<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<posts type="array">
  <post>
    <body>Did you make sure that the files were converted and saved to sRGB color-space before bringing them into BookSmart?  BookSmart completely ignores and strips any color profile information in the image files.  Somewhere later in the Blurb workflow, the images in the book are treated as being in sRGB space.

I don't have ps3, but I recall from other posts others saying that they got most accurate results with the "simulate paper" option in the soft-proofing options off.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Did you make sure that the files were converted and saved to sRGB color-space before bringing them into BookSmart?  BookSmart completely ignores and strips any color profile information in the image files.  Somewhere later in the Blurb workflow, the images in the book are treated as being in sRGB space.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#8217;t have ps3, but I recall from other posts others saying that they got most accurate results with the &amp;#8220;simulate paper&amp;#8221; option in the soft-proofing options off.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:58:20Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">10009</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2169</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:58:20Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>That the images on those pages, at the scaling you placed them, are not high resolution enough.  You should fix these before printing.  You can either, scale them smaller in BookSmart (so they appear smaller on the page), or if you have a higher-resolution version of the image, use that.

If your original image just isn't big enough, you'll have to make it smaller on the page.  For example, if you have a 1200x800 pixel image from a camera-phone, there is just no way that is going to print well as a full-page image on a 10x8 page.  Instead, use a template with a smaller photo container (or several), or just use the image size control to make it small enough that the yellow warning sign goes away.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;That the images on those pages, at the scaling you placed them, are not high resolution enough.  You should fix these before printing.  You can either, scale them smaller in BookSmart (so they appear smaller on the page), or if you have a higher-resolution version of the image, use that.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;If your original image just isn&amp;#8217;t big enough, you&amp;#8217;ll have to make it smaller on the page.  For example, if you have a 1200&amp;#215;800 pixel image from a camera-phone, there is just no way that is going to print well as a full-page image on a 10&amp;#215;8 page.  Instead, use a template with a smaller photo container (or several), or just use the image size control to make it small enough that the yellow warning sign goes away.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:49:45Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">1</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">10008</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2178</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:49:45Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Emma - in my books, the last page was white (I didn't try to change it... can you?), has the Blurb logo at the center of the bottom edge, and the bar code in the bottom left corner (running vertically).  In the hardcover version, there is the blank, white end-paper after that.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Emma &amp;#8211; in my books, the last page was white (I didn&amp;#8217;t try to change it&amp;#8230; can you?), has the Blurb logo at the center of the bottom edge, and the bar code in the bottom left corner (running vertically).  In the hardcover version, there is the blank, white end-paper after that.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:26:29Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">4</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">10007</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2110</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:26:29Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>No, the local print preview is deliberately low-res. So long as you aren't getting any of the yellow triangle warning symbols when viewing the book in BookSmart, the book will print fine.

I believe that Blurb decided to have BookSmart print low-res previews to keep us from taking the print output to another print service. I think the disservice to book designers is far worse than the possible loss of business.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;No, the local print preview is deliberately low-res. So long as you aren&amp;#8217;t getting any of the yellow triangle warning symbols when viewing the book in BookSmart, the book will print fine.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;I believe that Blurb decided to have BookSmart print low-res previews to keep us from taking the print output to another print service. I think the disservice to book designers is far worse than the possible loss of business.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:22:04Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">4</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">10005</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2163</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:22:04Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Nope - Copyright is just a layout type.  If you don't include one, you don't get one.  Where the copyright and title page or pages go is all a matter of personal choice.

I notice that many books at Blurb run:

1: Title
2,3: Copyright / Introduction

When designing my book I pulled a bunch of similar books off my shelves and looked at the  opening layouts.  Most popular seems to be:

1: Half-Title (page w/just the title of the book)
2,3: Frontispiece / Title (title w/author and publisher)
4,5: Copyright / Table of Contents
6,7: ToC continued or blank / Introduction

But I found a pretty wide variety, including some with the copyright page at back of the book (this in a recently published, U.S. book, by a well known publisher, too!)

