atpcliff

LBPro Printing Adventure


Hi!

Note: Some of this info is mine, and some is from other's posts, or from the LBPro website.


Intro:
I spent several hours searching the web for help with printing/binding my LogBookPro. I consolidated all the info into one file. Some of the info was helpful, but there was a lot that wasn't, or was bad info for me. I thought I could pick up a binder at Office Depot (or somewhere else), take it to FedExKinko's with my logbook report on my usb drive, have them print it, punch holes, and I'd be all done. WRONG!!!


If this process seems to complicated, LBPro will do all the work for you of printing and binding your logbook. I believe this process could be completed in one or two days. It costs a lot (around $250). I didn't want to spend a lot, and it didn't seem that complicated to do it myself.


Binders:
The LBPro software will format your digital information to be printed basically into a landscape (the page is wider than it is long) format. One entry will take up a line on two standard sheets of 11”x8.5” paper. Think about how a paper logbook looks (if you have one, or if you remember when everyone carried around paper logbooks). Since it's landscape, most binders will not work. It's difficult to find ones that will.


I recommend, like many of the other posters have, that you use a ring binder, so that it looks nice, and it's easy to add more pages as you get more experience. The difficult part is finding a ring binder that is in landscape format, with the holes punched in the short edge of the paper.


If you use a comb binder, you can add pages, but it's difficult. The employees at several stores told me the binding WOULD break after a while, because a comb binding is designed to be a permanent binding. They told me if I had a binding machine it WAS practical to add or subtract pages. I don't have a binding machine, and don't want to pay for one.


The binder I liked best (well, really I liked the Cirrus binders through LBPro, but those cost $130) was this one:
http://www.binderfinder.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=10200&type=store
It is a black, 1”, cloth covered binder. It's also available in a 2” size.
It was about $37 with UPS ground ($11), which is the cheapest way to ship with this company.


This one is cheaper:
http://landscapebinders.com/
It is black vinyl, and is $16 without shipping (I don't know the shipping charge). It comes in 1” or 1.5”.


These look nice:
http://thebookbinders.com/individualcommercial.htm

Office Depot ONLINE has these:
Wilson Jones Raven Post Binder:
http://www.officeworld.com/Worlds-Bi...LJ24140N/06Q4/

If you want a 7-hole punch binder, one or more guys bought “Commercial check binders”. The seven holes are less stress on the paper. I bought heavy weight paper, so I think the 3 vs. 7 thing isn't a problem.


Multiple posters mentioned having trouble finding a “landscape” format binder. Several mentioned they are available at Office Depot.


I first went to Office Max (DTW). The guys there thought I was insane when I explained I was looking for a landscape binder. They told me I wanted a binder that held legal-size paper. Surprisingly, they didn't have any landscape binders.


Then, I went to the nearest Office Depot. They had none. They said they could order them via the internet, but they never had them in stock. They had never heard of a 7-ring landscape binder (like the commercial check binder).


So, even though I wanted my logbook done that day, I ended up ordering the binder online, as mentioned above, and didn't get it done in one day.


Paper:
You have a choice of colors and weights. I shopped paper at both Office Max and FedEx/Kinko's. I found out that they don't have a very wide selection of paper at all. So, if you're selective, you'll probably want to go to a paper store and buy the paper there and bring it to wherever you want to print it at.


I decided on a light green colored paper (kind of like the Jepp logbook, I guess-my paper logbook has white) that was an 80# weight. It is about the density and thickness of a business card. The Kinko's guy said it would be no problem printing on this thick paper at home as long as I had a flat or a “C” feed (one directional turn) printer. He said if it was an “S” feed or worse (two or more turns inside the printer) it wouldn't work.


It was $.24 for each duplex (both sides-just like your paper logbook) sheet. I also bought a whole pack (250 sheets) for $10 for blank pages to add to the logbook. It was much cheaper to buy the whole pack than to buy enough individual sheets to meet my needs.


I also found out that comparing the weights of paper is arbitrary. Kink's 90# paper is thinner than the 80# paper.


I wanted to get the holes punched in my paper, but since I didn't have the actual binder, I didn't want to mess it up. So, I'll wait for the binder, and wait for a day when I'm in the same place that the binder is delivered to (crashpad), and then I'll take the paper back to Kinko's. They'll drill holes for me in my
logbook pages, and in the extra paper I bought to add to my printed logbook.


Printing/Formatting Your LBPro Data:
I knew that I had a lot of pages to print, and I wasn't that familiar with the reports and exporting and printing and formatting, so I thought Kinko's would best know how to help me.


I followed the advice of some posters: Made a flight log report, exported it to Adobe (.pdf) format, put in on my USB back up portable drive (jump drive, memory stick, flash drive, etc.), and took it to Kinko's to get printed. Luckily, I thought it might not be this easy, so I brought my laptop. It was a nightmare.


To keep this post from getting REALLY long, I'll spare the details of what didn't work, and tell you what finally worked in the end.


Step 1:
My LBPro was up to date, it was as accurate as practical, and there were no errors (I ran the error check that comes with the program).


