Black and White Photography Blog, Vol. I

After having so many issues with print quality at Lulu a while back, and getting some crappy books published at other sites; I thought I’d give Blurb.com a try. I had read some decent reviews, even of b&w books. It took me about three hours to convert files and do the layout.

Files were 300 dpi (recommended by them); sRGB (also recommended); and I tried various unsharp techniques with the photos: Continuous Tone sharpening; Inkjet Sharpening; and no sharpening. Jpg files. Though they also accept png files.

You download their software and do the usual drag and drop stuff. The software seemed easy to use for me. I didn’t spend much time arranging the images, I can do that later. Just Central Park shots that I already had in a 5 x 7 size. It will be hardcover. I saw a number of people say that the print quality was better with hardcover than with perfect bound books.

If the print quality is any good - than I can go back and rearrange things and write more useful captions. It’s called, Central Park, 20 images. Hardcover. With dust jacket. 8x 10 size. They have larger sizes but I wanted to start small.

I expect it’ll take about a week and a half to get it back. I have my fingers crossed. Oh - the price: $29. The paper back version is $19.

Too put this basic book together - nothing fancy - no bleeds etc. - was quicker than doing one my slideshows.

* * * UPDATE * * *

Which is exactly what I wanted to hear. It means I did some of my sharpening wrong - but this was a test book anyway. It also explains why there are differences in quality between the softcover v. hardcover which I had seen in the forums.

A number of people have written to recommend other sites. Some of this is self-promotion - which is fine - but I want to keep this thread about one thing: fine art black and white POD book publishing, where liquid ink is used as opposed to toner technology. If you have a recommendation, great - but it would be esp. welcome if you include the type of printer that is used for the black and white printing. I’m going to keep this post at the top of the blog while I go through the blurb process.