Deer Meadows neon • click to embiggenA typical issue with some POD printers goes something like this (from Paul McEvoy); I had a book done with Blurb and I have to say that the quality was really awful. Printing wise it was not acceptable to me ... Pictures were very grainy, on files that had no visible grain. There was a color cast issue ... The paper cover they include with the hardcover was extremely cheap looking.

There is absolutely no question that some POD printers are better than others. Some are a whole lot better. Even though they all tend to use the same equipment, the results can vary greatly. As in all things, attention to detail matters. Some POD printers work on the volume principle, some on the quality principle. And, there is almost always a direct relationship between price and quality.

That said, it is worth noting that a reproduction of a picture will never match the original picture. Traditional offset, sheet-fed printers using the best of modern equipment (to include 8-color presses), techniques (stochastic printing), and high quality paper can come very close to matching an original print. Of course, in order to use this printing technique for a moderate sized book, you will be buying a minimum of 1-2,000 books and you should have at least $40-50,000 to burn.

As I have mentioned before, some of the best POD image quality I have seen in my experience is from shutterfly.com (as long as you turn off their ViDPic[?] effect). They are also amongst the lowest cost POD printers. Where they save on their costs is with paper - decent but not the best in class, and cover and binding materials - again, decent but not the best in class.

To be certain, shutterfly.com's paper and cover / binding is very good. I have had only one problem - on one book, the paper on the inside of the front cover bubbled. I returned the book and they replaced it PDQ without any hassle.

In my experience, if I had to use just one POD printer, it would be shutterfly.com. If they upgraded their service with better / more paper choices and better cover / binding materials (for which I'd be happy to pay a premium), I would use shutterfly.com as my only POD printer.

BTW, FYI - my experience with shutterfly.com and sharedink.com is with RGB jpeg images files saved with the Adobe RGB (1998) color profile.

So, when can I expect to see some books?

On the subject of making / designing photo books, much is currently being written on various blogs. None of it seems to be coming from anyone with actual experience in the field of graphic design, so it's not surprising that there is a lot of noise and not much signal, so to speak.

It has been assumed that designing a book, specifically a photo book, is akin to rocket science when, in fact, it's relatively simple to achieve a very satisfactory and pleasing result. In a very real sense, a photo book is one of the easiest design tasks.

The operative rule is simple - keep it simple. A simple layout /design. Simple typefaces.

Unlike the cookbook that I designed (and created the photography),
Keep it simple and 'clean' • click to embiggen which had a host of information and categories, a photo book has one simple purpose - to showcase pictures. Unless you have lots of text that accompanies your pictures, a photo book will traditionally have lots of white space - think of it as white mat board - against which the pictures will work along with simple titles and captions / descriptions.

The front of the book will have a title page, an intro page, and an artist statement. Again, use a simple typeface(s) and lots of white space - don't crowd the edges of the page.

As far as picture arrangement goes,
It's about the pictures • click to embiggenunless you are telling a story that requires a specific story line sequence, just let the pictures flow in a pleasing manner. Use the same 'eye' and sensibility that you used to make your pictures to get to what 'feels' right. This will take a bit of playing around - and remember that it is playing around, not some life-or-death exercise. Make some small low res prints and order and re-order them in a pile and keep shuffling them around until it looks and feels right. Remember, there is no right or wrong here, its your book, your statement - just like they're your pictures.

On the subject of what software to use, with the current state of POD printing, you will be submitting all-in-one jpegs to the printer. Text and pictures will be in a single file, which means that pro-design software like InDesign or Quark are simply not required. The biggest advantage of pro design software is their sophisticated type capabilities and the ability to handle large projects like a book in a single file.

Neither capability is needed for a POD photo book.

In the printing world, type is vector based art as opposed to bitmap images. Since you will will be submitting jpegs, the type will be rasterized to bitmap so there is no advantage to using software that uses vector based graphics. Type/text created on a type layer in Photoshop is as good as it gets in this POD case.

But what about pro software that handles big projects like books? Again you will be uploading single page files to the POD printer and placing them in page order on their site. So again, one of the capabilities of InDesign or Quark is not applicable here.

Photoshop, with its type tool, is the way to go.

FYI, I will answer any questions you may have on the matter at hand. Please ask them on this entry, not in an email, so that everyone may have access the info.

