My life was turned upside down when the people from MOO, a printing company from the UK, contacted me and basically said, “Hey, try MOO.” So I did. Today, we’ll be taking a quick look at what MOO is all about and we placed several test orders with them to find out how great their print quality is. We’ll also be giving away 5 packs of 100 MiniCards after the review so stay tuned!

MOO prints a wide variety of items from business cards to MiniCards, postcards, greeting cards, stickers and labels. We don’t really have the resources to look into every product that they offer so we’ll just look at one — a very exciting product called MiniCards.

MiniCards aren’t your conventional business card and that’s what sets it apart. They’re half the size yet packs a punch, if designed properly. They’re made out of 2.75″ x 1.10″ thick 350gsm stock paper with a matte finish. You can print on both sides of the card and even have an individual design on every card with Printfinity (more on that later!). A pack of 100 MiniCards only goes for $19.99 plus shipping and the more you buy, the more you save.

Let’s actually see what the design process is like.

To start, create a MOO account or sign in with Facebook in order to save your designs and pick up where you left of.

MOO pampers you with a variety of options to start with. Say it’s your first time designing a business card — no problem, MOO has a huge library of ready-made designs to be deployed. Just browse through the library, pick the designs you like and work off them.

If you’re feeling courageous, start from scratch and upload your own designs. The process starts off by getting you to design the back of the cards. As previously mentioned, you can have up to 100 designs in the same pack with Printfinity — this is the option that sets MOO apart. By allowing you to customise your MiniCards, you can make each card unique and exciting. There’s a lot of options to be explored here but sadly, we have to push on with our review.

In addition to uploading photos and designs from your computer, MOO can also import previously-uploaded photos from Etsy, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa or SmugMug but you have to bear the following recommendations in mind:

• Maximum file size is 50MB each
• JPEG is recommended for photography but they also accept GIF and PNG
• Vector-based PDF is recommended for graphic design and line art
• Recommended size is 874×378 pixels at 300dpi

After your photos or designs are uploaded, they’ll be presented to you in a neat interface. Here’s where you’ll have the chance to adjust their orientation, zoom in or out if necessary and pan images about. If you’re working with several designs, MOO will automatically calculate the number of cards you’ll receive per design. They’ll be evenly distributed so you can’t have 90 cards in one design and 10 cards in another.

MOO offers a “photo enhancement” option that is recommended for photographs. Basically, it tweaks the image and primes it for printing. The difference isn’t that obvious to me so if it helps out with printing, I’m on board.

Next up, designing the front of the card. I’m sure this is a familiar interface: font selection, justification, background colour, etc. Sure, MOO provides several fonts to choose from and even allows you to add an image to the front of the MiniCard but if you look closely, you also have the option to upload a complete design. This is where things get interesting — you have the opportunity to think outside of the box and bypass the web interface, use Photoshop (or any preferred image editor) to design the front of your card and upload it to MOO.

So I downloaded the design template, launched Photoshop and started brainstorming.

About two weeks later, I received a delivery from the UK — my MOO MiniCards have arrived; much earlier than I’d anticipated.

The pack of 100 MiniCards came in a very simplistic box, complete with separator cards.

Immediately, I was impressed by the print quality. The cards didn’t look very far off from the original photos.

Most of my photos have gone through post-processing but still managed to print fine.

I’m generally quite pleased with the images I picked, particularly this one with the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

It’s probably not the best out-of-the-box thinking but this is what I came up with for the front of my MiniCard.

The pack of MiniCards I received were quite nicely cut despite the size.

Overall impression? I’m quite chuffed. The design process is easy to use. Their servers are fast so uploading designs is a breeze. You don’t have to limit yourself to the plain, old text business card. Instead of images, you can also use text for the back of your cards. And with Printfinity, you don’t have to commit to just one design.

Here’s what James Bruce did with his pack of MiniCards. James is from the UK so he was the first to receive them.

According to James, the design process was very intuitive and he was impressed with the amount of pre-made designs, as well as Printfinity.

He also found the print quality to be pretty good. This card in particular, was a difficult one to print but it turned out okay (with a few dodgy bits).

And now, it’s Yaara Lancet’s turn! Yaara designed the front side of her MiniCards as well and it looks great.

