process

I am going to start creating videos and posting them here on the process I went through putting the book together. I have outlines of what the first four will cover.

1) The idea that started the whole process and how I decided to turn it into a book. How I decided todigitize my film negatives and the equipment I used, and still own.

2) My cataloging process and the different software involved.

3) Moving from the catalog towards a book draft. Narrowing down to a few hundred from a few thousand images.

I switched over to the Drupal CMS. I briefly thought about using Gallery with Drupal but I thought it would be overkill. After a brief search I found Drupal School also has a video demonstrating how to implement the handbook example Drupal School: 009 Maintainable Gallery. I followed along with the video and also read the handbook entry HowTo: Create an image gallery using only CCK and Views. A few customizations later, I had something ready to replace the old site.

I was never very satisfied with the architecture of the site because the gallery script that I was using (4images) looked very different. I did eventually create a theme for the gallery that made it visually similar but I still was not satisfied. Moving everything into a CMS makes things simpler.

I've moved for a job out of state. After a few false starts the person I left in charge of collecting my photos from the gallery finally picked them up last week. I'll have them sent to me in the mail. Since they are framed already, they will make lovely decorations for my new apartment.

I spent two frustrating days figuring out how to get my files onto the lulu servers. All is well now (after temporarily disabling my firewall) and I am now trying to decide how to price the book and finalize the cover.

I made my own front cover image but the font I used isn't available. I am trying lulu's fonts out in Photoshop to see if I like the cover design using one. I may elect to keep the front cover image and use the lulu fonts on the book spine and back. The last option is to design the entire cover.

The Making of a Photography Book

I didn't start out intending to print a book. I was working on a project to create my own personal archive. The material that I decided to use for the archive was my photographs. Instead of doing an online gallery or a cd, I decided a book made a better record of the project.

Designing the Table of Contents

I have decided not to use the TOC tool in InDesign because the results so far don't look good to me. I don't want to drive myself crazy experimenting with TOC styles. I could spend that time doing something else. It's easier to create it by hand and paste it in.

The Design of a Photography Book

Using a print on demand service (POD) like Lulu means more work but if you were thinking of paying a regular printer, you could use some of the money, you save on the printing costs, to hire a book designer. Or save even more by designing it yourself. Lulu gives you several options. You could design in Word, Publisher, InDesign etc. and then save and upload as a PDF file.

I have a photobook that I have been working on since 2005. I was planning to publish it this year so after a bit of research I decided on lulu. I got a lot done in terms of the content of the book this year but never really like the cover or the text portion of it.