Step 2:
Click on the “Reports” tab on the left side of the logbook (or click on the “Reports” tab up top).
Click on “Flight Log”
Click on “Split Reports (Left / Right Segmented)”
Move the cursor right to “Jeppesen Style & 98-004 Leather Binders”
Move it further right to “Jeppesen Style Flight Log”
For starting and ending dates click “All Data”. Next time, to print follow-on pages, start at the next date after the date that this report ends on. Mine ended on 11 Jul 2007, so my next one will start on 12 Jul 2007.


PS-Follow the step below IN THE FUTURE!!!
7.15.07







Step 3:
Look at the report and make sure it looks right and makes sense. Note that the same number of columns is present in all pages, so that when printed everything will line up. Note that there are three tabs: “Left”, “Right” and “Combined”.
How many lines are present? Mine, had, I believe, 21. I had read posters who mentioned changing the margins to get more lines per page. LBPro, and other posters, say not to mess with the “Left” or “Right” margins.
How to change the “Top” and “Bottom” margins:
If you are on the “Combined” tab view, when you click on “File” (top left corner of the window) and then scroll down and click “Page Setup”, nothing will happen.
You need to click on the “Left Page” and “Right Page” tabs to change the margins. Once you've clicked on either the “Left Page” or the “Right Page” then you'll need to click on “File” and “Page Setup”. You will now see a window where you can change the margins. You will also need to change both margins so that they are the same, or the rows won't match up on the two facing pages.
I changed both page's “Top” and the “Bottom” margins to 0.5 inches. This should give you about 25 lines per page.


Step 4:
When your report is to your liking, again click on “File”, scroll down to “Export” and you'll see your choices. I choose “Export To Acrobat Reader (.pdf)”. A window will open asking you where you want to save the file. I saved a copy on my hard drive (in my LBPro folder) and on my USB memory stick.


Step 5:
DO NOT PRINT YOUR LOGBOOK NOW!!!
Print 4-10 test pages to make sure it is formatted correctly and it looks right. I used regular white paper to test print. I forgot to tell the guy to print a blank page first. This will be the interior cover of your logbook, and Page 1 will print on the backside of this sheet. The 3rd and 4th pages printed will actually be pages 2 and 3 of your logbook.
When it is correct, then have him print the whole thing on the good paper.


Step 6:
Check your pages. I had several with some printing error or defect in the paper itself. I had him reprint those specific pages over again. I also had him print a 2nd copy of my cover page, and of my last page. That way, when I go to print my cover page (you don't have to print a cover page, of course), if I mess it up I can try again. It would be wise to once again test print your cover page on plain, cheap paper. The extra last page is because that when I print an add-on page it home, the first one will go on the back of the last page printed at Kinko's.


Misc Notes:
You can do some customizing of the reports, but it is limited. You can change the heights of the columns, to help get more or less lines per page
From the LBPro website:
“Columns cannot be removed, hidden, resized, or reordered”.
“An alternate method of printing allowing complete capturing of user-defined customizations, including fonts, custom columns, colors, and column order and widths is to print directly from the spreadsheet system.”
Note: It does NOT say you can delete or hide columns with this “alternate method”.
When I tried to make the report the first time, I clicked on “Reports”, “Flight Log”, Jeppesen Style”, “Jeppesen Style Flight Log” I got a report that looked fantastic. But, when the Kinko's guy looked at the .pdf exported file, it listed the paper size as “21.46 x 8.5”. I think this is a special size they use when you send it to LBPro to be printed out. At any rate, it won't do for standard 11” x 8.5” paper.


With the 25 entries per page (top and bottom margins changed to 0.5” each) my log was 96 pages long. I use the one date (as many legs as you have on that date/airplane) per line entry in my logbook, vs. the one entry per LEG, which would've taken god knows how many pages.


Summary:
My log book pages look great, and I think the binder will, too. It's a million times better looking than my old paper logbook (but not as good looking as my CEO ;-).


It cost me about $20-25 at Kinko's for the 100 pages of logbook, the extra pages, and the 2+ hours of time it took the Kinko's guy and myself (mostly him) to coax a printable copy of my log out of my LBPro software. Now, if I have to add pages on, or I want to reprint my whole logbook, it'll be easy.


It's just like learning to hover. After about 8 hours or so, you suddenly get it, and you wondered why it seemed so hard on your last flight.


Good luck to you!


Cliff
YIP

PS-I just brought my printed logbook into my NetJets interivew. They reviewed it for quite a while and said nothing-asked no questions about it. My logbook exactly matched my resume and NJA update form, thanks to it being an electronic logbook-it was easy to look up and compile the data for the time grid update.

dwatkin235

Thanks for this extremely helpful post!

Thenigh

Just for info if anyone is still looking I used these guys and was very happy with the product.

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bcrosier

The only thing I'll add to printing LBP - I use a utility called "Cute PDF writer" to print the whole thing to a PDF file, then have the printer print the needed pages from that. Since it's a PDF, what you see is what you get.