OER Print Options for Academic Libraries: Hosting, Bundling, and Simple Print

[Updated October 10, 2026. Originally published August 5, 2026.}

Open educational resources solve the cost problem, but they leave one question open: what do you tell the students who want it in print? Every OER program eventually hears it. A student wants to highlight, annotate, and study away from a screen, and a 300 page PDF isn't something they can print at the library. That instinct is backed by research: many students understand more when they read on paper.

printMe1.com is a US based print on demand service built to answer that question. We make it easy for instructors, librarians, and OER program managers to offer a low cost print option alongside the free digital version, without managing inventory, handling orders, or taking on any cost. The site is designed to be easy to use, whether you're setting up a link or a student is ordering a copy. Below is an overview of the three tools most OER programs use: Hosting, Bundling, and Simple Print.

Why offer a print option at all?

The research behind student print preference is strong and still growing. In a survey of more than 10,000 college students worldwide, 78.8% named print as their preferred format for academic reading, and the preference was strongest for readings longer than about 5 pages. A 2026 analysis of 56 studies found that students understood informational text best on paper, with the biggest gap when they had to scroll through text on a screen, which is how most students read a long PDF.

Offering print isn't a step back from open access. It gives students the free version and an affordable print version, and lets each one choose what works best for how they learn.

For the full research summary, see Reading from Print vs Screens: The 4 Most Surprising Facts from Recent Research.

Hosting

Create a free account, upload an OER PDF once, and get a permanent link you can share anywhere: your LMS, your library guide, a course syllabus, a repository listing, or your campus bookstore. Students order a printed copy directly from that link, with no uploading or file handling on their end. Hosting is free, and print orders are charged at our standard low rates.

Hosting also gives you two options that matter to OER programs:

• Optional approval. You can hold each print order until you approve it, useful for materials meant only for enrolled students.
• Bookstore friendly. Your campus bookstore can order from the same link, so a print copy can be stocked without anyone managing files.
• For OER authors submitting to a repository: when you list your book in an OER repository, add your printMe1.com hosted link as the print option. Many repositories let you include additional formats or links alongside the free PDF, so anyone who finds your book there can order a printed, bound copy in a few clicks, and you never handle a print order yourself. Through our PDF Content Creators Program, you can also earn commission on those print orders, or have it sent to a 501(c)(3) of your choice. Just make that note in your application.

Some examples of hosted OER PDFs:

• Scientific Inquiry in Social Work
• Interpersonal Communication: A Mindful Approach to Relationships
• 2024 Rulebook for Civil Procedure

Full details are in our Hosting Guide.

Bundling

Many courses use more than one OER title, or a book plus separate lab manuals and readings. Bundling combines multiple hosted PDFs into a single printMe1.com link, so students review and order everything for the course in one transaction instead of hunting down each file. All the PDFs in a bundle ship together for one shipping charge.

Bundle example: Smarthistory guides hosted on printMe1.com

More on how it works: Feature update for PDF Hosters: Bundles.

Simple Print

Every order runs through our Simple Print Service, whether a student orders from a hosted link or you need a one-off copy to review.

Ordering takes just a few clicks. Students ordering from a hosted link simply choose a binding and check out, with no file to upload. For a one-off copy, upload your PDF, choose a binding, and check out. No account is needed to order, and there are no quotes or print shop jargon to figure out. You don't need to be a printing expert to use printMe1.com.

Every order runs through our Simple Print Service, whether a student orders from a hosted link or you need a one-off copy to review, pricing is straightforward:

US orders are ready to ship in 2 business days or less, a turnaround we've kept consistently for years, so students never have to choose between fast and affordable. That speed and price come from our own print production process, which is covered by 4 US patents. US shipping starts at $5.99, and multiple PDFs in one order share one shipping charge. We also ship to Canada and the UK, with prices shown at checkout in Canadian dollars and British pounds. Delivery times are estimates, not guarantees, so encourage students to order at least two weeks before they need their copy.

Getting started

printMe1.com is listed in the OER Starter Kit for Program Managers as an option for affordable print access to openly licensed resources.

Most programs start by hosting one or two of their most used titles and adding the link to the course page or library guide. From there, it takes care of itself: students who want print order it, and students who prefer digital keep using the free version.

Questions about hosting, bundling, or pricing? Contact us anytime.

About printMe1.com

printMe1.com is a low cost US based PDF printing service focused entirely on multipage PDFs. We hold 4 US patents on our print on demand features and processes, including PDF hosting and batch ordering, which let us keep printing fast and affordable. Our site is designed to be easy to use for instructors, librarians, and students alike, and US orders are ready to ship in 2 business days or less.