Anyone have the book?

Got the book, love it.

Hi Joe,

I bought the book just before it was released, and it's definitely worth the money.  I would have liked to see a bit more on handlaying track, but other than that, there isn't anything that you haven't covered in detail.  I can already see several things that I need to do differently when I start my next module, which is going to be an engine terminal.

Right now, I'm finishing up a handlaid yard module (first thing I've done in over 20 years since a small trial "Timesaver" module back in '90) and it's been slow going but fun.  Looking forward to getting the last two switches cleaned up and then installing 9 Tortoises and hooking up the wiring harnesses.

I've got the Model Railroader collection on DVD, but your book has just about everything I need for a reference in one place.  Thanks, and looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.

Janet

Doesn't print well (not for me anyway)

Tried to print a few pages just to see how it would show up (thinking of printing selective parts later since I don't have a computer in my train room) and got stuff that looked like this (scanned my printed page from Portrait format):

Save as jpgs, then print those

Use Adobe Reader to save the pages as JPG and then print those. However, if you plan to print out the whole book, then you're looking at a huge expense in paper and ink jet ink.

Typical per page price for an ink jet page on a book like this loaded with full color illustrations is about 25 cents per page. 104 pages, plus the cost of the eBook will cost you ~$37 to print! The paperback intro price plus shipping will be about $30 and you'll be much happier with the quality.

Just wanted to print a few pages/tables, not the whole thing

and I don't have this problem with other PDFs (no need to convert them to JPG).  This problem appears to be unique to the book.  Running Win10 x64, latest free Adobe reader, HP Officejet Pro 8600 printer (FYI).  Will try the JPG trick

Heavily illustrated book

Yes, but I bet most of those PDFs are NOT loaded with almost more full color images and diagrams than text. Text-heavy PDFs will print fine, but for this book with all these illustrations, I used all kinds of additional products to make the diagrams and images. The final pasteup is in InDesign, which is Adobe's product and you would think the PDF would be fine. However, this uses Adobe's interactive PDF export, which is mainly intended for books viewed on a screen, not printed.

By exporting to JPG you flatten the pages to how they look on the screen, which should be what you want. When you export, set the export options and select 300 DPI to get the best quality JPG for printing.

Printing from the PDF

I printed the page MikeM showed above directly from the PDF file. Was an excellent print. Win10 64, Epson 835 printer on wireless network. In YEARS of printing complex documents (maps, map books) from PDFs, I've never had a major problem. I suspect a configuration or driver issue.

Makes the print version sound

Makes the print version sound like a real deal.

Great book

I bought the pre-release of all of the Run Like a Dream books and so have seen the progress of the book as Joe was working in it. Now it's finished and I'm reading through it again. It is a great reference. As Joe says, wish I would have had this info when I was laying my track work. I may go back and redo certain sections that bug me.

Looking forward to the other two books in the series. 

You've got to love Microsoft...and maybe Adobe...or HP

I've checked Win10 x64, my system is up-to-date; HP shows no new drivers for my printer.  I have repeated print attempts several times and get exactly the same messed up print each time.  So, I thought, how about going back and doing a test print of the "Guide to acrylic painting"; that, too, messed up the cover page, differently than the bad results with the Dream book but with the same exact bad result from attempt to attempt.  This was truly odd since I'd printed the complete Guide successfully some weeks ago.

For grins I downloaded and installed a free trial copy of PDF Pro10 and tried printing the same pages from each book--no problems, they printed fine.  Went back to Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and wound up down the rabbit hole again...  Ran a print head cleaning, that output was fine but the rabbit was still down there...

Tried a different PDF (80/20 catalog), Adobe printed full pages fine.

I'm in love with both Joe's books and am now thinking that ordering printed copies for the train room may be the best way to go.  My nerves are worth more money than those items would cost! 

Yes but.....!!!

Yes, downloaded last weekend but like everything online, it goes in my queue of books to read as and when! At the moment I've finished track laying (and most of the layout actually), but will read it before I start the next layout, because as each layout gets taken down and a new one arises, I make mistakes (but don't we all?). 

I suppose the difference with an online book, as opposed to a hard copy, is that it isn't so easy to just flick through it and put it down, although I remember being taught at college (many years ago!) how to fast scan the more important bits!

Great Informative Book

I purchased the hard copy of the book yesterday and downloaded the pdf version last night and had a quick flip through. Needless to say, I have learnt a lot so far! Very detailed and informative.

