Printing RGB B&W with lulu.com (Digital Print on Demand)

[Brian Ellis]

There's an article about different publishers here http://www.naturephotographers.net/a.../mh0405-1.html
I don't know how current it is.

[Frank Petronio]

Yeah, I know that guy. The printer he likes looks good but they require a $$$ membership and they only print on type of (IMHO ugly) cover. Maybe I will try them down the road tho.

[Ed Richards]

Mypublisher looks good, but the books are expensive and there is no volume discount. I am not sure that you could make money selling them because I doubt that they are good enough to sell for $100 plus you would need to get to get enough markup to cover the cost of the book and sales costs.

[John Flavell]

A work flow I've been wondering about is 1) design a book using available software, 2) print the black and white images off my printer and 3) find a decent outfit for the binding.

I realize it's not as fast, but the prints in a small book would hold the same quality I put on the wall. Anyone have any thoughts on this method? Are there book binders out there anyone knows about?

[Frank Petronio]

Art bookbinders are in every major city, and they will bind almost anything. I've worked with several. Since you will spend money with these folks, people will go the next step and start using expensive, alternative materials...

http://www.virginiawestray.com/
http://www.meyerbookbinding.com/

But at some point, you realize that fingerprints touching the wonderful inkjet you painstakingly printed, so you investigate interleaving papers (which are an awful PITA) or putting your images into sleeves. In which case you want a custom portfolio:

http://www.brewer-cantelmo.com/
http://www.lost-luggage.com/

There are hundreds/thousands of bookbinders and portfolio makers out there.

[paulr]

Be prepared to spend some money for any custom binding. I'm working with a hand binder on a small edition artist book project ... price of binding will be over $200 per book. Not at all the same market as lulu.com.

[darr]

Frank,

I just ordered your book at Lulu. I look forward to seeing it.

Best,
Darr

[Frank Petronio]

WOW, thanks. I guess it is a good way to see what the repro is like but I'm honored all the same!

Let me know if they goof it up too.

[Gordon Moat]

I got to see another sample book done through MyPublisher, though this was all colour images. One thing I did notice was that the red and yellow tones were reproduced better than other samples I have off digital presses. That doesn't answer the original question about B/W reproduction quality, but for those putting together a small sample portfolio it might not be a bad choice. Downside is, as often found with these, it is simply too small for some art directors and reviewers. The paper brightness is nice and the cutting and binding are well done, though this was not a book that would lay flat when viewing. Anyway, might be a good leave behind item, or useful for making small sampler books.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio

[Frank Petronio]

Just got a couple of books back and they are a disaster. Washed out and blue. I think I will try again one more time, but if they aren't consistent then I will try elsewhere.

Only ordering one at a time until my confidence has reason to improve.