Printing Your Own Charts

​I print my own charts simply because I use a lot of them and I like to have control over their supply. I don't really save much money by printing my own charts, but I've already found that some charts are unavailable, and the day will come when the supply of charts will dry up. Most charts will print on legal size paper (8.5x14 inch). I use glossy photo paper, my online supplier is http://www.professionallabel.com (no connection to me). It's hard to find in legal size.  If you use regular paper the instrument pen ink will soak into the sheet and make a mess. ​

For standard 3.5 inch charts you can print two charts per legal size sheet of paper as in the photo above, but microbarograph and hygrothermograph charts print one per page. For meteorographs, I need to use 11x17 inch paper with one chart per page. I use HP Premium Presentation Paper 120g in the 11x17 size.  It's hard to find in stores, I buy it on Amazon.com  A good large (17 inch) paper cutter is a must to trim the printed charts.

To scan the original charts, I have an old Epson GT-15000 scanner that I bought used for $180 that will do up to 11x17 inch and color.  In most cases I prefer to scan the charts in black and white line art mode and add the color using Microsoft Publisher.  One word of caution: Some all-in-one inkjet printers say that they will scan legal size pages but actually they distort the image to letter size (8.5x11 inch).

I use an inkjet printer to print the legal size charts in color.  Inkjet printers are relatively inexpensive but only seem to have a lifespan of about one year, I've gone through 2 of them in 2 years.  For the 11x17 inch charts I use an old HP Laserjet 5200dtn monochrome printer that I bought used for $400. A little pricey but it's built like a tank and very cheap to print with from a toner standpoint. I print the 11x17 inch charts in black and white.

I use felt tip pens exclusively simply because they do a better job. I have a collection of nib ink pens should the supply of felt tip pens dry up.

​Go to Home Page.