Yaara obviously found the whole design process to be really awesome because she printed 50 designs! Take a look.

Yaara also noted that she was happy with the cutting — it was pretty accurate. Also, Yaara’s cards reached her in 8 business days — a week earlier than stated.

Three different tests from three different countries — Yaara in Israel, James in the UK and yours truly in Australia — all with the same conclusion: we’re extremely happy with our MiniCards!

We’re giving away 5 boxes of 100 MiniCards to MakeUseOf readers this week. Here’s how you can win one.

How do I win one?

It’s simple, just follow the instructions.

Step 1: Fill in the giveaway form

Please fill in the form with your real name and email address so that we can get in touch if you are chosen as a winner. Click here if you can’t view the form.

Step 2: Share!

You’re almost done. Now, all that’s left to do is to share the post. There are 2 options to choose from or you can do both!

This giveaway begins now and ends Wednesday, February 15th. The winners will be selected at random and informed via email.

Spread the word to your friends and have fun!

Interested in sponsoring a giveaway? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us via the form at the bottom of this page.

We’ve written about using PrinterShare to share printers in the past, but Google Cloud Print is a much easier alternative. After you share your printer with someone, they can print to it from their web browser – you can even print to your own printer from a browser if you’re away from your computer.

Setting Up Cloud Print

You’ll need the Google Chrome web browser installed to set up Cloud Print. After it’s installed, launch it and open its Options page.

Click over to the Under the Hood tab and scroll down; you’ll find the Google Cloud Print option hidden near the bottom.

Click the “Sign in to Google Cloud Print” button and you’ll be asked to register your computer’s printers with your Google account.

Sharing the Printer

Click the Manage Your Printers link after registering your printers to access the Cloud Print website. You can also access this page by clicking the Manage Print Settings button next to Google Cloud Print on the Under the Hood page.

The main window here shows a list of print jobs, but you won’t have anything here yet. Click Printers in the sidebar and you’ll see a list of printers on your current computer.

Select a printer and click the Share button to manage its sharing settings.

Type an email address into the box and click Share. This box will automatically autocomplete addresses you type from your Gmail contacts, so you can also start typing a contact’s name to find their email address.

Google Chrome must be open on your computer so it can forward incoming print jobs to your printer. Don’t worry, though — if Google Chrome is closed or your computer is turned off, print jobs will be saved in Cloud Print’s queue online. They’ll start printing automatically the next time you launch Google Chrome.

Accepting The Shared Printer

The person you share the printer with can sign into their Google account and access the Google Cloud Print website. They’ll see an indication that they have a new printer.

First, they’ll have to accept the shared printer.

The printer will appear in their list — a face icon superimposed over the printer’s icon indicates that it’s a shared printer.

Printing A Document

The person you share the printer with can click the Print button and select “Upload File to Print” to upload a file from their computer and print it on your printer.

You should be able to upload any PDF or DOC file — hopefully, Google will add support for additional file types in the future.

The “Other Ways to Print” option takes you to a page that lists ways you can access the shared printer from other devices. Google Cloud print is integrated into the Gmail and Google Docs mobile webpages for smartphones and Cloud Print apps are available for iOS, Android and Mac.

Cloud Print isn’t only for sharing your printer with other people; it can also provide access to your printer from other devices. You can use the apps to print from your smartphone or tablet or use the website to print when you’re away from your printer.

Future Features

Google Cloud Print is currently in beta and is evolving quickly. Currently, it supports both Windows and Mac. Linux users can’t share their printers yet, but they can still print using the Cloud Print webpage. Some printers even include Cloud Print support out of the box, so you can connect them to your network and use them without setting up Google Chrome. Expect more printers with integrated Cloud Print support in the future.

Have you tried Google Cloud Print sharing yet? Let us know how well it works for you in the comments.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Who cares about those? They’re not thin, they don’t run apps (usually), and they’re made by companies like HP, which as a brand, is every bit as interesting as Tupperware.

Yet most people with a computer need to at least have a printer, and there have been advancements in printer technology over the past few years. You don’t need to put up with a lazy old printer that constantly jams. There are better options available.