Let's get going.

Conspicuous internment • click to embiggenDespite the age old admonition that says you can't take it with you, during my recent Syracuse cemetery exploration I was reminded that, if you had it, you can still flaunt it after you're gone. And, if you use enough granite or marble, long after you're gone.

You'd think he has a PR agent (he doesn't).

Italy
Turkey
China

And, this week he's in Europe for his solo exhibit opening in London.

Retablos • click to embiggenWhile I was in Syracuse, I visited Light Work, where I viewed the work of DON GREGORIO ANTÓN. Anton is most definitely an artist who uses photography.

From the show description: Don Gregorio Antón creates mystical retablos that look like sacred objects. They are intimately small and sit on stands to be viewed individually. Each retablo is one of a kind. Frida Kahlo described retablos as the truest representation of the people’s art. Also called ex votos, they have been part of Mexico’s tradition since the seventeenth century. They were originally hung behind the altars of Catholic churches, and remain a tradition to this day.

Antón uses the visual language of the retablo to create existential tales of human existence that speak of spiritual searching, suffering, hope and despair, life and death ...
Close views • click to embiggenAntón’s work is likely to provoke a different response in every viewer. The retablos can be appreciated for their mysterious beauty, their haunting narratives, and their intense spirituality. Where we find ourselves in our lives may be where we find ourselves in Antón’s retablos.

The Catholic altar boy in me likes the use of the monstrance and the small prints (translucent images on copper) also take on the appearance of scared objects / religious icons. My only issue with the work was that the narratives where very difficult to read.

Check out the link to the show and let me know what you think.

Oakwood Cemetery - Syracuse, NY • click to embiggenYesterday, I mentioned that, on my recent visit to Syracuse, I went on a hunt in a cemetery for a sculpted German shepherd gravestone that occupies a prominent space in my childhood memory bank.

Limited by time and mud, I was unable to locate the grave marker but I did 'rediscover' another gravestone that I had forgotten - a magnificent polished sphere with rough base sculpted from a single stone. The sphere is literally ringed with many small columns marking other family member's grave.

The nano second that the sphere came into view from a distance, it sent a jolt through my memory bank that was amazingly intense. A flood of additional childhood cemetery walk memories came rushing out - the memories were not very specific but the 'feeling' was a particularly intense experience.

Has anyone else out there had a similar experience - picturing a place from your past that triggered 'feeling(s)' more so than specific memories?

Everson Museum - Syracuse, NY • click to embiggenI'm back in the saddle again from a trip to Syracuse, NY. The trip was the wife's gig - a work-related conference, I was just along for the ride.

The trip's low point - Syracuse, the city, (my birthplace) is mostly a desolate wasteland. If it were not for Syracuse, the University, the place would be totally desolate.

The trip's high points - spending time with the wife, the Everson Museum of Art, Light Work Gallery, and a walk (very muddy) through a cemetery looking for a specific monument - a life-size reclining German shepherd - that has a very vivid stature in my early childhood memories of many of my visits to my grand parent's house. My great-uncle took me on walks in the cemetery with his German shepherd and my mission was to find the German shepherd monument.

POD photo books continued -

Thanks to all who have responded both here and by email. To date, we have 15 volunteers.

There have been many questions concerned mainly with production issues - POD printer quality issues, how-to issues, etc. Over the coming week, I will be addressing all questions - feel free to add more to the pile.

During the interim, check out my POD sources of choice:

1) shutterfly.com - great service, very good and accurate image quality, good paper and cover materials, fast turnaround, and inexpensive (primarily due to many ongoing discount offers). caveat: be certain to turn off their VividPic setting which is default on all images - fortunately, it can be turned off globally within project albums.

2) sharedink.com - great service, extremely accurate image match and quality, many superb paper, end paper, and cover material choices, big book sizes, the option to get a single page press proof before printing, slower turnaround, expensive. be advised: you must request, by email, information on there Photographer Program - a 'hidden from the public' part of their website where all the goodies are found. There is a one-time charge to join the program although you can try it out for a free 30-day trial period.

Neither printer requires you to use their tools - all page creation can be performed on your own computer using Photoshop for full freedom image size / placement and text / type creation.

More to come.