Digital BW, The Print

I've been following this thread with interest because I have produced  
a half dozen or so different books over the last year for some of my  
clients, and am continually getting requests for limited editions  
books. In most instances they require from one to five copies with  
page counts of 24-48 pages.

I have tried several binding systems, the Hahnemuhle, the Moab Chinle  
12 x 12, and the Unibind systems. I print using Epson 78/9800s with  
the K3 inks. All the books so far have been color. The papers used  
are Kayenta, Museo II, Hahnemuhle PR Duo, and I  just recently added   
Inkjet Art's ceramic micro-porous double sided.

I'm currently working on two 44 pg volumes, with four copies per  
volume, printed on the micro-porous luster. The images are stunning  
on this paper. It's like looking at a bound collection of  
photographs. I've seen the Indigo books, in fact at my day job I work  
prepress for a commercial printer that has one. There is no  
comparison in quality. That being said, these books will bill out at  
approximately $225 each, so the quality cos$t$. Lots of handwork.

 From this thread I cannot get a feel for what folks feel is  
reasonable for limited edition books. What run lengths are we talking  
about? I would speculate if you are looking for 500-1000 books in 40+  
pages then offset lithography is feasible. I would suggest finding a  
printer that can print 10-20 micron stochastic screening(Hemlock  
comes to mind), and for black and white reproductions print tritones  
or quadtones. It's amazing what can be done by pushing a little  
metallic ink, bronze, gold, or silver down on one of the plates. I'm  
not aware of a technique that will give you the metallic on an  
inkjet. Also, with offset lithography, there's also the ability to  
creatively use varnishes and tint varnishes.

Clark
Cracked Melon Editions, LLC


On May 17, 2008, at 2:05 AM, David Whistance wrote:

> Joost
>
> I have refrained from posting in this thread so far, however I  
> suggest you
> contact Eddie Ephraums at Self Publish Solutions
> (info@selfpublishsolutions.com). As you probably know Eddie has  
> written and
> published several books on B&W darkroom processes as well as more  
> recently
> Darkroom to Digital. He is also a commissioning editor for one of the
> publishers (Argentum?). His latest venture is self publishing. He  
> is very
> helpful and would, I'm sure be able to advise on a good printing  
> service for
> you. I know several people who have used his service to publish  
> their own
> books, albeit in colour, not B&W, and all have been very happy -  
> I'm not
> sure of the costs however.
>
> David
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of  
> Joost
> Horsten
> Sent: 17 May 2008 06:55
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Black & White Fine art book printing  
> service?
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "kalebtreuman"
> <kalebtreuman@...> wrote:
>
> >
> > I have no idea what your project would cost... but i do know that  
> the
> > cost between 500 and 1000 is marginal. The printer's charge comes
> from
> > the setup, not the number of copies. But then again, I'm using
> quadtone
> > printing and high end paper. You might save some money by going
> > duotone, though i have no idea how much.
> >
>
> Thanks. Apparently, there's still no good b&w micro-publishing service
> (could be great niche though, convert one of those Indigos into a quad
> B&W press.........)
>
> I contacted Focus to learn more on their offering.
>
> Joost
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
> 



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