Icore Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

  1. Will you have extended hours?
  2. How much will it cost to print our case at Mr. Copy?
  3. Does my team need an appointment?
  4. How do I register my team?
  5. How long does printing and binding take?
  6. What is your parking policy?
  7. What is the payment policy?

File Creation

  1. We're having issues creating a PDF. Where can we look for help?
  2. What is a print-ready PDF file?
  3. What margins should I use for my document?
  4. What if I do not want margins/ borders?
  5. What is the minimum image resolution we should use?

File Submission

  1. When do I need to submit my case to get it printed?
  2. What do we name our files to submit them?
  3. How do we submit our files by FTP?
  4. Can we submit our files via email?
  5. What if I submit my case to Mr. Copy and within minutes find a mistake and want to resubmit it?

Printing

  1. Can you print the whole case, including sub cases and personal copies, in color?
  2. Do we review the case after it is printed and before you bind it?
  3. What if my team finds errors in our prints?
  4. How do we submit our corrected pages for printing?
  5. Can we print our case on colored paper in color ink?
  6. Can we print on both sides of the page?

Personal Copies

  1. How much will our personal copies cost?
  2. Will our personal copies be in color?
  3. When do we pay for our personal copies?
  4. When will our personal copies be ready?

Will you have extended hours?

Yes. We will be open all night for ICORE.

Accepting files and printing: all night

Binding approved pages: Closed 12am-9am

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How much will it cost to print our case at Mr. Copy?

See here details on our pricing, but the actual cost depends on a number of factors such as paper choices, special pages, or a large number of corrections. Teams interested in saving time and money should pay close attention to the instructions and this FAQ, and carefully read our Best Practices to avoid unnecessary costs.

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Does my team need an appointment?

Mr. Copy does not use an appointment system, but your team does need to register for the ICORE Gold Plan with Mr. Copy. Registered teams may send their files whenever the files are ready to print. We are open 24hrs the night before the case is due.

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How do I register my team?

By looking at our I-CORE brochure and following the directions found there.

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How long does printing and binding take?

Teams using our Gold Plan will have their cases printed in an hour or less, and bound in two hours or less from proof approval. To save the most time, please read our Best Practices.
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What is your parking policy?

Teams are limited to two cars on our lot at any time. This is a requirement to qualify for the SUPER SAVER rate. We are in a restricted parking zone, but on-street parking is allowed after 4:45 every afternoon. Since you're only coming here to pick up and drop off, you shouldn't need more than one.

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What is the payment policy?

Teams must pay on one credit card or one cash transaction. We are not able to split a bill into six parts and accept six credit cards. All charges, including personal copies, must be handled in a single transaction before the case is bound. We are unable to make change for team members. Personal copies must be ordered with your main case and paid for that night.

Teams must register to qualify for the Super Saver rate. Unregistered teams will be charged standard commercial rates.

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We're having issues creating a PDF. Where can we look for help?

We offer a PDF conversion guide here.

Although off-brand PDF creators exist, we strongly recommend using only Adobe Acrobat (the full version, not the freely-downloaded reader). In these cases, you can simply print your document to a PDF file as if you were printing in on paper.

Using the "Save as PDF" function in Word or other Microsoft Office applications does not usually make good print files.

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What is a print-ready PDF file?

When we say "print-ready PDF" what we mean is a complete file that we can simply open and print. For ICORE you should submit five print-ready PDFs: one each for the main ICORE case file and the four subcases. We cannot assemble books out of separate files for ICORE. The only exception is for special pages.
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What margins should I use for my document?

No less than a 1/4-inch (.25 inches) margin on all sides. Our copiers will not print any closer to the edge of the page than 1/4-inch. Also, the binding will punch 1/4-inch into the edge of the paper. For information on borderless printing, please look here.

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What if I do not want margins/ borders?

Ink printed to the edge of the paper is called a bleed. In order to do this your standard 8.5 x 11 pages must be printed on 11 x 17 stock and cut down. Instructions can be found here. If you want to have your pages printed with a bleed, please create a separate PDF with those pages laid out as indicated:

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What is the minimum image resolution we should use?

Clip art and photographs should be at least 300dpi (dots per inch). Images taken from the web are typically 72dpi and will appear blotchy when printed. High quality stock photos are available to purchase through http://www.istockphoto.com/ for about $20. This will get you 3-4 photos.

If you are creating artwork in Adobe Photoshop, set the resolution to at least 300dpi.

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When do I need to submit my case to get it printed?

There is no deadline for printing. We will be here all night for just for ICORE teams. We will not close--although those who submit after 11pm may have to wait until after 9am to pick up their bound copies.

