Hubs is about to submit, the uni need 3 copies or something of the thesis. He says he's just going to print them out at home ( we have a big laser printer thingy and about 3 years worth of ink).

But I thought they had to be done more professionally - bound or something??

What's usual with this kind of thing?

Get the thesis printed and bound at staples. You can get it done there and then and you'll find it's much, much cheaper than anything a university print shop can offer (£42 per printed and bound copy @330 pages). Oh, and make sure the left hand margin is wide enough (your hubs probably has already).

The uni regs should state what the grade of paper to be used is and the binding specifications for submission.  For my uni I only have to supply temporary bound copies at submission for example a form of spiral binding. For the final thesis (post viva and corrections etc) then it has to be professionally bound in hardback leather with gold leaf writing etc.  His sup should be able to confirm the requirements aswell. Lucky hubby about to submit!!  Well done to him and to you for adding your support (up)

haha, his sup isn't replying to emails, so it may well be a non-inspected submission. Bit dodgy, but there's nothing he can do.

I found a piece of paper he was given about paper grade etc. I'll go and have a look and see if they'll be happy with spiral bound type or not.

Hi Sneaks.
Congrats to hubs ( and you for coping with hubs ! )
I think it is typical to have them printed and soft bound at Uni... but when i was having mine done someone came in who had printed it themselves and asked to have it soft bound - outcome was the same.
So if you have ink, nice-ish paper etc. Seems a waste to do differently.  Give your Uni print department a ring, they'll be able to help. Or other printers of course.
For info - i had 3 copies, soft bound, 300 pages each, 70 ish with colour - £65.
Regards, Chuff

@ Chuff, £65 each for all 3? That's really good if that's the case. I was robbed when I got mine printed off.

Yeah, in my haste, I forgot to consider whether the uni may have specific requirements for the soft bound copies. Best off check first, but if they don't I found staples the cheapest.

@ W  - I remember asking - "how much?" when he told me the price, i think he thought i was complaining...  I paid asap in case he'd added it up wrongly. Never left a building so quickly !

Can't believe the cost of yours - I must live in a rough area :-)

It's usual at submission for soft bound copies to be accepted. My uni print shop was cheaper than local copy shops (including the Staples price quoted in this thread) so I got them done there.

For final submission after corrections I had to get hard bound copies. We don't have a proper bindery any more at my uni, so I ordered them online/remotely, from somewhere else that would print and nicely hard bind them for me. Then they turned up in the post.

But for the first submission I used the uni print shop. Printing and soft binding was very quick (done within an hour of opening) and very very cheap.

======= Date Modified 03 Mar 2011 00:37:22 =======
If it is a submission that will go to the exteral examiners it will need to be bound professionally.

I used these guys

http://www.thesis-binding.co.uk/

They may be London only though.

They were brilliant. From memory the 3 soft copies of my thesis cost about £80. They also do same day work if you are in a panic and up all night before your submission day like I was; have it in their email inbox by 9am and pick it up after 2.30 that afternoon and ferry to your submission office.

When I picked up the soft copies they gave me a 15% discount voucher for my hardcopies. So I went back there the next week and picked up 2 hard copies which with the discount came to about £60.

The best thing was that if you are at a London university they know all of the required colors, fonts, lettering etc. so you don't have to investigate any of this stuff yourself it is all done when you submit your PDF to them on their website.

BB