By the way, 1.7.5 is somewhat old.  You should download the latest version before starting any new books - there are a load of new templates in 1.9.  When you start a new book in 1.9, with most options you get a default copyright page in the mix of initial pages.  But you can delete it or move it just like any other page (except, of course the required last, "Blurb" page).</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Nope &amp;#8211; Copyright is just a layout type.  If you don&amp;#8217;t include one, you don&amp;#8217;t get one.  Where the copyright and title page or pages go is all a matter of personal choice.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;I notice that many books at Blurb run:&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;1: Title&lt;br /&gt;2,3: Copyright / Introduction&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;When designing my book I pulled a bunch of similar books off my shelves and looked at the  opening layouts.  Most popular seems to be:&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;1: Half-Title (page w/just the title of the book)&lt;br /&gt;2,3: Frontispiece / Title (title w/author and publisher)&lt;br /&gt;4,5: Copyright / Table of Contents&lt;br /&gt;6,7: ToC continued or blank / Introduction&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;But I found a pretty wide variety, including some with the copyright page at back of the book (this in a recently published, U.S. book, by a well known publisher, too!)&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;By the way, 1.7.5 is somewhat old.  You should download the latest version before starting any new books &amp;#8211; there are a load of new templates in 1.9.  When you start a new book in 1.9, with most options you get a default copyright page in the mix of initial pages.  But you can delete it or move it just like any other page (except, of course the required last, &amp;#8220;Blurb&amp;#8221; page).&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:18:48Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">4</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">10004</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2113</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-07T05:18:48Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Aha! Okay, somehow I had come away with the idea that only 7x7 books were on the iGen3. 

On careful review of the books, the difference is really only an issue on some images that are line art, or similar stark black/white contrasts.  For example, these images display the issue the most:

http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=904
http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=731
http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=410
http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=309

(Note, those images are the web gallery versions - they were all re-rendered at full page resolution of 2884x2471 for the book prints.)

I'm surprised that the 600dpi (iGen3) vs. 812dpi (Indigo 5000) would make that much difference, since both should be easily capable of simulating the 175lpi screen setting Blurb uses.  I rather suspect the difference is in the RIP engines:  Harlequin on Indigo 5000 vs. one of Xerox FreeFlow, Creo Spire or EFI Fiery on the iGen3.  I'd be curious to know which RIP Blurb specs. for its iGen3 printers.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Aha! Okay, somehow I had come away with the idea that only 7&amp;#215;7 books were on the iGen3.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;On careful review of the books, the difference is really only an issue on some images that are line art, or similar stark black/white contrasts.  For example, these images display the issue the most:&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=904"&gt;http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=904&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=731"&gt;http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=731&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=410"&gt;http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=410&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=309"&gt;http://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=309&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;(Note, those images are the web gallery versions &amp;#8211; they were all re-rendered at full page resolution of 2884&amp;#215;2471 for the book prints.)&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#8217;m surprised that the 600dpi (iGen3) vs. 812dpi (Indigo 5000) would make that much difference, since both should be easily capable of simulating the 175lpi screen setting Blurb uses.  I rather suspect the difference is in the &lt;span class="caps"&gt;RIP&lt;/span&gt; engines:  Harlequin on Indigo 5000 vs. one of Xerox FreeFlow, Creo Spire or &lt;span class="caps"&gt;EFI&lt;/span&gt; Fiery on the iGen3.  I&amp;#8217;d be curious to know which &lt;span class="caps"&gt;RIP&lt;/span&gt; Blurb specs. for its iGen3 printers.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-06T05:35:21Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9967</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2157</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-06T05:35:21Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Two and a half weeks ago I ordered a proof copy of my book: 10x8, 150 pages, hardcover.  The result was stunning.

There were about a dozen tiny errata to fix in various text sections, and I decided to redo a few of the images (about 24 out of almost 300).  A week ago I uploaded that and ordered a softcover copy, as well as 10 more hardcovers.

Today, I got the softcover and was disappointed in the image quality.  Comparing images that didn't change between the two books, there is a significant quality difference.  It looks as though in the softcover book, the screen settings are different than the ones used in the hardcover book, and they are visibly not as good. In this book's case, where many of the images are fine line art, the difference is very pronounced.  I doubt in a book of photographs one would notice.

While both books shipped from Seattle, WA, I suspect that they were done by different printers.  I note the bar codes have different prefixes (0118- vs. 0129-).  Blurb - is it possible that your printing partners don't use exactly the same pre-press conversion settings on all presses?

I will upload camera shots of examples tomorrow, and will write support as well.

