Tuesday, January 05, 2010


XR #68


More misadventures putting out the hardcopy version of my zine, The Ray X X-Rayer...

Due to a restricted budget I usually photocopy my zine for people on my snail mail list. #68 had some large images that didn't reproduce that well when photocopied at a printshop. Part of the problem is the shop's photocopier is getting worn out, affecting the output quality. The other part is that photocopying doesn't reproduce as well as a direct print-out from the computer file.

So I tried directly printing copies at the printshop with my zine saved as a digital format on a thumb/flash drive. The shop wanted a twelve dollar fee -- even for one copy -- to access my file on one of their machines.

I went to a second printshop -- no fee -- just a charge per side. The direct print-outs were better than photocopies but didn't have the same brightness and contrast as the ones that I printed at home with my own printer.

After some rough calculations it seems it costs me just as much to print my zine at home compared to a printshop. So looks like I'll be home publishing from beginning to end even though inkjet cartridges ain't cheap. On the plus side: it reduces my trudging through the snow on foot to just one place, the post office. No more printshop stops.

The PDF version of XR #68 is up at my website, www.xrayer.com. That way you can have the fun of printing out your own copy. Other issues are also archived there; each one is a "blogzine," a collection of posts from this blog.



UFO PDF

Speaking of zines online that you can print out...

ThanX to a mention by Jim Moseley in his snail mail zine, Saucer Smear, I've discovered an interesting site with downloadable UFO zines: Barry Greenwood's www.greenwoodufoarchive.com. On the left side of the homepage is a link to Publications, Just Cause and U.F.O Historical Revue (yup, that's the spelling).



I haven't checked out Just Cause but U.F.O. Historical Revue is an interesting read. Barry had given up on zining but UHR is back, albeit online only. UHR used to be hardcopy issues but printing and mailing costs were becoming prohibitive (I understand that problem).

What I enjoy about Barry's POV is that he's not focused on pushing a particular belief or theory. He doesn't know what UFOs are -- such as alien spacecraft, interdimensional intrusions, etc. -- except that they're unidentified. One area he delves into is the airship sightings of the 1890s. His last issue (UHR #13) features an article analyzing the "Ramey Memo" from the Roswell Crash ado. Great detective work in analyzing the grainy image of that document.

2 comments:

X. Dell said...

That is a cool link. Thanks for posting it.

X. Dell said...

I don't claim to have an eye for the aesthetic, but I thought the color came out kinda nice in the latest edition.