Getting Ready to Write!

Writing scripture along with us doesn’t require anyone to spend any money. You can use your own paper (a spiral, a notebook, typing paper, construction paper, scrap paper, your iPad…whatever you have!) But for those of you who would like to print out a copy of the “Write On My Heart Every Word” for 2022, the following will give detailed instructions for uploading and printing through Office Depot. You could also print at another office store or your local printing shop, and some people have asked their church offices to print the file (it would be good to offer to contribute to the paper/printing fund) and then they use a hole punch and keep their papers organized in a binder. I have a friend who prints a week or a month at a time, and stores them in a binder. There are a lot of options!

You know how, when you visit a recipe blog, you have to scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll to finally get to the recipe? Ugh. I won’t make you do that. So here are two options. If you just want the very basic instructions, see the image below. But if you need a little more detail, scroll past to my more detailed instructions underneath.

Would you prefer for me to talk you through the process? Here you go:

Go to officedepot.com, and in the upper left corner you’ll find the “Menu” – click on menu and then click on “services”. Another menu will pop up – choose “print and copy” and then “document printing”. This brings up a new page, and today (this will likely change soon) there is an online coupon for $25 off any $100 printing order. If you are printing more than one book, you may want to use this coupon and can apply it here; however, there may be a better coupon that you find somewhere else. You can only use one coupon, so at the end of the order process, when you get to your “cart”, you can decide which you’d like to use.

Next, a little further down the page, click on “manuals” and on the page that comes up next, click on “customize”. Here is where you will upload the scripture writing file that you downloaded from my blog. Here’s a picture that might help: when “upload your file” pops up, choose “my device”. (I know, I know…if you aren’t very tech savvy, this is all a little confusing. I barely understand it myself! And by the way, my kids always laugh at the number of internet tabs I keep open. But it works for me!)

When you choose “my device”, next you will have to find the “SW 2022” file on your computer. Most likely it will be in your “downloads” folder but it may have landed somewhere else…if you have a Mac, you can search for it via the Finder or the spotlight search tool. If you don’t have a Mac, you’ll have to find a PC person to help!

When you find the file, click “upload”. Then, this will come up:

Ignore the “your print job exceeds…” and scroll down below that and title your project. I called mine “SW 2022 Full File”. You can also choose the number of books that you’ll be printing and you can see the discount that will apply with multiple books.

Under “paper sizes” – you can select “letter” although it’s probably the only option. Below that, choose “paper types” and with the pop out menu, scroll to “white” and then – I suggest you choose the slightly more expensive 28 pound paper, because it’s just so much nicer and smoother to write on. However, you obviously don’t have to do that. As you continue scrolling down, under “fit paper” choose “keep size” and then choose “black and white” and you’ll see the price go down dramatically. Then, under “sides”, choose double-sided and the price will go down again. Leave orientation at “portrait”.

Next, scroll back up and click on “Finishing options” – see photo below.

Under “binding types” choose spiral. Then under “front cover”, with the pop out menu that follows choose “decorative” and then “clear” – this will give it a clear plastic cover that only costs 29 cents and will show the pretty picture underneath. Next, choose back cover – it may already have “black regency” chosen and I would just leave it at that. It’s a sturdy plastic back cover that will keep your book clean over the next year. Then, I would leave the perforation, lamination and shrink wrap alone or say “none” on each of those.

Then, scroll back up to “Advanced Options” and click on it. You can leave “remove pages” and “add slipsheet” and “index tabs” alone – we don’t need any of those options. But click on “customize pages and fill” and in the pop out menu that comes up, in the box that says “pages”, type “1” (for page 1.) This means that you are customizing page one – the cover. Under paper types, click on “white” but then scroll down to “gloss text premium white 100 lb” (see photo.) It costs 38 cents but I think it’s worth it.

Then choose “full color” and “single sided”, and leave the lamination and perforation options alone. All of that is optional and not all that important – but this is what will give you the pretty, full-color picture on the front cover. It’s helpful to have the protective plastic sheets on the front and back, and it’s nice to have the picture in color.

There is a space where you can type in special instructions. I always ask that they pay attention to my customizations!

Then you can add to the cart. The price is still quite high, but when you get to your cart, you can add any coupons or discounts that you have, or your price may be a good bit lower if you get together with other women and print together.

I hope this helps! I’m excited to get started on 2022!