Having scanned them and then adjusted them in Photoshop to get them as close to the original, this still does not do them justice. I had thought about putting them in a book but it's an expensive way of putting ten pictures together as a series, so I looked at a magazine format which is quite an inexpensive way of printing a collection.
I decided to test the idea out with blurb. I have to say up front I am not a fan of the online print service since they screwed up a wedding book I got involved in some years ago.
Anyway
having down loaded the updated software I set about putting the
magazine together. It was good to see that the standard length was
twenty pages - just right for my ten image project, giving
me just enough space to add a few words of intro and some tec stuff
at the end.
Not
having produced anything book wise for a while, I had forgotten how
involved it is just to get a basic structure together. For instance,
what paper, font, title, how many images to a page the list go's on!
The picture issue was easy to solve – one per page. The font was a
bit more difficult, I wanted the theme to convey a type of note book
look so I chose a font that looked like hand writing and easy to
read.
The
paper was quite easy in that you only had two choices. I plump for
the better quality, I wanted the images to look like the resin coated
paper that the original photographs had been made on. The title took
a lot longer than anticipated and was suggested by the blogs editor.
Now
that all the the bibs and bobs had been ironed out I could save the
templates for the next issue. I expected it to be easy to produce the
next issue but it is not! I maybe missing something in the workflow
from one issue to the next we shall see.
The moment of truth came a week or so later. when a very thin cardboard package arrived. I was a little apprehensive when opening it. I hope this was going to be a lot better than the last package I had from blurb. OK WOW! it has well and truly exceeded my expectations it is a lovely thing to behold the gloss paper complemented the prints so much so they could have been the original photographs. In fact they could be cut out and framed. High praise I know but when it is right it is right - well done Blurb!
Would
I recommend them? NO. A lot more water will have to pass under the
bridge before I even consider it. A good start though.
The
plan was to get one out a month this has not happened. Shortly after this article I was very ill, it took a long time to get passed. I did produce a second volume sometime later.
So
if you are interested in a copy here is the link and here is the link
to the blog post Tenth Floor that this volume is based on.
If you would like a copy of the Magazine click on the link below.
http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/8533877-recall-volume-1
