Services and Equipment

Large Format Inkjet Printing

Series of posters printed out using Bureau inkjet printers. These large posters were printed and shipped out VCUarts Qatar for an exhibition.

We currently have two inkjet printers.  Marco is our 44-inch Canon PRO-4100, and Jerry is our 60-inch Canon iP9400. They are both capable of printing on matte, satin, process film and glossy paper. We stock mostly 24, 44, and 60 inch rolls. Prints that we cannot nest and are smaller than half the width of the roll, are subject to excess paper fees. See our Print Ready Policies for specifics.

Available Inkjet Media:

  • Matte is a heavy weight photographic paper stock that has almost no reflective coating on the paper. The matte coating prevents ink from fully absorbing into the stock, so it is still able to maintain vibrant color with high contrast. This paper is great for prints with lots of text or illustrative elements.
  • Satin is a lighter weight photographic paper stock that has a pearlescent sheen that exceeds that of matte but is less reflective than glossy. Both Satin and Glossy papers are great for photographic prints.
  • Glossy is a heavy weight photographic paper stock that has the highest reflective sheen and produces high color definition.
  • Process Film is a transparency that is best used for photographic processes like screen printing and in dark room photography.
  • Bond paper is great for drafting and pattern prints. This is a very lightweight, copy paper. We do not encourage printing heavily saturated prints on this paper, as it can cause warping with such a thin paper.

See price chart below. Average turnaround for a poster print is 1-2 business days.

We also have a variety of cut-sheet photo papers. Please email us for those inquiries.

See our policies and procedures to make sure you’re ready to print!

Inkjet Prices – for typical poster sizes

Universal Bond PaperMatte or Satin PaperProcess Film or Glossy Paper
$1.00 per sq. ft.$3.00 per sq. ft.$5.00 per sq. ft.
18″ x 24″ — $3.0018″ x 24″ — $9.0018″ x 24″ — $15.00
24″ x 36″ — $6.0024″ x 36″ — $18.0024″ x 36″ — $30.00
36″ x 48″ — $12.0036″ x 48″ — $36.0036″ x 48″ — $60.00

Laser Printing

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Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces high-quality text and graphics by repeatedly passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively charged cylinder called a “drum” to define a differentially charged image. The drum then selectively collects electrically charged powdered ink (toner), and transfers the image to paper, which is then heated in order to permanently fuse the text, imagery, or both, to the paper. 

Laser Printing is most suitable for:
Booklet, Zine Prints
Double-sided Printing
Large number of copies

Average turnaround for laser prints is 1-2 business days.

Average turnaround for laser print books is 2-3 business days. 

Available Laser Media

Our Ricoh Pro C7200e can print a variety of paper types and sizes. Please refer below to find the available medias we supply for Laser printing. As we grow and continue to expand our services we hope to bring more paper types into our inventory, in the meantime we do allow for customers to bring in certain types of paper to be printed on. Please read below for further guidelines.

 

Difference between Text, Cover and Bond?

“Text” is a generic name for a variety of lighter, thinner paper stocks that includes Book and Offset paper. Text paper is flexible, can be easily rolled and folded and is used for printing flyers, handouts, letterheads, book pages, etc.

“Cover” is a generic name for a variety of heavier and thicker paper stocks. It is more durable than Text paper. Cover paper is more rigid and must be scored (i.e., dented or creased) before it can be folded. This type of paper is usually smooth, but can have a texture. It can be uncoated or coated with either a matte or glossy appearance. Cover/Card stock is often used for mass mailed postcards, business cards, playing cards, invitations, program covers, greeting cards, door hangers, catalog covers, presentation covers, scrapbooking, etc.

“Bond” is a generic name for a variety of lightweight papers intended for typical office use, such as copy paper. The surface of bond papers is designed to be strong enough to take pencil and pen, and to accept the use of an erasure.

Information above provided by Casey Printing: https://store.caseyprinting.com/page/cp-paper-information

Ricoh Pro C7200e is a Laser printer equipped to handle any Laser paper.

You may bring in your paper but understand these guidelines:

You must bring in an additional 30-45 sheets if you want your paper calibrated. There will be a $3.00 up-charge for every calibration run. If we can’t get close enough calibration after one run, we will check with you before completing a second run. More about Calibration in our Print Ready page.

With new paper comes different calibration, set up and troubleshooting. Your job may take longer than the average turnaround time; account for 1-2 additional business days before completion. 

We will not trim custom paper down for the Laser printer. Please use the guillotine in our self-service room to trim papers down to size.  For double-sided printing, paper size should be no smaller than 5×7 inches and no larger than 13×27 inches.

We have successfully printed on newsprint, adhesive, transfer and even handmade paper. To print on speciality papers such as these please schedule a consultation prior to sending your job in. Our Production Manager will need to decide if your paper will work before we accept the job.

See our policies and procedures to make sure you’re ready to print!

Risograph Printing

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A few colorful Risograph pieces. The forefront image is a color chart that we've produced to showcase the different colors available for use.

