[pct-l] Printing Maps

[Halfmile]

Earlier this week several posts to the PCT-L discussed printing maps.
I have done a lot of that recently I thought I would share my
experiences.

My PCT maps available free at http://www.pctmap.net can use a lot of
ink, and printers vary widely in how much ink they use and the cost of
the ink.

Originally I used an Epson all in one printer/scanner/copier which
produced great looking printing but cost a small fortune to run. The
ink cartridges were small, expensive, difficult to find and it
required eight of them. It probably cost $125 in ink alone to print
300 pages of maps on my old Epson.

I gave the old Epson printer to a friend and purchased a HP K5400dtn
printer, because it did duplex (two sided) printing and it used more
economical ink and the ink cartridges are easy to refill. I researched
refilling ink cartridges and purchased ink cartridges designed to be
refilled along with bulk ink from http://www.inkproducts.com/

I have been using this combination of the HP K5400dtn printer with
inkproducts.com ink for about three months with great results. The
print quality is excellent, and cost of the ink to print 300 pages of
maps has dropped to around $5. If anyone is in the market for a new
printer or spending big $$$ on ink you might consider this
combination.

A few more printing tips...

Your maps will look much better if you use good paper. After testing
several papers my favorite is HP Bright White Inkjet paper. At about
two cents per sheet it's not outrageously expensive. Maps look good on
other  brands of bright inkjet paper I have tried, but I find  the HP
Bright White Inkjet paper is a bit more water resistant. I don't want
to suggest that the printing is waterproof,  but the ink is less
likely to run if a few drops of rain land on the HP Bright White
Inkjet paper than other papers I have tried.

The HP Bright White Inkjet paper is slightly heavier paper and works
well for double sided printing. Lighter weight paper has a tendency to
bleed through on two sided printing.

Speaking of weight, the California section of my maps at
www.pctmap.net are 277 pages. Using two sided printing on HP Bright
White Inkjet paper these 277 pages weigh 27.2 ounces. This compares to
the two WIlderness Press California Guidebooks which weighs 41.4
ounces on my scale. Both are heavier than Erik's PCT Atlas which
should weigh about 12 ounces for the three California volumes
according to his web site. Of course few hikers carry the entire state
of California, you really only need to carry a few ounces of maps at
any one time and ship the rest ahead in a resupply box.

Erik's PCT Atlas takes different approach to mapping the PCT than I
do. I didn't set out to make anything especially small or compact and
I expect that my maps will be used in conjunction with other guides
such as Yogi's Handbook. I just made maps the way I like them.
Compared to the samples I have seen of the PCT Atlas, my maps are
bigger (8.5" x 11"), use a larger scale, have a bit of overlap between
map pages, have half mile marks along the trail, include more area
surrounding the PCT and more side trails. I also have extensive
matching downloadable data for GPS users or for Google Earth. This
comes with at an increased weight compared to the PCT Atlas, but it's
still lighter than the WP guidebooks. I'm not suggesting that one is
necessarily better than the other. We use different approaches that
will appeal to different hikers. With the recent addition of my maps,
Erik's Atlas and the Forest Service maps, PCT hikers have more and
better map choices that ever before.

Several hikers who don't have access to suitable printers have
contacted me about how to get maps printed and I am trying to find  a
way to help with this. I have committed to printing maps for five
hikers and plan on printing another 10 sets of maps, so I your a hiker
who would like use my maps but needs help with the printing let me
know.

The problem is it takes my printer about five hours to print a set of
maps, and  I am concerned about having time to print more than 15 sets
of maps. Perhaps I can tweak my printer settings to speed up this
process, or perhaps others with duplex printers might volunteer to
help to help with this. Something like what was done with the early
DVD projects.

-Halfmile