Getting the Most Out of Blurb

http://www.consumptive.org/?p=544

Technical notes on making a Blurb book:

Use the B3 custom work flow; this will help assure color and density consistency from book to book. Also you will be able to see a very close soft proof on your monitor of what your printed images will look like. You need to have a color calibrated monitor for B3.

Use the premium paper; it is thicker and brighter white. This makes for a more brilliant image with clean highlights.

Convert your images to the sRGB color space. Also resize your images at 300ppi to the size requirements of the layout [remember to use "bicubic sharper" in Photoshop image size dialog box if reducing] and save in RGB mode as a jpg at the highest quality setting. Should you leave it to Blurb to convert the color space and resize your images, you lose control.

For monochrome images I recommend using a duotone preset from Photoshop. I’ve read complaints that it can be difficult to obtain a neutral grey image from Blurb’s printer. With a duotone, though the color might subtly shift from screen to print, it will present far less of a problem than a slightly magenta or green tinted neutral grey would. Also a duotone will lend a pleasing dimensionality to your images.

Blurb’s printer renders midtones and highlights beautifully, but tends to block and muddy the shadows. Also, due to the difference between subtractive color [ink] and additive color [monitor], images often look darker when printed than they appear on screen. Its likely your first book will look too dark as mine did.

I was uncertain how much to lighten my images, so for the second attempt I simply lightened all the photographs by 10% using the “lighter” preset from the drop down menu in Photoshop’s curves dialog box. I knew this was going to be too light — but that’s ok. Between the too dark first proof, and the too light second proof, I had two known control points – 10% apart – with which to more accurately judge the correct density for optimum shadows.

For the third proof I individually adjusted the density of each image to where I felt it should be between the too dark and too light proofs, making careful note of the curve data. When I received this book, it was very near acceptable. Following my curve notes for each, I  re-adjusted the density of about a third of the images; very slight increments were needed at this point, just 1% or 1.5% up or down to open up a shadow or bring back a little mystery, as well as to balance the layout as a whole.

If I were to make another book I’d use the same process, but print the too dark and too light images in one large book, to save time and money.

For you darkroom printers, you might recognize my strategy as not unlike zeroing in the correct density by using test prints. Michael A. Smith’s outflanking the print is my guide.