Best Cheap InkJet Printer: HP Deskjet 3050

Looking for a basic InkJet printer that’s cheap, yet capable of printing text and photos at an adequate level of quality? You’ll probably want to pick up the HP Deskjet 3050, which can be had for as little as $35.

For that, you receive a printer that includes Wi-Fi support and a scanner. Make no mistake – this is not a particularly quick printer, nor is it capable of providing great quality. You are getting what you pay for. But if you only need a printer for occasional, simple printing tasks like a document or a family photo that will be posted on the refrigerator rather than framed, this is an inexpensive solution.

Best Cheap Laser Printer: Brother HL2270DW

Though most consumers prefer inkjets, laser has its place, particularly among home office users. They’re quicker and usually less expensive to operate, which translates to a printer ideal for churning out pages in mass quantities.

Enter the Brother HL2270DW. This $89.99 printer can churn out almost 20 pages per minute, which is much quicker than your average consumer inkjet. It also includes wireless connectivity and can print 1,000 pages on the default toner cartridge before needing replacement.

The downside? It’s monochrome. That’s not at all unusual among laser printers and it underlines what this printer is built for.

Best Overall All-In-One Printer (Print & Scan): Canon Pixma MG6120

This one was a bit of a tough call. Choices like the Epson Workforce 845 and more expensive Canon Pixma MG8120 are solid, but flooding in Thailand has cut off supply of some printers, causing rising prices and limited availability.

So we come to the Pixma MG6120. This all-in-one printer inkjet offers just about everything you could desire. It has duplex printing, a 3-inch LCD with touch input, a scan resolution of 4800×4800 dpi, and Wi-Fi connectivity with support for printing from mobile devices. Considering the price of about $115 on Amazon, this is an impressive array of features.

The only problem is one typical of inkjet printers – ink costs. If you print frequently, this will become an expensive printer quickly. But there’s no inkjet printer for which that isn’t true, and laser all-in-ones aren’t great solutions for many users because of lower image quality and higher pricing for similar features.

Best Overall Laser Printer: Dell 1355cn

It should be noted that the subtext of this recommendation is “for consumers”.  There are plenty of color laser printers available, but many of them are gigantic, expensive machines really intended for a business rather than a home office.

The Dell 1355cn is recommended because it’s an exception. Starting at $199.99, and small enough to fit on a (large) desk, this laser printer provides all the benefits of its kind. It is quick to print, offers relatively low cost-per-page, and can handle large projects with ease thanks to an expanse paper tray and recommended duty cycle of up to 30,000 pages per month.

There are some downsides. The $199.99 version doesn’t offer Wi-Fi printing, and while a scanner is included, it’s nothing special (equivalent to the much less expensive Pixma MG6120). Still, these aren’t bad sacrifices to make, as the alternative is to deal with the high cost of an inkjet or throw down $400-$800 for a high-end laser printer.

Best Stand-Alone Scanner: Epson Perfection V300

Yes, independent scanners still exist. The inclusion of scanners on most modern printers has nearly driven stand-alone scanners to extinction, but there are still some available.

Of these, the best is probably the Epson Perfection V300. This quick but simple scanner offers a resolution of 4800×9600 dpi and can easily turn documents into PDF files. It also includes the ability to scan 35mm negatives, which is a cool (albeit niche) feature.

For most consumers, the scanner on an all-in-one printer will work just as well, but the Epson Perfection V300 does provide a high optical resolution for just $75, which is much less than the typical all-in-one offering similar scanner quality.

Conclusion

When considering these recommendations, keep in mind that printer and scanner products often exist in families. For example, if you can’t find an Epson Perfection V300 at your local store, an Epson Perfection V330 is almost identical (a few meager extras are thrown in) and will probably cost only a little extra.

If I were to just pick one product out of all of these for your average home user, it’d be the Canon Pixma MG6120. Though ink costs can be high, it offers a lot of features at a low price and has excellent print quality.

Do you agree or disagree with the selections here? Let us know in the comments.

One of the more annoying things about web printing is the stuff that comes with them – the ads, sidebars, banners, and even blank pages. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather cut all of that stuff out to conserve printer ink. After all, all I really need is the text. Have you ever copied all of the article text to a new Word doc just so you could print it? Guilty as charged.

