Talk:Tag:shop=printing

I think we should use this tag for printing plants (German: Druckerei). The difference to a copyshop is:

• A copyshop serves end customers. One can print single documents or copy some sheets of paper. This is typically done with laser printers or office copiers.
• A printing plant serves mainly business customers who want to print a lot of copies, and in high quality. They use more professional techniques like serigraphy.

--Tanjeff (talk) 20:32, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

• Agree with the distinction -- but processes like offset litho or foil blocking would also come under printing rather than copyshop. In many cases a printing company might also be designing rather than just reproducing. But we should also consider if craft=printing would be more appropriate as these businesses would always be producing goods to order -- unlike a shop, which generally sells from stock.

--harg 10:32, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Also, the tag has been used for shops selling parts or services related to printers rather than printed documents. This might actually make sense, since there is no other tag covering that (except maybe shop=electronics, which doesn't really match. --Rauferd (talk) 13:04, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

printing plants should not get the shop tag. They should be tagged as man_made=works and maybe some suitable product=* value like "printing_service" or even just "printing" (as opposed to "printers" or "printing_machinery" or sth. like that for those producing the machines, e.g. Heidelberger to name a famous brand).

Clearly, for printer parts a tag like shop=printer_parts would make more sense, although I don't know if they even exist (usually people just trash their broken printer, and the parts for industrial grade machines aren't sold in "shops"). For shops selling primarily printers (like digital, office printers), a tag like shop=printers should make sense. I don't think we have to differentiate these from places that sell big, industrial grade machines, because again, those are not sold in "shops".

For reference, there is also a discussion about this on the tagging mailing list and part 2. --Dieterdreist (talk) 10:26, 28 February 2018 (UTC)

I think shop=printing could be used for small places offering traditional printing (analogue printing, e.g. relief printing) as a service (bigger facilities will get the man_made works tag), but I wouldn't use "printing" as value for craft. Craft is about a profession, and the tag should IMHO be craft=printer. Someone who repairs printing machines would be craft=printer_repair (or printer_service, or printing_machine_service, but not printing_service). Admittedly, using the term "printer" can create ambiguities, because it can mean either a person, or a machine. --Dieterdreist (talk) 10:33, 28 February 2018 (UTC)

For a short time, there was a clarification of the difference on the description page. But jeisenbe made it worse again. That's not a very constructive way to move forward (except he would enter a dicussion about probable details). rtfm Rtfm (talk) 12:58, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

Usage of shop=printer

I used this tag for a small shop, operated by one person, which not offers photocopying services, but prepress, press, and printing services. The press jobs are done elsewhere (not in the building or near around), so it is not a craft=printer. Fabi2 (talk) 14:55, 26 November 2022 (UTC)