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I love my journal, but I wish there was a better way to get stuff from my computer into it without the hassle of printing onto paper, cutting it out and gluing it in (not to mention the warping...)

Are there any printer models that print directly onto the face of the paper without rollers, such that they could accommodate a book?

If not, how would you efficiently transfer between physical and digital text/art with a pre-bound book?

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    Welcome to Arts & Crafts. I'm not aware of any consumer computer printer that can do what you ask. If it needs to be a pre-bound book, I suspect you would be limited to gluing in pages or inserting them in pre-bound transparent pockets (or self-stick pockets). There are glues that will let you do it quickly and without warping, but there would still be that step. If you want to frequently include printer output, it might make sense to consider a format that lets you insert pages (e.g., looseleaf, scrapbook, plastic comb, wirebound, etc.).
    – fixer1234
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 6:09
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    One other thought: print on label sheets (available in various sizes at up to full page). They're expensive for paper stock, but you just need to peel off the backing and stick it to a bound page. If you start with appropriate sized labels (or possibly oversized bound pages), you wouldn't need the step of cutting it out.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 6:53
  • Another idea: Invest in a disk bound journal (see also disc-binding). They allow pages to be added/removed freely. You can print on a correctly sized page, and then insert it into your journal, or print on an oversized page and cut it to size. You would also need to consider if you want to print on a page that already has the perforations or make the perforations after printing.
    – Wimateeka
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 18:23
  • You could build yourself a pen plotter like this youtube.com/watch?v=kQoMr2ePJbo
    – samcarter_prepared_for_xmas
    Commented Mar 2, 2022 at 9:37
  • There are some 3d laser printers that prints on any kind of object: glowforge.com
    – Danielillo
    Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 6:24

2 Answers 2

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Short answer: such a printer does not exist (at least not as far as I'm aware).

The reasons are the precision required for the common printing technologies and the price dumping in the consumer market. Manufacturers must sell hundreds of thousands of their printers to make a profit. Printing in a bound book is such a nice scenario that there's simply not enough money to make.

In ink printing the printer head (where the ink comes out) must be a precise distance from the paper away. The printer head is also very small, so it has to move over the paper from side to side repeatedly to cover the whole page. If the page is bound in a journal, you'd need to press it as flat as possible, which might damage the journal. The printer head would also need to move up and down because the first page is higher than the last page. This kind of technology is certainly possible, but would be too expensive for the consumer market.

In laser printing the page must be negatively charged. The laser then discharges every spot that's supposed to stay white but leaves the remaining charge in the spots that are supposed to be black. The prepared page then passes in front of the toner cartridge, where the remaining negative charge attracts the toner particles. The page is then heated up to melt the toner into the paper.

Again, it would certainly be possible to achieve this in a bound book, but it's much easier and cheaper to move the paper over the components than the components over a bound book.

For a journal I would use thin paper. Packages of printer paper usually have an information about how heavy the paper is. The standard office paper is 80 g/m3 (grams per square meter), but you could easily go as low as 60 g/m3. At 40 g/m3 you have things like plotter or parchment paper, which might work, but might not be what you want. Anything lighter than that is probably more like tissue paper, which smudges in an ink printer.

To glue the paper into your journal, you should use a spray glue instead of liquid glue to avoid warping. Glue stick also avoids warping, but can leave behind bumps of uneven glue. It can also help to put something really heavy on top of the journal right after glueing, like several bricks heavy.

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    I'd suggest a spray glue over a glue stick. A glue stick can still leave lumps and wrinkles (particularly from uneven deposits of glue as you move it across the paper), but I've never experienced either using a spray glue.
    – Allison C
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 14:39
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    @AllisonC Ah, very good argument. I'll edit my answer.
    – Elmy ♦
    Commented Mar 1, 2022 at 14:46
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    I've found papers less than about 60gsm to feed badly in my printers, so they're worth a try but don't invest too much
    – Chris H
    Commented Mar 10, 2022 at 20:43
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If you only need to print vector line graphics (including text), the current lowest cost solution is a pen-based plotter, commonly known in China as a "writing robot". They are available on most e-commerce platforms, usually for no more than a two-week base salary.

If you need to print color blocks or other bitmap graphics with a certain area, I think you can only give it to a professional printery. It is often not cost-effective for individuals to customize professional printing equipment.

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