Collaboration: Photo book production + final outcome

The photo book was designed so that it would be printed as signatures that would be individually bound and then as a group be perfect bound. This would then be placed within a hard back cover with a wrap around matte image as the front cover. 

PRODUCTION PROBLEM
Once all of the book had been printed I went to the traditional print room to speak to one of the workshop technicians to get some advice on the steps that I would need to take in order to complete the photo book to the standard that I was aiming for. I was informed that I would need a 2.5 hour induction on how to do the hard back process and then style of stitching that was needed is not even taught within university because it is too complicated. 

PRODUCTION SOLUTION
I was advised to change the way in which the book would be bound so that I could complete it to a higher standard as it was something that I had been inducted to do once before. The solution to this production problem would be to bind each of the pages individually, by cutting down the centre crop mark and then rearranging each of the pages individually into the correct order. 
In terms of the front cover, it was suggested that a good solution would be to use the printed front cover as a wrap around, stuck onto a card so that there would still be some support and structure to the photo book and to hold all of the pages within.

Production process

Once the pages had been cut down the centre using the crop marks I then had to order all of the pages so that they could be perfect bound. In order to do this accurately I used the pdf of the photo book as a reference to ensure that the exact order was achieved. 

The perfect binding was then able to take place, clamping the book so that the page edges were held in place with as little movement as possible. The edges were scored using a scalpel and then pva glue was applied and left over night to dry. 

The next part of the process was the same, glue being applied a few more time letting it dry after each application This will increase the strength of the bind and decrease the chance of pages falling out of the publication. Once it had dried over night I scored the spine with a scalpel and did another layer of pva glue so that the pages that were a little looser in the middle could be attached in a more secure manner.

Once this had dried, I cut a long strip of scrim to stick to the spine of the pages also using pva to reinforce the strength once again. 

To complete the front cover, I took the image that had been printed on digi paper rather than tyvek because it is more absorbent of glue, making it less likely to peel away from the card. I started by flattening it out using some weights because it had been stored within a tube to keep it safe. Taking a sheet of A2 card and spraying spray mount evenly all over it, the front cover image was then stuck to this, using a ruler to ensure that there were no air bubbles when sticking. I then measured the spine of the pages which was 0.5cm scored the centre of the image and then again 0.5cm to the left of this to create the width of the spine. 

To attach the pages to the front cover double sided sticky tape was used either side of the spine, sticking the back cover down first and then the front. I then used the bone folder to flatten the edges and ensure that they were squared off in the way that a perfect bind should be. 

Once it was all folded and attached together, the laser guillotine needed to be used so that all of the edges will sit accurately together. The crop marks on the prints will be used as a guide when cutting as they all match up. I inserted the book in the laser guillotine and ensured that the laser matched up to the crop marks, covered the page with a spare sheet of paper to minimise the dirt left on the page and then cut the pages. It worked really well and as a final book it is neat and to a professional level.