Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Resource Info


Other Print Labs on Campus:

University of Minnesota Print Labs


Print Lab and Mounting Resources

If you need to make a print or scan and the DSB isn't available, or you've graduated check out these labs in town:

White House Custom Color
http://www.whcc.com

Color Space Art and Imaging
http://colorspaceartandimaging.com/

The Lab
http://www.thelabdigital.com/

Thomas Reographics
http://www.thomasrepro.com

Minneapolis Photo Center
http://www.mplsphotocenter.com


Screenprinting: Halftones and Color Separations:

halftones and screen angles

halftone separations for 4 color process screenprinting
and another color separations for 4-color process

Info About Reserving Printers and Scanners

https://checkout.cla.umn.edu/webcheckout/patron/patronPortal.html
Users may reserve Print stations at the DSB counter in person or online.

Reservation Restrictions

  • User may book a piece of equipment up to 10 hours per week.
  • Reservations can be booked online up to 2 weeks in advance.
  • 15 minutes is required between reservations for processing.
  • Reservations can be made in 30min, 45min, and 1 hour slots
  • Users must be present within 10 minutes of their reservation time or their reservation will be canceled.
  • Up to 2 back-to-back reservations may be made but there must be a 15-minute processing time between reservations. The user may stay at the printer during this 15-minute time. Example: if you want to use a printer from 11:00- 1:00 you will make one reservation from 11:00-12:00 and the second reservation from 12:15-1:00.


User Responsibility

  • Users are responsible for finishing using the workstations at their scheduled reservation end time, this includes prints being completed by the printers. The larger the print the longer the printer takes to print it.
  • Prints on the small printers should be sent no less than 10 minutes before the end of their reservation and prints on the large printers sent no less than 30 minutes before the reservation end. Larger prints may require more time to print!
  • All prints will be paid for at the time of printing, either by a class fee or pay-as-you-go. For pay-as-you-go the DSB technicians will supply students with a bill that must be paid at the photo crib before the prints can be taken from the DSB. Or students may use their Gopher Gold/U card if there is money on the card.
  • No prints leave the DSB without being paid for!

Printers:  
  • 4880/4900 sheet printers print sheets of paper up to 17" wide
  • 7900/P700 roll printers print on 24" rolls.
  • 9800/9900 roll printers print on 24" or 44" rolls. Sheets may also be put in these printers, but paper registration is more difficult.
You must choose a printer that prints on the media you will be printing on as the inks are different for matte paper and luster paper. This is marked on the checkout site.


For questions contact the DSB at: 612 626 4196
Or Lead DSB Supervisor: Caroline Houdek Solomon, dsb@umn.edu

Paper


Two paper media are available for use on the designated digital photo printers:
Epson Enhanced Matt Paper and Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper. 

We also have transparency for Printmaking applications which can be used on specific 9800 Luster Printers.  The PhotoCrib has vellum for sale which can printed via the Experimental Printer only.

Students may bring in their own paper, but can only use coated media on the photo printers.

FAQs for Instructors

Why aren't my students listed yet in the DSB print-tracking file?
Instructors from digital classes must send their final class lists (after folks have added and dropped) to the DSB supervisor at dsb@umn.edu before their students are able to print. It takes a few days to enter them into the system. All other classes use the pay-as-you-go method for making prints.
Can I bring my classes into the DSB when the DSB supervisors are not there or during closed hours?
No, there is no after-hours access. Classes are allowed in the DSB only during regular open lab hours when the supervisors and monitors are present.
Can I bring my class in last-minute for a demo?
No. Please arrange times for in-class demos with the DSB supervisor, dsb@umn.edu, with at least 48 hours notice, but preferably at the beginning of the semester so we can avoid conflicts with other class demos. We expect instructors will want to teach the demos themselves to their students.
Do students have to pay for test strips?
Normally no, but if a student makes excessive test strips then they will be charged the regular linear inch rate for the extras. All test prints and contact prints must be paid for.
Will the DSB supervisors print or prepare my files for me or my students?
No. Users must prepare their own digital files (off site) and be familiar with resolution, color profiles, and Photo Shop. The staff will assist new users and help with any problems along the way, but they are not there to print files for others. Their first priority is to help the students learn the equipment.
Can students print whatever they want on the experimental printer?
No, there are limits even on this printer. Students cannot run wet media through the experimental printer, including wet-coated papers and surfaces and prints with wet inks on them. Newsprint should also not be used even on these printers as the fibers clog the ink nozzles too badly.
Do students have to pay for prints that don't turn out well when using the experimental printer?
Yes, students must pay for all prints on these machines. The DSB supervisors maintain the
experimental printer in the best shape they can, but due to the unregulated use of materials we cannot guarantee accurate color results, adequate paper feeding, or printing with uncoated media. Please discuss with your students the experimental nature of the process so that they fully understand the additional costs for using this printer. Send any tips you have for getting good results.

DSB Usage Agreement


Before you are allowed to print in the DSB: You must either attended a training session (recommended) or have signed this contract and gone over the printing directions briefly with the DSB attendant. Only students who have attended the training session or signed this contract are allowed to be in the DSB, no tag-alongs, friends, or other visitors.

Food and Beverages: Food and beverages cannot be used in the DSB. There is a counter where they can be left while working.

Paper: Paper is available for purchase and use in the printers. Students may bring their own paper but must be verified as safe in the printers by a DSB supervisor. Only specific printers may use non-coated papers (no-photo papers). These printers are labeled “Sue” (for paper up to 44” wide) and Cindy (for sheets of paper between 8x10” and 17x22”). Papers like Rives BFK, rice paper, etc. may be used ONLY in these printers. Please no newsprint.

Computer Use: The DSB is not a general computer-use room. Please prepare your files off site. The DSB is also not a Photoshop tutoring center. DSB attendants assist with printing-not file editing.