In this article, I’m going to show you a handy little Firefox add-on that helps with all of this. Imagine being able to delete unnecessary items in Print Preview mode before printing your webpage. Now you can.

What is Print Edit?

Print Edit (directory app) is an add-on for Firefox that allows the editing of webpage content while in Print Preview mode. This allows you to remove unwanted content such as advertisements, sidebars, and blank areas that would print unnecessary pages.

When you edit pages they will look similar to the print pages displayed in regular Print Preview mode (thanks to CSS print stylesheets). You do, however, have the option to make the page look as it did in normal browsing mode by pressing the Web Style button.

There’s a Format command that allows up to sixteen format properties to be applied. These format properties primarily affect the layout of the content and are intended to reduce the space that the content occupies on the printed page.

Print Edit also comes with an Undo command, which is pretty self explanatory.

Using Print Edit

When you install the Print Edit add-on, you will see a little icon (once your restart Firefox) up on the left next to the back/forward navigation buttons. You can enter Print Edit mode from Print Preview by clicking on the Edit button next to the Close button on the toolbar.

Alternatively, Print Edit/Print Preview mode can be entered from the Print Edit button menu on the main toolbar, or from the File menu on the main menu bar, or from the Print… submenu on the app menu as well. You can add the Print Edit button to the main toolbar by right-clicking the toolbar and selecting Customize.

Once you are in Print Edit mode, any of the displayed content elements can be formatted, hidden or deleted, prior to printing in Print Preview mode. You can also click the Preview button to return to Print Preview mode, as well as the Close button to return to normal browsing mode. It is possible to switch repeatedly between Print Edit mode and Print Preview mode as you see fit.

You can select/deselect individual elements using a highlight box. Just position the mouse so that the highlight box (solid border) is over the element, then click. The highlight box then changes to a selection box (dashed border), and you can apply an edit command.

All selected elements can be deselected by clicking the Deselect button. You can also change the border color and width of the highlight box, if you like.

Conclusion

I’m a big fan of conserving space and printing clean, easy to read pages, as well as saving my printer ink. Print Edit allows me to do all of that and it is incredibly simple to use. No longer do I have to print a web page that has useless information like sidebars and ads. If you can relate I suggest you give Print Edit a try.

Are you a fan of web printing with Print Edit?

Now available via Google Docs, this feature allows users to send a document saved to the cloud to a local Fedex location, where it will be printed. Or if you’re unable to make it to the nearest Fedex, you can have the documents delivered to you as soon as the next business day.

Using the service is easy, but does require that the Fedex site be given access to your Google account. Once you’ve uploaded a document, multiple print options become available including folding, lamination, and binding.

Of course, Fedex isn’t offering this out of the kindness of their heart, but rates do seem reasonable. The site quoted me $1.38 for printing out a simple two-page document at the nearest store, while having it delivered to my apartment tacked on an extra $9.99. Not as cheap as doing it yourself, obviously – but this should be handy for Google Docs users in a pinch.

Source: Google Docs Blog

Make no mistake, these are set to be the next big thing and will change the world as we know it. I’ll also briefly cover a site where you can download models to make once you’ve built your 3D printer!

MakerBot

MakerBot is the first well-publicised DIY 3D printer and as such has had a good amount of time to mature. Last week, they even raised $10 million in Venture Capital, so you can be damn sure this one is on the right track.

To give you an overview of the machine better than I could ever hope to explain it in text, here’s the Make-man himself Bre Pettis talking about the MakerBot.

Note: The latest version is the Thing-O-Matic, but the model seen in the video is the “Cupcake CNC 3D Printer”.

The Thing-O-Matic (seen below) is also now able to continuously print objects by “ejecting” them once finished. So that actually means you can have your own private factory line. Above all, just look at it – it’s so incredibly cute, wouldn’t you want one in your workshop?

As for self-replication, the MakerBot is somewhat limited by its build area (the physical dimensions of the largest object that can be printed) of 10cm, but one enterprising young fellow achieved it by gluing many of the parts together. Those looking for a larger build area should look no further than the RepRap.

