I got my images printed in a Book

[carastro]

I recently came across a scrap book of my father's who died over 40 years ago.  He was an artist and designer, and it was so nice to find something of his work,  

This got me thinking about preserving my images for the future.  Lets face it, how long are they going to stay in cyberspace if various websites shut down, and how would members of my family know where to find them anyway, even now.  Also it is a lot of work to let it just disappear over time. 

I normally do the Astro Society annual calendar, so I got thinking that I should think about doing something printed for myself.  The trouble is the regular printer we use for the calendars, all the images tend to come back a bit darker which is always disappointing.

Anyway, I got hunting on the internet, and found a company in Peterborough BookPrintingUK, and got a quote from them for a hardback book of 80 inside pages.  For £175 (approx), I have got a hardback book (10 copies + proof copy) with printed gloss cover, 80 pages silk good quality paper inside and the customer service has been excellent.  This includes a hard copy proof.  This was doing all the artwork myself. 

To my surprise when the 1st proof arrived the images came back the correct colour.  Which was a surprise as I had brightened up some of the images in anticipation of them coming back darker as they do with the calendar printers, so they of course were now too bright.

So I adjusted the images back to normal, and ordered a 2nd proof (an extra £25).

I did not bother to get an ISBN number for it as I am not publishing it.  Just copies for family and friends. 

I am so pleased with the result of the 2nd proof, just awaiting the final order to be printed.  

If any-one was thinking to do the same, I thoroughly recommend this company.

Attached are a couple of photos.

Do let me know if you decide to do this, as I can let the company know I have recommended them.  

Carole 

PS: Forgot to mention, that the printers will keep the artwork on file for 2 years in case I need further copies, in case any more friends say they would like a copy.  Also they fixed the price for further copies for the next year.  

 

[andrew s]

Fabulous

Regards Andrew 

[adyj1]

Great idea. 

[carastro]

Thanks Andrew.

Carole 

[Thalestris24]

Awesome, Carole!

Louise

[carastro]

Thanks adyj1 and Louise.

[niallk]

Wow - looks really beautifully done!

[carastro]

Thanks.  I must say it was a lot of work and kept me busy for quite a few weeks doing the Artwork, and proof reading it over and over again.   But then with winter weather, clouds and being stuck at my Bortle 8 location (i.e. not being able to get to our Bortle 4 campsite), it gave me something to do in the winter months. 

I did a few pages on my Biog and astro history and how I got into imaging etc etc, plus some photos of kit and astro camps.  But ultimately the result was very rewarding.

Carole 

 

 

[barkis]

They certainly deserve to reside in a Book Carole. Excellent quality indeed.
There are more folks other that those in the Astronomy Fraternity that will appreciate these images.
There are still so many people blissfully unaware of what beauty is concealed in the skies above their heads.
Perhaps your book will go some way to remedy that.

Congrats. on a Job well done, not just the Book, , but  the inspirational work you've produced for our Forums pages too.
Ron.
 

 

 

 

[carastro]

Thanks Ron, very kind.

Carole 

[Jkulin]

Lovely idea Carole, just glad you didn't do what my wife did for Christmas...she wanted to produce a calendar of some of my images, but as it was a surprise she couldn't ask me for the originals, instead being a bit clueless, she opened the images on my computer screen and took a photo with her iPhone, cropping out part of it, losing half of the signature and including the cursor, we all howled with laughter on Christmas morning, but it was the thought that counted.??

[carastro]

Whoops, well as you say it's the thought that counts. 

One thing you need to do is increase the resolution on images to be printed to make sure they don't come out "blocky" and they recommend 300px/inch.  But at least 150px/inch.  300 was more than my computer could cope with, so I compromised at 160 px/inch and had to chop the file into 3 as such a huge file of 80 pages with so many high resolution images, my computer just kept crashing, and the software kept losing the images.  3 files worked just fine and I labelled them carefully so the printer understood exactly what was what.

All the files were transferred by WeTransfer.

Carole

[Peter Drew]

Very nice indeed Carole.  ?   I wish I had photos of telescopes I made in the distant past as a personal reminder, sadly that was before photography was a easy as it is today and I rarely owned a camera.     ?

[andrew s]

You should get an ISBN and publish it then I can go to a copywriter library an see if for free. 

Only kidding but I am sure you could sell a few copies if you wanted to but I understand you might not want to.

Regards Andrew 

[George Gearless]

Congratulations on being 'published' :).

It's a splendid idea. I actually did it myself with pictures from a trip I did in Africa. They are all digital photos, and only very rarely do you fish out the external harddrive and sift through old photos.

But a book on the shelf is a quick and easy trip down memory lane and much easier to show to people. I have to say that the finish of your book looks a lot better than the one I got.

[carastro]

That's a shame Peter. 

Carole 

[andrew s]

3 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

Very nice indeed Carole.  ?   I wish I had photos of telescopes I made in the distant past as a personal reminder, sadly that was before photography was a easy as it is today and I rarely owned a camera.     ?

I am sure many still exist and are treasured possessions why not appeal for photos via this and other astro sites. I could ask on the BAA site if you are not a member.

Regards Andrew 

[groberts]

Congratulations Carole, looks excellent.

I suspect many (most) of us tend to just look at our work on the PC / online.  Last Christmas my daughter asked me for some large, framed prints of some my astro images and was thrilled by the result, as was I - and now have copies hanging on my wall too.

Previously my wife gave me a bound copy of my website, which was hard to compile and of mixed quality but still a worthwhile hard copy of the site - I'm always worried about losing it! 

Well done, Graham

    

[carastro]

Quote

You should get an ISBN and publish it then I can go to a copywriter library an see if for free. 

Only kidding but I am sure you could sell a few copies if you wanted to but I understand you might not want to.

Seriously, I am happy to get copies printed for those who want to make a donation to the cost, but I can't imagine publishing it as who is going to want to buy a book of my images with people like Rob Gendler and much better imagers than me around?   

Plus it will add another £100 to the cost.  Plus I would need to get permission again from some astro chums as I used 3 astro camping photos with their permission on the basis that I was only printing it for family and friends. 

Quote

large, framed prints of some my astro images and was thrilled by the result, as was I - and now have copies hanging on my wall too.

I would have liked to have done that too, but there isn't really enough space, as too many photos of family plus hubby has got some Flippin french posters that he likes on the wall at intervals up the stairs, where I could quite easily put them, and won't change them.   I am holding onto one copy in case I get the opportunity to frame them, so I will sacrifice that book for cut out copies to be framed. 

Previously I had an electronic photo frame in the lounge showing my images but it went wrong, and replacing it seems very expensive.  Another thing that prompted me to do the book. 

Carole 

[JeremyS]

Great idea Carole. The result looks excellent. Well done!

[carastro]

Thanks Jeremy

[maw lod qan]

That's a great idea. 

Over the years I've seen so many family photos get lost or faded beyond recognition.  Memories lost forever. And in the new digital world, one terrible mishap could erase everything.

I find it amazing you could have it done so inexpensively!

[laudropb]

Absolutely brilliant idea Carole.

[AKB]

Great result.

The difference between you and me, Carole, is that your pictures are worth preserving for posterity!

Tony

[carastro]

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I find it amazing you could have it done so inexpensively!

Interestingly I also asked the calendar printers for a quote for a book and their quote was cheaper than this company, but knowing their pictures (my images) come out darker, and my experience with them has been not so good with customer support, I decided if was worth paying the extra for BookPrintingUk

Carole