Printing – Page 8 – Green Chair Press Blog

But is it Letterpress?

The popularity of scrapbooking has opened up a world of tools and papers that were hard-to-find and expensive just a few years ago. Now there are low-cost manual machines to apply glue (I have one myself — a laminator — that I use for my bookmaking). Similar rotary machines will die cut (mostly pre-made dies, but you can have your own made or there are models that are computer controlled). And now, coming to a craft store near you this fall, is L, “the Letterpress combo kit [that] contains everything you need to begin letterpress printing right away.” In the pictures below, you can see how it works…
But what exactly is “letterpress”? Is it only, as their website explains, “printing words or designs with ink while simultaneously debossing it into a thick, soft paper.” I suppose it is, although I stress in my Etsy listings that my printing work is all done on my vintage 1890s large cranky press. The Lifestyle Craft website doesn’t show an example of the impression you can get from their little machine, or what sort of designs and typefaces they will offer, or how to make and use your own. I’m also sure that registering two colors will be fraught with problems. I’m interested to see a demo in person!

Making a Mini-book, Part VII

Spread from my ballet book This is the seventh (and final) post on my experiment comparing making a print-on-demand mini book with making a similar book by hand.
For my experiment, I made 4 books, all approx. 3.75″x2.5″, using 2 print on demand companies — Lulu and Apple (via iPhoto) — and 2 completely handmade — one using double sided photographic (coated) paper, the other with a non-coated text-weight paper. Is it cheaper and easier to print and assemble an edition of these small books by farming it out to a company like Lulu?
Below is a table comparing the books and production costs.

	cost	paper	construction	lies flat	max pages
Lulu	$5.45	slick/coated	glued	no	100
iPhoto	$6.02	slick/coated	glued	no	20
photo paper	$3.63	matte	sewn	yes	unlimited
text weight	$3.63	matte	sewn	yes	unlimited
Sold on Lulu	$0.00	slick/coated	glued	no	100

NOTES:

For the on-demand books, the cost includes shipping for the minimum number of books (minimum of 3 for iPhoto, 4 for Lulu). For iPhoto, the cost for 3 books with shipping was $18.06, so each book was 18.06/3 or $6.02. For the cost of the handmade books, I included materials and my labor ($25/hour). It takes 30 minutes to print, cut, assemble and sew 4 books There’s a cost savings in labor for me if I make multiple books at a go, since many tasks take practically the same time whether making one book or 4.
Lulu’s site is set up to sell books for publishers. So if I sold on their website, rather than having the books delivered first to my studio, the cost would actually be $0. However this doesn’t work for me for 2 reasons: Etsy, where I sell the majority of my books, doesn’t allow third party fulfillment, so I’d have to buy the books up-front to ship them myself. Second, buyers can’t purchase just one mini-book on Lulu, and I doubt I’d have very many sales of the minimum.
The cost is for a 20 page book. That’s the minimum for Lulu & iPhoto (and the maximum for iPhoto mini-books as well). Each extra page is $.25 on Lulu, less for the handmade books.

There’s one last criteria for my experiment: I showed the 4 books to several people and asked their opinion of the paper, construction, and feel. Each said they liked the iPhoto book best — the slick coated paper made the colors pop and they expected that sort of paper in a picture book, rather than a paper that might be in a book of text only. Lulu’s book was everyone’s second choice, but it was obvious to all that it was inferiorly made. The fact that the books didn’t lie flat concerned only me!
What’s next? Sadly the iPhoto book is too expensive to produce and then resell — I doubt I can get more than $10 per copy and the markup really should be 50% to cover my costs to market, store, etc. the book. It’s too bad the Lulu books didn’t work out, as they are on the cusp of being affordable. I may make a few handmade ones using photo paper and list them in my Etsy store and see how they do. I’m also going to think about what sort of larger dimension book I could make using Blurb — my current work doesn’t really suit their photo book format, but it’s an interesting challenge.