RepRap

The RepRap is a more DIY effort that has a larger build area of 20cm, but requires a lot more tweaking and calibration. It’s also not quite as cute, but easier to repair and upgrade – apparently – and users claim you will learn a lot more in the process of building one.

While you can purchase the complete ready-made kit from BitsFromBytes for between £800-£1,200, the RepRaps are designed from the ground up to be self-replicating at a current rate of 50%. That means each RepRap can make 50% of the parts required to make another RepRap, which is quite mind blowing.

This was first achieved back in 2008. Future versions of the RepRap printer will of course be able to be printed by the current version(!), and hopes to raise the percentage of self-replicability even further.

Thingiverse

From the Make-crew, the Thingiverse is a community open-source repository for digital 3D object designs, as well as a social network for people who actually design or make them. Some of the things you can download and print on your own 3D printer understandably range from the absolutely ridiculous – a Mentos Diet Coke cannon; insanely awesome – a life-size replica of the Thundercats Sword of Omens; to the frankly quite useful – drawer dividers. You can find them all in the “popular” archives.

Really though, it’s perhaps time to stand back, take a breath, and just try to comprehend how unbelievably cool this all is – you can download and print a physical object. This, dear readers, is the future – but it’s also here right now. Let us know in the comments if you think this is the most awesome thing since sliced bread, or if you’re planning to build one for yourself! We’d love some pictures even if you have built one. Or what would you print on yours?

If you enjoy posts that explain technology or Internet concepts, be sure to check out our Technology Explained archives too, where you’ll find lots of fascinating posts just like this one.

Is 3d Printing Real?

Admittedly, the nano-tech based Replicator from Star Trek, able to create literally anything – is a long way off and remains firmly in fiction. However, 3D printing of objects is in fact already here, and has been for many years now.

History

Traditional manufacturing processes have revolved around either injection moulding or destructive techniques. ‘Destructive’ means you start with a large block and gradually carve away pieces of it – the aluminium Macbook shell being perhaps the most famous of recent times, but the concept was used with wood since the dawn of man.

Injection moulding is generally the preferred method for plastics though – once a perfect mould of the final object has been made, some molten plastic in injected into it and eventually forms solid. The process has the high initial cost of making a mould and specialised equipment that makes it highly suitable to mass-manufacturing and very unsuitable for home use.

A 3D printer on the other hand could mean that the same complicated objects could be made relatively easily and cheaply, perfect for at home or one-off prototyping.

Seriously, A 3D Printer?!

The idea is that as an alternative to costly mass-manufacturing processes, one-off models of a final product could simply be “printed”. A 3D printer works much the same as a regular printer, but instead of squirting out ink onto a page, it would squirt out a layer of material, then another layer, then another – until a complete 3D model had been produced. The theory is sound, but how about the reality?

In fact, 3D printers have been around for some time now, but still somewhat costly. Around $40,000 will net you a full colour commercial 3D printer from Z-Corporation, which uses coloured starch powders. Obviously, this is still somewhat out of reach to regular home users – but the principle is proven – 3D printing is indeed a reality.

Social Implications

You could write a book on the social implications of 3D printing (Cory Doctorow’s Makers novel is one suggestion I’m in the process of reading – and you can download it for free!), but I’ll try and summarise it in a few paragraphs.

Assuming it is possible to bring the costs of 3D printing down, it could have a profound impact on many aspects of society. Some have described it as having your “own little Chinese factory in your home“. If you needed a little plastic widget, you wouldn’t have to go out and buy one – you could just print one.

There’s also massive environmental advantages to not having to transport truckloads of silly plastic widgets around the globe, so the overall environmental overhead of manufacturing could be decreased as production is localised to the community. If the plastic used can also be made recyclable, then truly we would have a revolution.

Although it would undoubtedly mean a loss of manufacturing jobs, I can also envision new businesses being formed that sell the “plans” to make an object, rather than selling the object themselves. These would be digital downloads, and presumably some bright-spark would invent a kind of DRM, in which the objects could only be “printed” once or 5 times. Then of course, we would have a whole new section to torrent sites as well – pirate object models to download!

How about rapid distribution of the latest object? Instead of waiting months to have something designed and mass-produced, then marketed and shipped to the world, product designers might just release their plans into the wild, and within minutes they could be produced the world over.