We stay open so that you don't have to rush your work. Take the time you need to make sure your PDFs are correct before you come. Each semester we have one or two teams rush down before they are ready, only to spend agonizing hours trying to fix their problems. Get it right before you send it to us for printing--you have as much time as you need.

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What do we name our files to submit them?

Please name your files using these guidelines. Failure to name your file accurately will result in delays. Please remember that you're submitting five PDFs (one separate file for each book).

Your file names will all start with "Team XXX" where XXX is your team number. If you use improper names your case will take longer to complete. As you might guess, fifty teams submitting files named "Final Case.pdf" is a little difficult to sort through.
Your main case will be: TEAM XXX MAIN
Your subcases will be: TEAM XXX MARKETING , TEAM XXX FINANCE , and so on.
Special Pages: Teams that want bleeds must put these pages in a seperate PDF and name it: TEAM XXX SPECIAL
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How do we submit our files by FTP?

For more detailed instructions, see FTP Instructions.

Send your browser to ftp://68.254.91.94/. If you don't see a folder icon labeled INCOMING you may need to select the View menu and click "Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer." Then it's a simple matter of dragging-and-dropping your PDFs into the INCOMING folder.

Once you're finished, just send an email to icoregold@copysales.com with the subject line TEAM XXX FTP COMPLETE. We'll reply within 10-15 minutes with a time to come and view your files.
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Can we submit our files via email?

Yes, but only if you cannot FTP (see FTP Instructions.)

Our server will handle emails up to 6 megabytes in size. If your case files are under this size you can send them via email if you cannot FTP (see Best Practices for more information). Each email should include your team number in the subject line. It is okay to send multiple emails if needed; just be sure your team number is in each subject line. You should receive an email response from us within 10-15 minutes that your files have arrived. Wait for a confirmation before you come to the store. Be sure your account allows you to send large files!

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What if I submit my case to Mr. Copy and within minutes find a mistake and want to resubmit it?

Do not submit your case until after you have reviewed your PDFs completely (see Best Practices for more information).

Once we receive your files they'll be submitted for printing within minutes or even seconds, and they cannot be stopped. To avoid costly reprints, proofread carefully before you submit your PDFs.

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Can you print the whole case, including sub cases and personal copies, in color?

Yes. All parts (main case, sub-cases, and personal copies) are printed in full color at the standard Gold Plan price.

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Do we review the case after it is printed but before you bind it?

Yes.

After we submit your file to the print queue we will send you an email letting you know when you can review your outputs. You will send one team member to pick up your printed proofs--you will not review them in our store. That team member will bring the actual pages back to wherever your team is working. Once you have completed your review you will return the pages, pay for the project, and submit it for binding. On the night before the ICORE project is due we will remain open all night for file submission and printing.

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What if my team finds errors in our prints?

Correction files should be submitted in the same manner as your case files (email, FTP, etc.) and named TEAM XXX CORRECTIONS. Those files will be printed and you will be notified when your corrected pages are ready. See How do we submit our corrected pages for printing?

Take the time to check ALL of your case before you submit a new file to us. You'll only want to make one extra trip down here to pick up your corrections, so make sure you correct everything.

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How do we submit our corrected pages for printing?

You should submit them in the same way that you submitted your main case.

When errors are found you'll need to correct your original files and make new PDFs. Those new PDFs are then submitted just like your first round of prints. In your email letting us know your second FTP is complete, you'll need to tell us which pages need to be reprinted, by PDF page number (that means the number of the page in the PDF, not necessarily the actual printed page number). Only submit new files for those that need correction. If you don't find any problems with your Finance subcase, for instance, don't send us a new Finance file.

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Can we print our case on colored paper in color ink?

No. All ICORE cases are printed on high-quality white paper. Color paper will not print color images correctly.

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Can we print on both sides of the page?

No. Because of the complexity of ICORE printing, two-sided prints are not available.

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How much will our personal copies cost?

The cost of personal copies is listed on our Pricing Guide.

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Will our personal copies be in color?

Yes, your personal copies will be printed in color just like the main case file you turn in. In fact, it's printed from the same file.

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When do we pay for our personal copies?

Personal copies are paid for on the same transaction as your main case--after your prints are proofed but before they are bound.

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When will our personal copies be ready?

Because we prioritize printing the cases to be turned in before we print personal copies, we will not start printing personal copies until after ICORE is due. We produce them as quickly as possible, and they should be ready no later than 24hrs after ICORE is due--many are available sooner, as they're created.

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Revised: 11/30/09.