islander1's Posts

I wonder if the disappointment comes from the image processing side of things and not from Blurb.  Some questions to be asked first: was the monitor callibrated before editing?  Was the sRGB colour space used at upload? Was the correct size image for Booksmart containers used and high res files supplied?   Was soft-proofing done using the Indigo 5000 ICC profile and gamut warning checked and adjusted?  What you see on your computer screen isn’t always what you get in print.  CYMK colour gamut isn’t as large as RGB.  If yes to all these questions, I’d aske for a reprint or my money back.

I have just recieved my first book from blurb which is completely b/w images with text.  I did have some issues with the colourcast, but it isn’t a major problem as it seems to be quite normal when producing b/w with colour inks to some extent.  My images, other than the slight cast, came out as good as the processed images I did in Photoshop and look to all intents and purposes the same as on my computer.  The answer, I think, is to ensure you have processed the b/w images properly in the first place and to make sure that in the mid-tone and highlight areas attention to good contrast is maintained.  I use a free b/w conversion programme which can be found on the net, and also formulae for b/w conversion using the channel mixer in Photoshop.  This might help enormously with your b/w processing rather than just using grey scale.  If anyone wants the list of formula you can email me at towers_keith@yahoo.co.uk and I will send it to you.  There is an underscore between towers and Keith by the way.

I have had my first book published and find there is a magenta cast on black and white images.  It isn’t all bad as the book’s main thrust is the poetry.  Even so, I think blurb could give us some pointers on how to get better B/W reproduction.  Otherwise satisfied with the product.

This is an interesting thread.  Would it not be best to edit pictures in CYMK in Photoshop at the outset, or is it best to leave this to Blurb?

Just a quick hello to everyone using this forum.  I have just ordered my first book, ‘The Pride’ , and am as nervous as hell about the way it will turn out.  A few issues came to me one dark and sleepless night after ordering: 1, had I aligned my page count so that photo’s on the left corresponded with text on the right, etc, etc?  2. A text warning suddenly appeared on one page after ordering the book and downloading the latest bookmaking software?  A quick email to Blurb put my mind tat rest on the first part, and using the Help search put it to rest on the second, as I found out that providing the text looked OK in preview mode, and nothing was missing, it was OK to ignore the warning.  Now I’m just waiting for my book to be delivered and all that’s left to worry about is the quality.  Where would I be without something to worry about.