Making a Mini-book, Part VI

Spread from my ballet book This is the sixth post on my experiment comparing making a print-on-demand mini book with making a similar book by hand.
After my disappointment with the books I made on Lulu, I opened the box containing my iPhoto-made books nervously. Happily they were an order of magnitude better! You have to buy 3 iPhoto books at a time ($11.97 + shipping). Each book came wrapped in a resealable cellophane sleeve. There’s no Apple or iPhoto logo on the back (although the back cover and inside cover pages are all white — doesn’t seem to be a way to put your artwork on those pages, unfortunately).
The big problem is that the book doesn’t really lie flat — the first half of the book has an approx. 1/4″ gutter, while the back half pretty much lies completely open. Since I didn’t take the gutter into account in my artwork, the immediate visual result is that the text, which should be centered on the page, isn’t quite. So if I’m going to print these again, I’d re-do my images to compensate. It also looks like the entire book should have the gutter, not just the front half. With only 3 books as a sample, I can’t tell whether this is a flaw in the production of only my books or all mini-books.

Making a Mini-book: Part V

Single signature that won’t close This is the fifth post on my experiment comparing making a print-on-demand mini book with making a similar book by hand.
The book I made using Lulu arrived the other day (this post relates my experience laying out the book). You can’t just buy one mini-book, you have to buy them in multiples of 4 (or $15.96 + shipping). They arrived in a ridiculously large box looking very forlorn.
And right they should look unhappy, as I was too when I opened the books. If you remember I was confused by the Lulu layout software and what the preview was showing me. After I ordered my books, a Lulu staff member answered the forum queries about this, confirming my assumption: “This is where you can expect the printer to trim the page. For this reason you should not put important text and/or images in this area [outside the rectangle].”
The image to the left is the Lulu preview with a dotted rectangle — anything outside that area might be trimmed. So I kept the parts of my images that mattered inside the rectangle. A photo of the book that arrived is below the preview — they trimmed inside this “safe area.”
And, unfortunately, that’s not all. The spreads are badly folded, so that the left-hand page is not completely pink, but has a white stripe (different width on every page) at the gutter. And the Lulu logo is emblazoned on the back of the book — can’t remove it or put my own logo. Finally, the preview that is available after the book is “published” — authors use this to promote their books, so prospective buyers can see inside the book before buying — shows the trim as about 1/4″ above and below the dotted rectangle. WYSIWYG it isn’t.
The books arrived last Friday (Jul 17) and over the weekend I submitted their complaint form stating the printing had gone awry, including pictures of the bad trim and gutter problems. After 5 days, I haven’t heard a peep back.
My conclusion: lousy production, lousy customer service, bad product. I won’t be making another book with them.

Making a Mini-book: Part IV (making a 2 signature pamphlet)

This is the fourth post on my experiment comparing making a print-on-demand mini book with making a similar book by hand.
In previous installments, I’ve written about my experience using print-on-demand services to make a small book. I’m comparing those resulting books with ones I make myself. Today I’m writing about one of the books I made myself, printed on double-sided coated paper specifically for ink jet printers (Epson Double-sided Matte Paper).
My original plan was to fold the pages into a single signature or section and sew it with a pamphlet stitch (by punching 3 holes in the middle of the spine and using a needle and thread — there’s instructions for doing this here). But the paper is too thick, resulting in a book that won’t close (see the photo above). Then I remembered a trick I’d learned for making a 2 signature book. I can’t find this trick anywhere on the web, so here it is in short form. I’ve got pictures and more explanation here.

1. Fold the 2 signatures, A and B.

2. Reverse the fold in B.

3. Put A inside of B.

4. Punch holes and sew as if it’s a single signature book.

5. Fold the front pages of B toward the back of the book.

6. Bone down the book and you’re done.

Making a Mini-book: Part III

This is the third post on my experiment comparing making a print-on-demand mini book with making a similar book by hand.
In my last installment, I tried making a little book on Lulu but found the experience pretty frustrating. Despite misgivings, I’ve ordered the Lulu book but won’t enter it in their contest until I see the real thing.
In the meantime I’ve also made the same book using iPhoto. From the samples shown on their website (see images to the right), these books meet my requirement of a full bleed and appear to lie flat when open. They are 3.5 x 2.6 inches, 20 pages, $3.99 each (but must be bought in 3-packs for $11.97 + shipping).
Since I had all the images for my book already made, this task was dead simple. In 30 minutes I had put the book together, made a movie to look at the pages (unnecessary but fun none-the-less), and ordered the book. Below is a screen snap of the iPhoto window, with the spreads at the top and the spread I am working on in the larger window. I like the larger spread display, as I really get the feeling I’m looking at a book…
While I’m waiting for the books to arrive, I’ll be working on making the handmade versions. More in a couple days about that…

iPhoto picture book layout