Printing and Binding

To create my final outcome, I had to print the pages, cut them to the custom size I had chosen, and bind them together. To be able to show my work in the online exhibition, I've decided to film myself flicking through it, as I've done for previous book/zine projects.

Printing the book was very difficult, and I had to spend a whole day on it. In order to bind it the way I wanted, I had to sort the pages into 3 'books' of 12 pages, or 6 sheets. This was a much bigger task than I had anticipated, and I got some help from Sinead to figure out how to collate the images. I had to switch around all the pages so that each spread would be in order, and to figure this out I used tiny scraps of paper with page numbers on them.

Then, I had to keep reordering the pages and doing test prints on cheap A4 paper to get the order right. I had 3 separate InDesign files, one for each book, and when I finally got them right, I printed my pages onto A3 cartridge paper. At first, I wanted to print my work on Bokingford watercolour paper, but it turned out to be very expensive, so I used the regular uni printers instead.

Since I used a custom size, I had to measure and cut each page out individually. Then, I scored each fold. I did a couple of them on the wrong side, which is really annoying but not the end of the world. The paper didn't align quite right when it went back in for the double-sided print, so some of the double spreads don't fit quite right. I'm really annoyed at this, but it's definitely too late to reprint, so I'll have to put up with it.

After this, I had to test the binding technique, so I drew a couple of diagrams and practiced on my A4 test prints. I used an awl to poke 3 holes in each sheet of paper, and used bookbinding thread and a needle to bind it together.

I then moved onto binding my final book, but realised that I hadn't put in a page at the front to glue to the inside of the front cover. To fix this, I made up an extra page with spare cartridge paper, and I bound this to the first book. It's not particularly secure, but it works. If I had another week on this project, I'd definitely fix this in the InDesign books, but it's too late now.

I glued the cover together and put the cover images on, but I rushed too much and wasn't happy with it. The book looked messy and there was no care to detail, and I really wasn't proud of what it turned out like, so I've decided to rebind my book.

My second attempt went so much better, although I got some marks on the cover from a dirty cutting mat. I'm not too bothered about them though, and I'm just happy to be finished. I did 7 holes to bind this version, which I think worked a lot better and looked more professional. I then filmed myself flicking through the finished book, which you can see here.