We call them “hardcovers” and people are fretting about whether they will go the way of the dinosaur, the buggy whip, the vinyl record, the 8-track tape players. But there’s life in the format yet.
It’s more accurate to refer to these books as “casebound,” and understanding what a casebound book is can help in the [...]
Posts tagged as:
Lightning Source
Digital printing has given rise to the print-on-demand distribution model that’s become so popular with self-publishers. Lightning Source, Inc. (LSI) is the principle provider of print-on-demand distribution, and the one I personally work with, and often recommend to my clients who are intending to become competitive self-publishers.
Like anyone else, I had to work out the [...]
We’ve all heard about it, we talk about it, we call it by the wrong name, but do you really know how print-on-demand book distribution works? You will by the end of this article.
I’ve written in an earlier post about the confusion over the terminology commonly used to describe print on demand book distribution, but [...]
In these posts I’m reviewing the steps that I take to create a PDF file for digital print-on-demand printing at Lightning Source (LSI) from Adobe InDesign CS4.
File creation using this process must be performed at least twice for each book submitted to LSI; once for the interior (bookblock in LSI terms) and once for the [...]
Last time I described how I check the status of all my linked graphics with the Link Palette, and how I re-link any missing files. The last check I make of my InDesign CS4 file before beginning the export process is to look at the book’s fonts. This is a key step in making a [...]
Lightning Source (LSI) is my preferred vendor for print-on-demand services. Their quality is good, distribution options good for most books, and a technical staff that actually knows what they’re doing. Combined with responsive customer service, it’s easy to see why it’s the default in its field.
LSI provides pretty adequate documentation but, as you might expect [...]
Do you remember this conversation from your own school days?
“Ms. Murphy, can I go to the boy’s room?”
“Well, Billy, you certainly can go to the boy’s room. You know where it is, and I saw you running after Sally Ketchum today at recess, so I know your legs are working fine.”
“Oh, great, thanks.”
“One moment, Billy. [...]
As the technology we use to manufacture books changes, designers responsible for creating those books adapt. Sometimes slowly. Sometimes reluctantly. But they adapt, because the new technology will eventually supplant the old technology.
Today most books are still printed by offset lithography, and any print run over about 1,000 units will benefit from the more [...]