Mistakes: Mistakes involving user error (things that were covered in the printing training and in the printing directions by each computer) will be charged for. Mistakes involving the printer (clogged heads, etc.) will not be charged for if the attendant is notified right away.

Test Strips: We usually do not charge for test strips, but these need to be tracked.

Before leaving the DSB: Students must check out with the DSB attendant to count the prints they made. This includes test strips and all mistakes.

Payment: Any payment for prints must be made BEFORE the user leaves the DSB with the prints. Students may pay with check, credit card or gopher gold. NO CASH. Payments are made at the photo cage down the hall, but prints remain in the DSB until the signed receipt is brought back to the DSB. Signed receipts must always be brought back to the DSB or we have no record that the prints were paid for

Course Fees: There are no refunds or transferring of unused portions of student course fees. Any unused course fees stays in general DSB account. Students do not all print the same amounts for each assignment or project. This means that some students will not exhaust their full course-fee print credit: the DSB depends on the unused portions to help pay for maintenance tanks, Kraft paper, unexpected repairs, etc. We recognize that it may seem unfair, but it is similar to what happens in all other art courses; all students pay the same exact materials fee, but they each use less or more amounts of materials.

Failure to follow these instructions or instructions given by DSB technicians or instructors will result in loosing DSB privileges.





Digital Service Bureau for Learning Access and Use Policy

•   The DSB is a hands-on learning environment in which users sit at the computer stations and print and scan their own projects. We have Epson 9800/9900 printers (with printing up to 44 in. wide) and 4800/4880/4900 printers (with printing up to 17 in. wide), two Nikon 9000 film scanners, and one Epson V700 flatbed scanner and one Epson 1640XL over sized scanner. Two paper media are available for use on the designated digital photo printers: Epson Enhanced Matt Paper and Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper. Students may bring in their own paper, but can only use coated media on the photo printers. There are two experimental printers, one 9800, one 4800, where students are able to use non-coated photo papers to experiment on.

•    The DSB is not a general computer-use room; please prepare your files offsite.

•    The DSB is monitored by the DSB supervisors during all open hours; there is no access outside of regularly scheduled hours. The supervisors are on hand to assist users with scanning, printing, handing out and loading paper (if needed), and other aspects of the digital workflow. However, users must already understand how to prepare digital files for printing (we do not teach Photoshop or how to prepare files for printing).

•    Presently access to the DSB is restricted to students, staff, and faculty affiliated with the Department of Art. and University of Minnesota.

•   Before you are allowed to print in the DSB you must be enrolled in a digital art class, have attended a training session (recommended) or have signed the DSB Training Contract (please look for an additional blog post containing this contract) and gone over the printing directions briefly with the DSB attendant.

•    Students currently enrolled in digital art classes and paying a digital course fee have automatic access, once their instructors sends the DSB the student class list. Everyone else - e.g. students taking independent studies or BFA/MFA credits in non-digital areas, working on Senior Projects from non-digital areas, faculty and instructors from non-digital areas, and staff - must take the tech demo and/or have signed the Training Contract. 

•    All prints must be tracked and paid for prior to leaving the DSB. For students currently enrolled in digital classes we use a course-fee system. Enrolled students receive a credit for up to so many digital prints for the course fee they pay, which is tracked in an Excel spreadsheet database based on current class lists. Instructors MUST forward their class list to the lead DSB technician, Caroline Houdek at dsb@umn.edu, before their students are allowed to print using their fees. After an enrolled student uses his or her course-fee allotment, they are able to make additional prints, paying for prints as they go. Unused credit is not refunded but is used to pay for test strips, maintenance tanks, and other general expenses of the DSB.

•    For students, staff, and faculty who are not enrolled in an art class they pay as they go. Payment is either made using cash or check paid at the equipment Cage W139 or using Gopher Gold. Note, students must first ad money to their card before they can use it in the DSB. Click here for locations where money can be added to the Gopher Gold Card. 
 
•   Payment must be made before prints leave the DSB; no tabs are carried. The DSB is not responsible for prints left behind to be paid for later, but users will still need to pay for any damaged prints. Students cannot print using other students course fees.

•    Priority during the last 2 weeks: During the last two weeks of the semester each student is only allowed to make up to one 1-hour reservation per day for the 4800 printers OR one 2-hour reservation per day for the 9800 mural printers. Also students, staff, and faculty who are not enrolled in a digital class should not plan on printing during these weeks. The DSB receives a higher-than-normal volume of users during this time. All students in classes have priority.


•    Unused course-fee print credits: There are no refunds for unused portions of student credits, the remainder stays in general DSB account. Students do not all print the same amounts for each assignment or project. This means that some students will not exhaust their full course-fee print credit: the DSB depends on the unused portions to help pay for maintenance tanks, Kraft paper, unexpected repairs, etc. We recognize that it may seem unfair, but it is similar to what happens in all other art courses; all students pay the same exact materials fee, but they each use less or more amounts of materials.

•    No food or drink is allowed in the DSB.

•    Failure to follow these policies will result in losing DSB privileges.

Department of Art

The Digital Service Bureau for learning is supported by the University of Minnesota Department of Art: http://www.art.umn.edu/

Students currently registered in Art Department classes have discounted prices. University of Minnesota students not currently registered in Art Department classes, Faculty, and Staff may print using our regular price list. For a price list please stop by the DSB.

Location: Regis Center for Art W138
Email:  dsb@umn.edu
Tel:  612-626-4196

Regis Center for Art
405 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis Minnesota 55455

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

DSB Blog is MOVING!

On June 30, 2014 our regular blog, http://blog.lib.umn.edu/dsb/dsb will be decommissioned. All the info contained in that blog will be moved to this one. Keep an eye out for updates!