​​The Risograph is a digital duplicator made for high volume printing. It can print only one color at a time. The original image is scanned by machine and burnished into the master sheet in order to create a stencil for the ink to stamp as your print runs through the machine. The masters can also be sent digitally via a connected computer. If sending your prints through Adobe Acrobat on the computer, make sure your file sizes are kept as small as possible. 

The Risograph is self-operated and requires an appointment to be made via our Google Calendar. You must have prior training before being added to the Risograph Calendar. If you have taken a training please email us to be added to the calendar. We offer trainings throughout the semester, so keep an eye on our social media for signups.

For Faculty, class trainings can be coordinated with our Production Manager, Cassie Grace.

When you arrive for your appointment please bring your images to be scanned or digital files, and make sure you get a Risograph docket from a Studio Assistant. The Creative Print Bureau will sell you sheets of our 80lb Cougar stock for $0.15. Recommendations for paper supply is under our Resources for Students. The Risograph maximum paper size is 12 × 18 inches, with 11 x 17 inches being the largest size available for a full bleed print.

Please pay special attention to the copy and master counters on the Risograph machine. Failure to fill these numbers in properly on your dockett will result in overharges. When you have wrapped up your appointment, leave a filled out docket with a Studio Assistant to be sent your invoice. Failure to pay your Risograph invoices will result in suspended printing privileges.

Each layer of ink requires two hours of drying time minimum before it can be run back through the machine for another layer. A hair dryer may be used to help speed the process along. If the print is not dried correctly, it can bleed onto the drum, which may cause future smudging.

Vinyl Cutting

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Image from an exhibition at VCU Qatar in Fall of 2021. The title and following text vinyl was cut and weeded in the VCUarts Print Bureau, then packaged and shipped over to VCUQ.

LaTHOR is our Roland CAMM-1 Pro GX-500 vinyl cutter, used to cut vinyl with a drag-knife. This machine creates weather-resistant graphic designs, such as single-color line art or typography. It is operated by the Production Manager and the CPB Assistants.

To cut vinyl, please send us a packaged Illustrator file. All text in the design should be outlined. Customers can choose to provide their own vinyl or use our inventory of black or white vinyl.

Finishing cost is accounted for weeding and applying transfer tape. For more instruction on file prepping your vinyl files, please go to the student resources tab for PDF and video tutorials!

Vinyl Cutting Prices

FinishingProvided VinylTransfer Tape
$10.00 per hour$2.00 per sq. ft.$1.00 per sq. ft.

If bringing in your own vinyl, you will only be charged for labor and tape.

Book Binding

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A photograph of the book binding stations in the self-service area. On the left is our Perfect Binder, middle machine is our staple binding mechanism, and the right machine is our Spiral Binder.

Perfect binding is available inside our self service room, is a DIY process, and allows customers to bind the pages of a book with thermal activated glue. Wire-o binding is additionally DIY. The machine allows students to punch holes and add a looped-wire to enclose the pages. We also have staplers for your zines and saddle stitch booklets. 

Demo videos for both binding machines can be found on our youtube and under the student resources tab. If you have additional questions or want to make an appointment for a hands-on demo, talk to a Studio Assistant or send us an email.

We are currently providing book binding materials for free. That means glue, staples, and spirals for the machines are all being provided by the Creative Print Bureau. Please take special care of the machines and keep supply waste to a minimum so we can continue to provide these resources for everyone. 

Textile Printing

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Assortment of textiles that were printed on by the Creative Print Bureau

PLEASE NOTE: Appointments are currently unavailable for all of February,2024.

We have recently added a new printing service to our facility. The Mutoh 1938 TX is a 75 inch wide direct-to-textile printer, featuring 8 color channels and 2 printheads for incredible speeds and detail. We are using an aqueous-based pigment ink that is compatible with natural, blended, and coated fabrics. The Mutoh operates similarly to an inkjet printer, spraying out the ink as the print head moves along the fabric.

We will be stocking a coated, lighter Satin Cotton and a heavier, Canvas material. Prices are $14 linear yard for the Satin, and $12 linear yard for the Canvas. These prints are intended to be samples, and are not durable for heavy wear and tear immediately after printing. We do not have a heating system for the textile printer, so DO NOT wash fabrics right after printing

If you will need treat and wash your prints, we would recommend going to a laundromat to get your prints heat-set or using an iron without steam for 20 minutes or more. Then hand-washing your fabric in cold water. This method has rendered successful results for us, but this is still very much an experimental process. If you intend on using your prints for a presentation, for simple wall hangings or demo mockups, do not worry about treating the prints.

We will be printing Canvas on Tuesday, Satin on Friday, and 15-minute appointments are required before sending your assets to print. Please email us at printbureau@vcu.edu to reserve an appointment. During your appointment, we will download your assets, and set them up for print. We can resize your assets and turn on step-and-repeat patterning with this printer’s software.

Ready to go?