What Should I Look for in a Press Printed Book?

Now that couples are asking for press printed books and  being tempted by low cost books online, here are some of the choices you have  to distinguish your offerings and make sure your photography is professionally  presented and preserved.

Print Quality
To get the color you desire, request and use the printer’s  color profile. And be sure to embed your color profile in all images. You will  need color correction the same as you did for your prints. When you make your  first press printed book, ask for sample pages of your photos so you can see  how your photos look. Both you and the printer can then make adjustments if  necessary.

Paper Weight 
Paper is sold in the US using a crazy system of lb  weights. The “lb” part refers to the weight of 500 standard size sheets - but  the standard sheets vary in size depending on their assumed end use – usually  Text or Cover.

Standard text paper is 25”x38”  - so the weight of 500 sheets this size is  the “lb” weight
  Cover paper is smaller 20”x26” -which explains why 60 lb  text is flimsier than 60 lb cover.
  It helps to know your paper facts!

Binding
Ideally a wedding book opens flat and is strong enough to withstand many years of page turning. The pages of a book can be either sewn, or glued. Glued bindings are less expensive but sewn bindings will last longer

Glued (or perfect) bindings cased with cardboard covers are common and, while they look beautiful, they won’t open flat and can come apart. Sometimes a glued book will have a single line of stitching down the side and be referred to as a sewn binding.

A real sewn binding will be more expensive. If you look at a well-bound book from the top, you will see that it consists of several sections of folded pages called "signatures." Smyth or section sewn book bindings are the highest quality book binding available. These are the only books that will open flat and never come apart.

Be sure to ask lots of questions about how your book is  bound and how long it will last.

Article submitted by
  Margaret Telfer,   Publisher
PhotoBook Press

Comments

[Bill Cawley (Olympia, WA)]

Margaret,

I'm curious what you think of the 'lay-flat hinged page' press printed books from WHCC? I believe ACI is also starting to offer these. Thoughts on quality and longevity?

[Ava]

I couldn't agree more. Blurb began promoting to our studio at the beginning of the year. Very low pricing & quality. We had one book done, it was so so. Then another a few months later to test one, soft cover, it was terrible. It took my business parter a good 4 hours of online work on that book. To then receive it was a serious disappointment, not to mention lost time in getting it to the bride. The pictures looked terrible, dark, didn't look like my work. Haven't touched them since as I found it a waste of time and money. So sorry those things happen.

[Christine May (KC,MO)]

I agree with Ava...I tried Blurb and their hardcover was so so...the pages didn't have the best print quality...but it wasn't till I tried their softcover book that I realized it was a very cheap knock off of what my professional print labs can do. It's not all that more expensive through my print lab and the quality is much better...so I'm content with using HH Color Lab and Millers press products to achieve that much needed professional quality.

[cory sinklier]

I have tried Asuka, millers press, and White House press. Millers print quality is awful (banding is clearly visible), Asuka is a good quality but expensive and takes several weeks and does not open flat, White House has pretty good quality with hinged pages.