Digital Prints

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Mastering Digital Printing
Bind-It Photo Corp. has a compact tabletop system for binding self-printed, hardbound
books. After the images are output onto ready-to-bind, pre-hinged Stone Edition art
papers, the pages are placed into the binding unit, which uses an acid-free thermal adhesive
in the spine of the cover.
Some imagemakers enjoy binding their own books by hand. I’ve seen everything from
rawhide cords, to steel nuts and bolts, to surgical tubing used. Sometimes, a special binding
method can add a lot to the overall impact of a custom book.
Book Services: As with cards, some digital printmakers also offer to make custom artist
books. For example, Lynn Lown of New Media Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, creates
hand-bound inkjet-printed books complete with cloth covers and slip cases (see image).
More commercial and online suppliers of digital books printed mostly by digital offset technology
include MyPublisher.com, Snapfish.com, and Apple’s iPhoto software and service,
which produces (via Indigo printing) linen-covered books in North America and Europe.
A few more comments about custom books:
■ Because the pages of books are closed—and therefore dark—most of the time, image stability
in terms of lightfastness is less important. However, dark-fading stability as well as
ink smearing and rub-off still need to be taken into account.
■ Consider making a book of prints and calling that book a limited edition or portfolio.
Boxed portfolio sets are nothing new in the world of photography and fine-art, but what
is new is the idea of making an actual book of original prints. These prints, then, are not
reproductions; they are the originals, no different than if you had made the prints individually,
which, in fact, you have done. The difference is that they are now bound together
in some meaningful and practical way. Add a bio, artist’s statement, and anything else you
like, and you now have a portable, permanent art show.
■ The most difficult thing about creating books is not their production but their marketing,
particularly if you’re trying to make it into a commercial venture. Distribution, sales,
promotion, and all the rest of the book-marketing process is an ambitious undertaking,
and I wish anyone attempting it the best of luck. However, if you’re only interested in producing
a few books for a close circle of friends, family, clients, colleagues, and buyers, then
you are alive at the right time in human history.
New Media Arts produces beautiful
inkjet-printed books as special projects.
Courtesy of New Media Arts
www.nmarts.com