The reason why I purchased the hard copy is that I like to make notes in books and I still like the tactile feel of reading a hard copy. I could easily print the book out but I like the feel of a book that that bound. Although my job is in IT I still like the "old fashioned ways" of books. I would be one of those people who would subscribe to a hard copy of the month mag as well as well.  

Thanks for a job well done.

Printing PDF pages - workaround

Okay, it appears thanks to Adobe, the latest version of Adobe Reader on Windows systems has produced glitchy printing of our eBooks. The workaround is to convert the pages to JPGs for printing. Here's how to do that. 

1. Open the book in Adobe Reader DC. Navigate to the page you want to print.
2. Select Print.
3. In the printer drop-down, select Send to OneNote instead of your normal printer.
4. In the pages-to-print area, enter the page numbers you want to print.
5. Once the page(s) are inserted into OneNote, select the page image(s) in OneNote and choose Print.

NOTE: These steps assume you want to print out a few pages. Printing the entire eBook is very expensive, about 25 cents per page using a standard ink jet (over $37 for all 104 pages, including the eBook cost). If you want the full book in hardcopy, it's actually cheaper to just order the paperback. And the quality is better too!

very impressive, great value

I just ordered a printed copy and am very pleased to receive the ecopy as a bonus. I've been combing through it for the past hour and am totally thrilled. Several aspects of the book are noteworthy:

- there is a LOT of information here, including both hard data (like a comparison of actual dimensional variability and cost for a variety of roadbed materials) and wise distillation of accumulated anecdotal experience

- although I have encountered many of the tips and techniques described elsewhere, having so much related material pulled together saves me a huge amount of time digging around in a variety of sources

- there's also a lot I haven't seen before, and not just ideas but practical methods that have been tried and refined 

- the book is copiously and effectively illustrated. Excellent photos, but clear diagrams wherever they convey a point better than a photo. A lot of really good judgment about how best to present particular information. (a nit: diagrams 6-5 and 6-6 have call-outs that somewhat confuse the location of the wheel-to-rail contact points which are directly beneath the axle)

- it's not just a huge pile of random information, the author has done an extraordinary job of shaping it and focusing it on the specific goal of reliable operation, with ease of installation and economy given high importance

I have a small number of books that are dog-eared from decades of frequent use. This one may prove to be one of those. Thanks Joe,

Jeff Allen

Printing PDF pages using OneNote

Just an FYI, I'm running MS Office 2007 (hey, it's paid for and I own it) and its OneNote printer driver is not compatible with a 64-bit OS.  This solution would require an upgrade to Office as far as I can tell so it would be much cheaper to order a printed copy from Joe.  Should anyone have another PDF tool that will work please mention it here.

Also try CutePDF

Also try CutePDF Writer: http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp

It's a free tool and it installs as if it was a printer. Select it as your printer, print to it, then look at the generated CutePDF PDF file to see if it came across correctly. Then print pages from that PDF in Adobe Reader DC, since they've now been flattened.

Got it

I have the digital version right on my iPad in the iBooks app.  Given where I'm at currently with construction, Chapter 3 alone was worth the cover price: spline roadbed, clearances, track spacing on curves and more.  It's full of the kind of details that are critical while building, but nothing I'd ever commit to memory (or trust that I'd remembered it correctly!).  

Some of the material was covered in the Siskiyou Line video series, but there's plenty of new information in this chapter (and throughout the book). One quick example: I have an app on my phone that I'd never considered using in the layout room. It was free and more accurate than the tool I'd normally use.  Still, until reading in Chapter 3, I never thought to do this:

Again...just one simple lightbulb moment!

I'd say download the book and consider it another hobby tool.  It costs less than an NMRA standards gauge but has way more information.

Here's another suggestion

In Googling this problem, it appears a recent release of Windows 10 patches has caused the problem. In my Googling I found out you can turn on "print as image" in Acrobat DC and it clears up the problem, as does running Acrobat DC in Safe Mode (but that takes a special reboot).

As one of the "many online"...

I truly have to tip my hat to Joe.  Finding this workaround is just one of many examples of how he's stepped up to the plate in trying to help folks having issues with MRH of any kind and he deserves our kudos for outstanding work.  (I know this is an election season but the preceding was an unpaid/unsolicited statement!)