I've been longing to see my mandalas in book form, so I recently had a small book made through Shutterfly. You create the book by uploading the images into a series of templates. You can add text or choose to just show the images.
The first thing I noticed was how awesome the images stood out against the black. The next thing I noticed was how quickly the black cover gets smudgy from finger prints. The black pages also seemed to scratch easily...
All of my images were either shot with my digital camera (Canon SD1000) or scanned on my personal scanner. Some reproduced better than others, and all in all, I would probably do much better with someone else scanning these images at a higher resolution and then tweaking them in so they match the original best as can be. (Though I am fairly notorious for pushing the contrast on my images.)
I noticed that some of the layouts worked better than others.
The way this book is bound (perfect binding?) it can't open flat (which I hate) and that pretty much means not to align your images with the center or they can't be fully enjoyed. (So what's the purpose of an 8x8" book if you can't utilize the entire page?)
Blue mandalas....
As much as I wanted to do some that filled the page like the one on the right, too much gets lost in the crease.
Perhaps I should have chosen a white background for these.....
So many different image templates... the one on the left was a bad idea as once again, the images got lost in the crease.
I enjoyed grouping the images by color.
Such vivid color.
A few of my favorites.
Back cover.
All in all, this was pretty much just a test. The cost (expensive) through Shutterfly doesn't really allow for any kind of profit margin if I wanted to resell these. I've explored using Blurb, but the program to run it is too powerful for my old PC. I'm currently working to have some of my images scanned through my local photo retailer and I'm considering some of the book options they have there as well.
12 comments:
Really delightful Mandalas! Striking colors, a pleasure to flick through. I agree about the issues with the binding. And idea would be to work with a local artist/bookbinder who can suggest creative ways to bind and display such beautiful work. I've recently done a short bookbinding course and I was amazed on the skill and creativity of these guys. You can consider doing maybe a limited edition to be sold in art galleries etc. Great work.
Looks great! I especially like front and back covers, but all of your designs are wonderful.
Dan
-x-
Brilliant! What a great way to preserve and present your mandalas!!
Your book is beautiful, even if the pages don't lie flat. The black background makes the colours appear even more brilliant. This has me wanting to make a book of my own, so I will be interested in hearing about any further experiments that you do with this.
This is a beautiful book! I love how it turned out. FYI - newer all-in-one printers with higher scan ratios are not that expensive. Thank you for sharing!
Yeehaaaw! Congratulations! The pictures look amazing, I think one book might find its way to Germany ;-)
Err, what I wanted to say was: I WOULD order, if it was possible, since it looks so great.
You can be really proud of your work!
Very slick presentation and the bright colors certainly pop up against the black pages. Shutterfly seems to work quite well for the color reproduction, though it is good to know that images that bleed all the way to the edge of the paper might not work as well. Might use this approach to make a picture book for my nephew sometime.
I love love love following your blog! And this is fantastic! I would LOVE to buy a copy if you decide to publish them for sale. Keep up the fabulous work!! xx
Your book is beautiful!
Palimpsest - much thanks for the kind words and I appreciate the idea of working with a local bookbinder for a limited edition book. Thanks again!
Dan, thank you very much!
Thanks Marsha!
Heather - thank you. :o) And you should try a book! It was quite rewarding to hold it in my hand...
Joni - good to know about the new scanners, though my old Dell probably won't handle the file sizes.... Computer upgrade time!
Julie - thank you and you never know.... maybe one (or one similar to it) will make its way to Germany.
Alberto - the colors sure did pop! I'm looking to explore Blurb next.
Frugal - Much thanks for the kind words and thank you for following my blog!
Molossus - Big thanks!
So beautiful, I wish it were available at Blurb!
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