bit the budget big time. I used to get checks through some mail-order service, but after switching to another bank, I had to re-order through the bank first (to get the routing number printed, etc). Those checks are just about used up, so now I can get my own style. And is it just me, or do the mail-order check printing companies look a little scammy? There are so many scams out there… I’m too nervous to order from them. I really don’t like my financial information circulating across the globe, even if it is a small sweatshop in China or India. :-p

Well, now that I am in the market for ordering new checks, something just dawned on me when I went to visit the site– VistaPrint checks! I love VistaPrint! I order through VistaPrint for my business cards and customized gift cards… I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of getting checks through them until now, duh! Isn’t this design lovely?

The fonts are customizable, and they have dozens and dozens of check designs. They even have three-to-a-page checks and computer checks in sheets for the business. And you can do everything online, instantly– and special monograms are only 99 cents extra! The checks are a fraction of what I was paying my bank. I love VistaPrint!

I highly, personally recommend VistaPrint. I’ve been doing business with them for years. They are a reliable company– they’ve grown tremendously over the past few years– and they consider customers to be their most important asset. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all their products. And they have a ton of products! T-shirts, magnets, calendars, invitations, holiday cards, and tons more, for both business and personal use. VERY cool. “Check” out VistaPrint, I know you will like them!

Posted in business services, desktop publishing, office utilities. Tags: business needs, online shopping, printing, VistaPrint. Comments Off »

Quick Tip For Printing with MS Word

July 14, 2008 — Mrs. Mecomber

I do a lot of printing. I print worksheets for my children’s schoolwork. I also have a small business where I need to print out all my expenses and profits every month. UGH! I used to like paperwork, but now… lol. Anyway, I have this problem where sometimes a small portion of my information prints out on a second sheet of paper. Paper is becoming very expensive (I remember when I could get a ream for $15, and now it’s $40!). I’m always looking for tips and other small business opportunitites to save me money or time.

Here’s a terrific tip I found for saving a little bit of money when printing documents in Microsoft Word. I use an older version of Word, so the details may be different for your version. The option will still be there, you’ll just have to look around a little.

I click File>>> Print Preview

Choose “Shrink to Fit” button.

When you do this, Word will automatically tweak the page (the font size, the margin space, etc). Of course, if you don’t like it, go to Edit>>> Undo, and it will take you back to where you were.

Cool idea, huh!

Hat tip WXPNews.com, a great website!