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New Article – Self-Made Photo Books with Dual Coated Papers
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AuthorTopic: New Article – Self-Made Photo Books with Dual Coated Papers Read 750 Times
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New Article Announcements & Discussionson: January 14, 2020 at 5:43 pm
Mark Segal is backed with a new article about publishing inkjet books using duo coated surface paper. As usual, Mark goes into great detail about the papers available and especially helpful how to feed the paper in the printer to make sure the book prints properly.
You can find the article here – https://photopxl.com/self-made-photo-books-with-dual-coated-papers/
Kevin Raber
Owner and Publisher of photoPXLRe: New Article – Self-Made Photo Books with Dual Coated PapersReply #1 on: January 14, 2020 at 10:10 pmI have gone down this rabbit hole as well, with a lower ambition. I’m not going to sell my photos, but I wanted some alternative ways to organize them, display them, and share them with family. I am in an early stage of the project, but can add a few thoughts that hopefully will be of interest.
The direction of the grain in the paper is important when folding the paper. Paper will fold more easily when folded parallel to the grain direction. The two Red River papers you mentioned are sold with a GS (grain parallel to the short edge) and GL (parallel to the long edge). GS and GL are available in Letter, 11×17 and 13×19 paper sizes.
Brooks Jensen develop a folio method for groups of prints that should be viewed as a set. Folio covers can be found at http://www.danecreekfolios.com. The covers are archival card stock that are scored for folding. A tab and slot are cut to hold the cover together when closed. There is a window on the front to present a title and a mat board for stiffness. The prints are loose and can be printed on your paper of choice with a title page, colophon or whatever else you like to include in text. They hold about 10-12 sheets of heavy paper.
I have been trying to create a small booklet of photos. About 8 pages, plus a cover. I decided to try using Affinity Publisher since has all the features i need for my simple project and automatically lays out the book for printing as a booklet. That is, it orders the paper for printing and puts the front and back in the right order. Unfortunately, documentation is weak and i am having trouble with how they implemented the printer drivers. (I posted in another forum looking for more documentation on the Epson driver for the Mac – its a long story).
Once I get a satisfactory print out, I plan to hand bind it by simply stitching it together using basic bookbinding techniques. If that is successful, i am going to try more bookbinding techniques and see what is the best.
Obviously, this is not commercially viable, so i cannot add any insight to the market for your approach. I am delighted to see any scrap of advice on printing. Thank you for the insightful and useful article.
Re: New Article – Self-Made Photo Books with Dual Coated PapersReply #2 on: January 14, 2020 at 10:29 pmLots more printing topics coming over the coming months. In the meantime, if you want to make your own photo books look at these links.
https://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/digital-fineart/protect-authenticate/inkjet-photo-albums.html
They also made these really cal tin photo portfolios in 4×6 and 5×7. I reported on all these years ago on that other site. Maybe Mark can jump in on this. In the meantime, we will reconnect with Hahnemuhle and do some product reviews of some of their cool stuff. We are also working on printing workshops. Things are coming together on this, it should be pretty cool.
Kevin Raber
Owner and Publisher of photoPXLRe: New Article – Self-Made Photo Books with Dual Coated PapersReply #3 on: January 15, 2020 at 10:56 amI have gone down this rabbit hole as well, …………
Obviously, this is not commercially viable, so i cannot add any insight to the market for your approach. I am delighted to see any scrap of advice on printing. Thank you for the insightful and useful article.
Well, let me suggest there is no rabbit hole here. A rabbit hole is an endless foray in darkness with no out. My findings to date clearly delineate the merits and problems with this idea, the upshot being the uncertainty about the market, which is a non-issue considering there is no inventory risk in producing a custom made-on-demand product.
Talking about the market, I don’t think it’s at all obvious this is not commercially viable. This would be determined case by case. Given the absence of inventory risk one is essentially talking about the investment of some time and effort and the production of a prototype to give it a try. Every copy one sells should include a profit margin to remunerate the effort. Whether that margin is enough to compensate for the alternative value of the time consumed would vary from person to person. And I should add, some of this stuff wouldn’t even be produced for commercial purposes, but to serve other objectives, such as gifts, donations, civic contributions to enhancing appreciation of an artistic undertaking, name recognition and reputation-building, etc.
Re: New Article – Self-Made Photo Books with Dual Coated PapersReply #4 on: January 15, 2020 at 1:32 pmHi Mark, I enjoyed reading this article. (actually all your articles)
I have been making my own photo books for years and I’d like to add a few ideas. I start by using the book module in LR, using the appropriate layout template. I then print a jpeg version of the finished book to my desk top. I then import the Jpeg book back into Lightroom and in the print module I create a left and right hand page master template offsetting live area 1/2” to allow for binding. As each page is printed I make a “saved print” of the page for any future printing. Using the print module the dimensions of the book are not an issue as the final size is determined at printing.
For Binding
I mostly use 330gsm fine art paper for covers. I have a machine to create the creased spine and a machine that melts the resin stick I put in the spine that holds it all together.
For hardcover books I use blanks that I purchase on the net and when appropriate I place a print on the cover using industrial strength 2 sided tape .
I have used Chicago screws as well but have gotten away from that method.
Red River papers are my choice for glossy and Hahnemuhle for matte books.
For printing I use an Epson P800.i was concerned that going into LR with raw files and then printing from the JPEG I created there would be a noticeable loss of quality. I have made tests comparing an image printed both ways and was very pleased with the results.
i feel that printing your own books adds another dimension to photography that is very satisfying. To me nothing compares to a paper print or a book in your hand.
all the best
allanRe: New Article – Self-Made Photo Books with Dual Coated PapersReply #5 on: January 15, 2020 at 2:13 pmInteresting ideas Allan, thanks. And yes, completely agree, a print or a book of prints are artistic products in their own right.
Re: New Article – Self-Made Photo Books with Dual Coated PapersReply #6 on: January 15, 2020 at 2:15 pmWell, let me suggest there is no rabbit hole here. A rabbit hole is an endless foray in darkness with no out. My findings to date clearly delineate the merits and problems with this idea, the upshot being the uncertainty about the market, which is a non-issue considering there is no inventory risk in producing a custom made-on-demand product.
I apologize if I offended you on my rabbit hole comment. The rabbit hole I am talking about is the one of my own making that I am currently in. I get in over my head and spend a lot of time on something that turns out to be low value. I have always valued your articles and you have responded to other postings (on the other website) of mine with great advice. Your analysis here is another great job, factually analyzed and helpful.
Re: New Article – Self-Made Photo Books with Dual Coated PapersReply #7 on: January 15, 2020 at 2:29 pmHi Robert, thanks – and no I wasn’t the least bit offended – I just wanted to clarify that while the question of commercial viability remains open-ended, we do have a few handles on what’s involved. Very often we don’t know the implications of what we’re getting into until we actually get into it and test concepts – fortunately in this area at pretty low cost in the general scheme of things. Bottom line: none of us should despair about these multi-dimensional experiments when issues turn up we may not have fully appreciated at the outset. The REAL rabbit hole would just be plowing through ignoring the practical implications, but neither of us are doing that. All the best.
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