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Re: [OM] Re: Oly calendar

Subject: Re: [OM] Re: Oly calendar
From: "L.J. Clark" <ljclark@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 11:58:23 -0800
Fellow Olympoids:

Allow me to be one of the first of the assembled "Wise Ones" to
speak...

I've been waiting for someone to provide some fairly realistic
cost estimates on this project...Frankly, I'm surprised the 
estimate is this low.  There are also some choices to be made
(such as needing 4-color on the grid pages).

I'd guess that the marketing potential, outside this little
group, is just about nil, or even a little less.

However (and this is a big "However")...There is an option.
This would demand that one of us with a bunch of spare time 
and a VERY good graphics computer, would be the "stuckee" and
volunteer to produce the whole thing digitally.

1.  The Stuckee (hereafter known as "Hero") collects original
slides, high quality prints, or high quality scans of negatives
or slides (2400 ppi, at least).

2.  Hero likewise comes up with a basic format and calendar grid.

3.  Hero makes selections for cover and monthly photos.  At this
point the Hero can do the deciding him/herself, or allow us a
look at some small prints and encourage voting.  (Since the Hero
is doing all the work, the Hero has the last vote.)

4.  Hero then spends endless hours of toil making this thing, and
then converting it to a portable format (such as Acrobat *.pdf).
File is then made available for download.

5.  Individual users can then download calendar and print on the
color printers we have at home, or take the calendar file(s) to
a service bureau (or someplace like Kinkos) for printing.  (Kinkos
will even do the download, if you give them a location on the web.)

6.  If the demand is high, maybe, down the road, you can go with
conventional printing.

====================================================================
Garth Wood wrote:
> 
> Well, I sent the idea for the Oly calendar to that commercial 
> photographer friend of mine.  Here, essentially unedited, is 
> his reply:
> 
> ********************************************************
> Garth:
> 
> Any less than 1K (1,000 copies) isn't economic, unless you're
> expecting to pay over $10/calendar CDN in actual COST. Even 
> this assumes you've done the DTP and the CMYK separation work
> yourselves.
> 
> >>Originally, I was thinking 1000 to 2000
> >>calendars, but it has been suggested to make this a major 
> >>marketing idea and print 100,000 and try to get distribution 
> >>in major bookstore chains. That size of run would be a fairly 
> >>large investment per person, but not out of the question if 
> >>it's picked up by a large bookstore.
> 
> As much as I like Oly cameras, a bookstore isn't likely to pick 
> up such a narrow interest item in a large quantity. I would 
> suggest making a "dummy" calendar and shopping it to several 
> chain's buyers.
> 
> The calendars produced by larger mfg. such as Nikon and Canon 
> are heavily subsidized by those manufacturers, even in the 
> relatively large market those companies have.
> 
> A quantity of around 2000 becomes fairly economical, with 5000 
> being still believable, but greater quantities, I have my doubts, 
> as the rate of price/unit drop with qty. falls off (as paper 
> costs begin to take up a bigger percentage of the total.)
> 
> The biggest portion of the cost with smaller runs is in the 
> 4-colour lith film output and color proofs. Remember, lith film 
> is around $20 a piece.  You need 4 pcs./page (one for each CMYK 
> plate) and at $80/page x ((2 pages/month (one for the pic, one 
> for the calendar grid) x 12 months), + (4 pages for inner and 
> outer sides of the front and back cover))= a whole lot, and add 
> the cost of color key proofs of each page, maybe $25 x 28 pages.
> 
> Then add your printing cost.
> 
> If everyone understands the costs and really wants to do it, 
> I'd be happy  to make it happen.

> All I'd need are the pix and a rough concept of the layout/style
> desired.
> 
> The all-inclusive price of a run in the 1000-2000 range would 
> likely be $CDN 8-10 thousand. I'd have to put in a couple hours 
> work (having exact specs of what's wanted) to come up with an 
> exact price. You may be surprised to find that printing is 
> generally much cheaper in Canada than elsewhere at the moment.
> 
> If you have more questions, just ask.
> 
> *******************************************
> 
> Thus saith someone who's actually done this sort of thing 
> directly.  Any thoughts from the assembled Wise Ones?  :-)

Larry Clark
-------------------------------------------------------
An example of too much time, and too much technology...
http://www.twodimes.org/home
-------------------------------------------------------

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