Book printers?

[Chris Barrett]

I'm thinking about printing an edition of hardcovers as giveaway portfolios.  Experiences with digital publishers good and bad would be appreciated, especially print quality.

Thanks!
CB

[Iluvmycam]

If your doing BW the POD printers have a tough time with blacks a lot of time. I just hand print and spiral bind my books. I run 2 inket printers and pop them out like pancakes. I spiral bind them. I've made a few hundred that way.

[Pascalf]

I nominate, without reservation, Adoramapix.

I have printed over a dozen books with them [as the supplier/printer], and their quality is unmatched as it pertains to print quality.

The pages are C-prints, which sets them high above the usual offset printing the most other printers offer.

In terms of the layout process, it occurs on their on-line program, which is competent though not very complex, like, say, Adobe inDesign.  And nor should it be.  You can use your own layout programs and send in a pdf, though I have not done that for any of my books.

For give-aways, I suggest you design and layout an eight inch by eight inch, ten page book, and wait for their sporadic sales, which usually have 8"x8", 10 pages for about $16USD, excluding shipping.  I'm in Canada, so shipping is what it is, though your being based in the US means shipping is much more affordable.

I have seen MyPublisher [used by my sister, for one of her wedding assignments], and Blurb [by another professional photog], and the Apple related book publishing service.  Adoramapix is by far the best for print quality, and the books are "lay-flat".
 
Summary:
Good points:
- superb print quality
- great colour accuracy [check colour-space: sRGB]
- books are "lay-flat": great for images bigger that a page
- front and back covers are fully printed


Not-so-good points:
- Design tool is decent, though 'basic' compared to full layout program
- when their servers are busy or under heavy use, your design process slows down

Neutral points:
- be cautious of storage space
- for best quality, TIFF is better than JPEG at larger sizes
- can make book layout partially public, to show particular people or clients


Here is an example of what I published with Adorampix:
http://www.adoramapix.com/app/showbook/Pascalf/book/Folio07-Chroma-Flora/
or
http://www.adoramapix.com/app/showbook/Pascalf/book/MontRoyal2013-MATG/
- for both books, the colour accuracy and density is spot on and what I expect.  No 'dot spread', no obvious colour or gamut shift.

Message me privately to links to other books, though you get the idea of the colour and density range I require for some books.


I like Adoramapix quite a lot, in case you can't tell.  I have been using them as a publisher for many [about eight] years.

Regards
Pascal

[Chris_Brown]

I've used Paper Chase Printing for several soft & hard bound books. They provide excellent customer service and produce a great product. Their paper choices are not for everyone, though, as they don't use glossy paper.

[Gigi]

Have used these guys happily:

http://www.editiononebooks.com/

[Iluvmycam]

Forgot to mention. If you hand print it becomes a 'work of art.' If you get something printed it is just a book.

[ACH DIGITAL]

This is the best i have seen. B&W or color,paper quality and presentarion for the client.
Graphistudio
Try the Baby Book
Small and beautful, they are in Italy but you do all online.

[buckshot]

Forgot to mention. If you hand print it becomes a 'work of art.' If you get something printed it is just a book.

Does an inkjet print really equate with 'hand printing' ?

Sounds fancy, and I guess the ill-informed will buy into it, but it just makes me cringe to be honest.

[Pascalf]

In your experience, after all the layout is done, how long does a book take to be printed, shipped, and arrive to your location?  From which city are you based?
The printer, as I understand it, is in Italy.

Regards,
Pascal
/in Montreal

This is the best i have seen. B&W or color,paper quality and presentarion for the client.
Graphistudio
Try the Baby Book
Small and beautful, they are in Italy but you do all online.

[digitaldog]

Does an inkjet print really equate with 'hand printing' ?

I’d think more so if the book’s we’re talking about are press or on-demand (which is a toner based) Indigo or the like. A good inkjet will have no halftone visible, no screening issues, wider gamut, smoother tones etc. Now making it look like a printed book is something else. I have books from an Epson 3880 and a really good Indigo book and the Epson is much better quality and I controlled the process much more than I could sending out to a printer.

[Chris_Brown]

I’d think more so if the book’s we’re talking about are press or on-demand (which is a toner based) Indigo or the like. A good inkjet will have no halftone visible, no screening issues, wider gamut, smoother tones etc. Now making it look like a printed book is something else. I have books from an Epson 3880 and a really good Indigo book and the Epson is much better quality and I controlled the process much more than I could sending out to a printer.

Rodney, How did you bind the book?

[digitaldog]

I never did bind it.

[ACH DIGITAL]

In your experience, after all the layout is done, how long does a book take to be printed, shipped, and arrive to your location?  From which city are you based?
The printer, as I understand it, is in Italy.
Regards,
Pascal
/in Montreal

Hi Pascal it takes from 3 to 5 weeks depending on the type of book you want to print.
I'm located in Sunrise Florida.