Self-Replication

One final point to leave you thinking is that the very nature of a 3D printer means that it should in theory be able to self-replicate the majority of its own parts – so if it can print plastic objects, then any plastic objects used in its construction should be producible using itself. Frankly, it’s mind blowing, and once the initial seed machines are made, the growth rate would increase exponentially, and prices plummet even further.

That’s it for now, but next time I’ll be taking a closer look at both the RepRap and MakerBot projects, both of which are sub-$1000 3D-printer projects that you can build yourself. Yes, I’ve been speaking in very theoretical terms in this article today, but the fact is that these projects are already out there, and thousands of active members around the globe are contributing to their development as you read this.

I’ll also be taking a look at a community driven website that is making open-sourced 3D models available to download and print on your own 3D printer! Stay tuned. In the meantime, feel free to post in the comments about profound changes you think this could have on societies – or do you think 3D printing is a fad, destined for the same landfill as 3D TVs?

This week, we’ll be giving away 25 free copies of novaPDF Professional Desktop worth $1250 in total! Want a copy? First, read up on what it’s all about and find out how to win one for yourself.

novaPDF Professional Desktop (ver. 7.4) is a PDF printer for Windows 7/Vista/XP that lets you create PDF files from any type of document that supports printing. novaPDF installs as a standalone virtual printer and you don’t have to install any other third part tools like GhostScript to render documents or the .NET Framework. All core functionality is bundled within the 6.9 MB download. It works on both 32 and 64-bit Windows operating systems.

The Standard Printer Interface

Printing any document is a simple matter of selecting the source file and clicking on Create. You can also use the usual Print command of the document program. novaPDF also gives you the option of installing a MS Word, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint add-in.

A Walkthrough Of The Ten Main Features of novaPDF

You can set these up from tabbed interface of the Printer Properties dialog box.

Define printing profiles: Setup different private profiles if there are multiple users working on documents or you have different printing requirements for individual documents.

Password protection: For security of sensitive documents, novaPDF implements 40-bit and 128-bit encryption algorithms. Additional permissions can be set up to prevent the document from being viewed, printed, modified, copied or annotated.

Support for digital signatures: Documents can also be signed with digital signatures thus ensuring the credibility of a PDF document transaction.

Add bookmarks: novaPDF can create bookmarks in the generated PDF file from the formatted headings in the source document.

Maintain clickable hyperlinks: novaPDF detects and retains all hyperlinks in the original document; ensuring readers can click through to any external website. A MS Office document may contain hidden hyperlinks which is discoverable by the novaPDF Office add-in.

Merge PDF files: You can tack or insert the content of the document being converted to an existing PDF file and merge them together.

Embed TrueType, OpenType and Type1 fonts: Embedding fonts in a document maintains readability across all computer platforms. novaPDF allows you to embed fonts with restrictions, thus allowing you to control its portability.

Optimize file size: novaPDF allows you to apply image compression settings to reduce the size of bloated documents.

Multi-language and character set support: novaPDF gives you a choice of languages during installation. With the international character set support, you can compose PDF files using almost any Latin, Cyrillic or Asian character set.

Archive with PDF/A Compliance: To ensure that documents are archived correctly and reproduced in exactly the same way they were intended to be, novaPDF follows the international file format standard for long term archiving.

A few other little features like automatic actions and auto-insertion in an email; customizing paper layout; and embedding watermarks round off the capability list of this useful software.

novaPDF Professional Desktop is available from their website at just $49.95. We’ve got 25 copies to give away this week and here’s how you can win one.

How do I win a copy?

It’s simple, just follow the instructions.

Step 1: Fill in the giveaway form

Please fill in the form with your real name and email address so that we can get in touch if you are chosen as a winner. Click here if you can’t view the form.

The giveaway code required to activate the form is available from our Facebook page.

Step 2: Share!

You’re almost done. Now, all that’s left to do is to share the post. There are 2 options to choose from or you can do both!

This giveaway begins now and ends Friday, September 2nd at 2100hrs PDT. The winners will be selected at random and informed via email.

Spread the word to your friends and have fun!

MakeUseOf would like to thank Softland for their generosity while participating in this giveaway. Interesting in sponsoring? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us via email.