I am hoping you might be able to help me. I have decided that when I finish the revisions to Roguish I am going to print and assemble them myself into digest sized booklets. Not out of some sense of trying to be throwback, more in the sense of I want to finish doling it my self. I'll probably only sell 50 or so game sets so I'd rather they go out handmade, for better or worse. :)
My question is can you guide me to a blog or site that discusses the trials and travails of doing this?
thanks in advance for your guidance!
LotFP had some posts about this sort of thing a while back. Here's how I make my own booklets:
ReplyDelete1) Lay everything out in normal 8.5 x 11, make sure graphic elements are large, fonts are set to 14 or 16 point type.
2) Print to PDF, selecting "Print as booklet" option.
3) Print the odd numbered sheets, using cardstock for the first sheet if my cover is included in the file (seperate covers are probably smarter).
4) Reinsert the printed sheets, then print the even pages only, in reverse order.
5) Staple with a long arm stapler.
6) Fold booklets by first pinching at the staples, then finishing with a bone folder:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_folder
I don't trim my booklets, as I lack the proper tools. Something 48 pages or less doesn't really need it, which is the scale I usually work in.
Hope this helps!
Jeff, thanks very much that is exactly the kind of help I was hoping for!
ReplyDeleteI've used the same procedure Jeff outlined, but have access to a duplex printer (double-sided) which makes it a bit easier. Watch out that your printer doesn't have settings to add extra margins at the top or bottom of the page. That can mess up the alignment of 2-sided printing.
ReplyDeleteFor the money I wouldn't rule out taking it to Kinkos (etc) and having them print it double-sided - then doing all the stapling and assembly at home. Especially if you have lots of graphics which would eat up your ink cartridges at home. ;)
Thanks Stuart! I think I will go the Kinko's route for printing for exactly the points you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteWhen I do the booklet printing, it leaves about 1/3 of the page blank at the bottom, in other words it does not print to the bottom of the page?? Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteCheck to see if it's a printer issue or an issue with whatever program you're printing from. I found Preview (Mac) and Acrobat Reader sometimes behave a bit differently, even though it's the same file.
ReplyDelete