Due to the amount of test prints and mockups I'd created, I am already familiar with the print quality of the stocks, etc. After taking care to make sure my publication was ready to print, I had confidence that the final production would be an easy, simple process.
Cover:
For the final embossing, I had to make sure that the typesetting was lined up to the position of the grey board so that the type was straight and justified equally to the right of the cover. To achieve this, I created a registration sheet for the lead type to sit in relation to the size of the cover.
I tried to get the type as accurate as possible, however it is slightly tilted to the right:
Printing this cover using industry standard embossing/debossing machinery, such as the ones used at Pressision Print, would make for a more consistent debossing as the machinery lines up the bossing plate exactly to the size of publication. This would be particularly useful if I was printing a large number of the publication as they will all be consistent. As I was using an Albion Press, which is traditionally used for printing lino, the results were less consistent.
Binding:
Due to my recent mockups I knew how to bind the publication accurately, making sure that the visible stitch is straight and all the pages fit together flush.
Taking my time and accurately measuring the binding holes was beneficial as visually it was the best bind.
Page Trimming
Each mockup I created from digital print were trimmed accurately, allowing the pages to sit flush together. However as I was trimming my final publication, I noticed that each page was a slightly different size. In order to make the finish professional, I attempted to trim down the pages once again so that they were all consistently the same size.
Reflecting on this, I should have used the electric guillotine, however I manually trimmed the pages using a standard guillotine. This was my biggest fall back for the final print as I took off too much of each page:
Where I have trimmed the pages too much, the type is now justified way too far to the left:
This was a frustrating stage as I can not afford to print out another publication as I have already bound the pages together and would mean buying more stock. I can only learn from these naive errors so that I take more care when trimming my pages and also preparing my document for print.
Print Quality
Non of the image have been pixelated, showing that I set up my images correctly for print:
The full bleed images are sharp and due to the size, make the publication really engaging due to the amount of type and activity:
The publication lies flat when open and closed, even though I exceeded the suggested amount of pages for pamphlet stitch, showing that I have considered my binding allowance accurately. This is another example of why mockups are so useful for quality production.
Zine:
Placing the zine section in the centre of the publication, contained by a double page spread of red card removed the audience from the context of the book, inspired by Printed Pages Issue 02. This was really hard to line up with the rest of the pages as it is a smaller size, however I am pleased with the accuracy:
The matt stocks contrast with the slight shine from the recycled 120gsm stock which also aids to removes the audience from the rest of the publication.
High contrast and bold type to introduce the publication is intriguing so when the audience opens it up, it reveals the introduction:
This forces the reader to turn the page and keep reading.
Decreasing the size of Arcane's logo makes it subtle and doesn't distract the audience from the main content of the publication:
Overall the final print was successful, however carelessness when trimming the pages meant that I decreased the professional value of my publication.
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