Well, Border & Frontier is coming along nicely, for the most part. I've got all the covers made, though I've had a bit of a glitch in the vellum printing and the titles have bled a bit. Not catastrophically, I think, since the lettering is kinda spiky anyway, but unacceptably so for the interior printing, which I thankfully hadn't done yet. I had printed the colophons, however, and I'm not happy with those, so they'll have to be redone: with a new pack of unopened paper, new ink cartridges, and probably a different print setting. I consulted with Guru Marcia and she concurred. Here are her tips for printing on vellum, with free added sarcasm!
Ah, the joys of printing on vellum! There are so many things that can go
wrong, and once you figure out how to make it work, it's usually hard to
remember what worked. That's why I made such detailed notes about the
chapbook production. Here are a few things to try:
- Try not printing at the best/highest resolution; sometimes draft works
better (maybe it uses less ink?)- And doublecheck the paper setting: photo paper, matte or shiny,
transparency, etc.- Make sure you grab each page as it comes out of the printer and put it
somewhere by itself to completely dry.- Same vellum, same ink cartridges, same printer? (Obvious, I know.)
- Sometimes, even vellum has a better side for printing to (front or back).
- These are probably not a problem, but could be at other times: How old is
the vellum? Or the cartridge? Was the vellum stored in an opened package?
Was it too cold or too hot?
So I still have to make the map collages, fold them, and glue them to the cover boards; print the poem sheets and colophons; cut the colophon sheets; punch the holes; set the eyelets; thread the cord; and string the beads. Believe it or not, all the hard stuff is done, which was making 50 boards. I still have to trim the front ones a little too.I decided I was going to punch a spiral into each of my books too, just as a Maelstrom House trademark, kinda. It's nice to be able to just poke along at these, rather than racing to make them to deadline. It becomes a pleasant way to pass some time, rather than a wearing project.
No Small Press Book Fair last weekend for me, BTW. I've been down with a cold since last Thursday and nursed it all weekend. Bleah. I'm NOT missing the CBA holiday show on the 16th though, come hell or high water.
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