Designing and printing Coffee Table Books in iPhoto

On Aug 31, 2006, at 3:12 PM, Neil Bartlett wrote:

> I have been asked to assist a mac user who is into photography and
> has designed a number of coffee table books in iPhoto, that he
> wants to have published. The problem with his use of iPhoto is the
> colour quality of the output. He has tried printing on a photo
> quality printer but the blacks are all very dark etc.

Has he tried working on a computer that is calibrated to the
particular printer, and also experimenting with different kinds of
paper?

>
> He has been told by one printer that he should just give them the
> photos and they will do the layout

I wouldn't do this unless they have a dedicated layout artist or
freelancers they recommend. And if they are using freelancers, your
friend can probably find someone really good that is cheaper.

A bad layout can ruin even the best photos, even with the most expert
printing and the best paper.


> and colour correct the files in Photoshop to match their printer
> output. This does not suit him as he does not want to waste all his
> work setting up the book's,

He will not be wasting his time, InDesign and Quark offer a level of
control and accuracy that iPhoto does not, and if he's going to have
a book professionally printed and bound, the pagination features will
be necessary.

I'm also guessing that if he's got contrasty areas, he's going to
need trapping too, which you'll need someone expert in trapping to do.

> nor does he want to start all over again in InDesign, and he does
> not want to lose control of his layout to other people's talent.

If he is working with professionals, they will work with him through
the process. And at least 99% of the time, using InDesign or Quark
will pay off in printer accuracy in the end.

I've never used iPhoto, but I know it is not a professional page
layout application, and as such, will probably not have the
pagination capabilities, and as books are usually printed in
signatures in multiples of 8, then trimmed and bound, he will need to
have the book imposed, trim sizes set, have color keys for the pages,
etc., etc. And this is not just because he wants them to look right;
unless the printer specs are followed to the letter, then he won't be
able to demand a make good if anything goes wrong.

>
> This is not a case of vanity publishing; he has talent and has
> arranged a number of sponsors ready to make this a proper business
> venture.

Ideally, he should have a publisher lined up as well. When it comes
to book publishing, esp. coffee table books, distribution and PR are
just as important and the printing. Has he tried to line one up, or
an agent?

>
> My thoughts are that he is asking too much of iPhoto and that he
> needs a more professional work flow to complete the project.

You are right.

> It is complicated by his attitude to the technology. He has learnt
> iPhoto already, but does not have any desire to become a computer
> expert and he needs hand-holding even at this level. I might add
> that that is his choice rather than a lack of mental acuity.

Then he needs to work with people who do - no ifs, ands or buts.

>
> I am not an iPhoto user, so am having to learn every thing I assist
> him with.
>
> I am sure their must be a publisher of coffee table books, or a
> photographer who has had such a book published, who can offer me
> some advice to pass on? Being New Zealand we don't have a lot of
> local printers with this experience, that we have been able to
> find, although it is quite likely one is hiding grin just around
> the corner.

He will need a designer and a printer. The designer will know how to
handle the typography, page and book composition, as well as how to
adhere to printer specs.

If a book isn't printed properly, then the chances are it will never
sell.

Good luck,

Marilyn

I have designed and published dozens of high-end photography and art books and I fear there are no simple answers to your photographer's question.

If he has a book that is commercially viable, he should find a conventional publisher. If he can't find a conventional publisher, chances are the book is not commercially viable. If not commercially viable but he wants a high-end book for retail sale anyway, and wants a book professionally designed and manufactured in sufficient quantity to allow a unit price low enough to be competitive on retail price, then he should be prepared to spend $30,000 and up. Possibly way up.

But if he just wants a nice book to showcase his photos, I imagine iPhoto's publishing link, or lulu.com, or blurb.com would do a nice job. The repro quality of the photos will be significantly higher than he can produce on an inkjet or desktop laser printer. The unit cost will be astronomical, but for a few copies or even a few dozen copies, the total cost will be a pittance compared to professional design and high-end book manufacturing.

Whatever he does, he *should not* just go to a local printer of business cards, brochures, catalogs, office supplies, etc. Just because they have a color press doesn't mean they can design, print, and bind books.

Respectfully, Randall Williams NewSouth Books Montgomery, Alabama

At 12:12 PM -0700 2006/08/31, Neil Bartlett wrote:
>My thoughts are that he is asking too much of iPhoto and that he
>needs a more professional work flow to complete the project. It is
>complicated by his attitude to the technology. He has learnt iPhoto
>already, but does not have any desire to become a computer expert
>and he needs hand-holding even at this level. I might add that that
>is his choice rather than a lack of mental acuity.

Neil,

        I don't think anybody is going to be able to work
professionally with iPhoto, because nobody has professional-level
experience with it (at least on the printing end). If he prints to a
PDF (which appears to be what really gets uploaded to Apple's
printing partners when you order a book online), a high-end print
shop might be able to work with the PDFs or PostScript output.
Otherwise I just don't see the iPhoto output being 'fixable', if he
doesn't like what he gets by default or with basic tweaking.


                                                Chris
--
Chris Pepper: <http://www.reppep.com/~pepper/>
                             <http://www.reppep.com/weblog/pepper/>
Rockefeller University: <http://www.rockefeller.edu/>

Can I ask a somewhat related question about matching screen colors with print colors?

Here's my situation. I have a 17" iLamp and an Epson Photo R340. I make photocollage art in Photoshop Elements (it's a hobby which is why I won't spring for the full Photoshop). Once I'm satisfied with a piece, I save it as a JPEG at highest quality, and then open it in GraphicConverter to print. The problem is, I can't get the print colors to acceptably match the screen colors. Everything comes out darker, less saturated (grayer), and, well, muddier.

I use GraphicConverter to print because I can get a little closer with it to what I want than with Photoshop, mostly because the latter's printer options are just too confusing and unintuitive to me - I'm not an artist by training.

So in GraphicConverter I go to Print > Color Management, select Color Controls, select EPSON Standard mode, select Gamma 1.8, and bump up the brightness anywhere from 17 to 25 points (the max) and that helps a little. Raising the saturation further darkens the picture, so that's no good.

My question, as you may surmise, is: what can I do, either in GC or Photoshop, to get my print colors closer to what I see on my display? Maybe that's too complicated a topic to deal with on an email list; useful links or references also gratefully accepted.

From: Michael WebX <mdlwebcrossing.com>

> Can I ask a somewhat related question about matching screen colors with
> print colors?


Calibrate your display and learn color management

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/resources/color.html
http://www.normankoren.com/color_management.html
http://www.color.org/whycolormanagement.pdf
http://www.colorremedies.com/realworldcolor/

I could go on for a while.....

D A V I D E M E R I C K
Digital Media Specialist
St. Mary's College of Maryland
dnemericksmcm.edu
http://www.smcm.edu/~dnemerick/
http://emerick.blogspot.com

On 7 Sep 2006, at 5:00:27 AM, <tidbits-talktidbits.com> <tidbits-
talktidbits.com> wrote:

> Posted by: Michael WebX Date: Sep 6, 2006.
> My question, as you may surmise, is: what can I do, either in GC or
> Photoshop, to get my print colors closer to what I see on my
> display? Maybe that's too complicated a topic to deal with on an
> email list; useful links or references also gratefully accepted.

Photoshop is a color managed program, you probably need to calibrate
your monitor in order to have the print have the same colors as the
monitor, (as well as subtractive and additive colors can match). I
would assume that the colors in Graphic Converter match the print but
not colors in PE. Photoshop is also color managed, so you would, no
doubt, have the same problems in the full program.

Log on to the Adobe Photoshop Elements forum for more help.

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