Anyone else have similar experience?</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Two and a half weeks ago I ordered a proof copy of my book: 10&amp;#215;8, 150 pages, hardcover.  The result was stunning.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;There were about a dozen tiny errata to fix in various text sections, and I decided to redo a few of the images (about 24 out of almost 300).  A week ago I uploaded that and ordered a softcover copy, as well as 10 more hardcovers.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Today, I got the softcover and was disappointed in the image quality.  Comparing images that didn&amp;#8217;t change between the two books, there is a significant quality difference.  It looks as though in the softcover book, the screen settings are different than the ones used in the hardcover book, and they are visibly not as good. In this book&amp;#8217;s case, where many of the images are fine line art, the difference is very pronounced.  I doubt in a book of photographs one would notice.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;While both books shipped from Seattle, WA, I suspect that they were done by different printers.  I note the bar codes have different prefixes (0118- vs. 0129-).  Blurb &amp;#8211; is it possible that your printing partners don&amp;#8217;t use exactly the same pre-press conversion settings on all presses?&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;I will upload camera shots of examples tomorrow, and will write support as well.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Anyone else have similar experience?&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-05T07:49:10Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9910</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2157</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-05T07:49:10Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Alas, there is no way to change the size of a book once started.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Alas, there is no way to change the size of a book once started.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-04T05:44:30Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">4</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9836</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2141</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-04T05:44:30Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Anywhere between 150dpi and 300dpi should look great.  More than 300dpi won't gain you anything, since the final printing is done with about 150lpi screens.

When placing images, remeber that BookSmart doesn't pay any attention to the dpi setting in the file, just the pixel dimensions.  It will scale any image you place to the container in which you place it.  BookSmart will display a warning sign if the resulting dpi from scaling the image to the container is less than 150.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Anywhere between 150dpi and 300dpi should look great.  More than 300dpi won&amp;#8217;t gain you anything, since the final printing is done with about 150lpi screens.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;When placing images, remeber that BookSmart doesn&amp;#8217;t pay any attention to the dpi setting in the file, just the pixel dimensions.  It will scale any image you place to the container in which you place it.  BookSmart will display a warning sign if the resulting dpi from scaling the image to the container is less than 150.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-04T05:39:02Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">4</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9835</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2140</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-04T05:39:02Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>The sizes reported in BookSmart are the exact sizes including the trim area (on the three external sides) and the gutter.  So yes, the final page height will be 6 5/8" (6.9" less 1/8" from the top, and 1/8" from the bottom).  The width of the paper will be 6 3/4" (6.9" less 1/8" from the outside edge).  The spine edge of the paper is bound and you loose some to the gutter. This isn't trimmed off, just that binding is going to hold some of the paper.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;The sizes reported in BookSmart are the exact sizes including the trim area (on the three external sides) and the gutter.  So yes, the final page height will be 6 5/8&amp;#8221; (6.9&amp;#8221; less 1/8&amp;#8221; from the top, and 1/8&amp;#8221; from the bottom).  The width of the paper will be 6 3/4&amp;#8221; (6.9&amp;#8221; less 1/8&amp;#8221; from the outside edge).  The spine edge of the paper is bound and you loose some to the gutter. This isn&amp;#8217;t trimmed off, just that binding is going to hold some of the paper.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-02-04T05:30:51Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">4</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9834</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2139</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-02-04T05:30:51Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>It would be really great to know the sales volume of private books, too.

Seems like it would reasonable to provide authors sales metrics for both private and public books, whether or not your in the set-your-price program.

In my case I have two copies of the book, one public in the bookstore, and one private that I use to for selling copies "at cost" to a select audience. In this case, that audience is more than my family - so I can't just go ask how many they bought, but I'd still like to know how many.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;It would be really great to know the sales volume of private books, too.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Seems like it would reasonable to provide authors sales metrics for both private and public books, whether or not your in the set-your-price program.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;In my case I have two copies of the book, one public in the bookstore, and one private that I use to for selling copies &amp;#8220;at cost&amp;#8221; to a select audience. In this case, that audience is more than my family &amp;#8211; so I can&amp;#8217;t just go ask how many they bought, but I&amp;#8217;d still like to know how many.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-30T16:05:03Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">6</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9665</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2107</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-30T16:05:03Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>I'll add name to the satisfied list, too.  I know I've been pretty vocal in the forums about quite a number of book production topics.  And I'm pretty sure support is quite tired of hearing from me.

But, I'm sitting here holding the book is ordered as a proof and I can't stop paging through it. The computer-generated images came out great, with the huge, full-bleed color backgrounds looking smooth and silky. I just added the book to the bookstore and informed the 29 contributing artists (!) that our collection is now a BOOK!

Thanks, Blurb, this project wouldn't have been feasible any other way.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#8217;ll add name to the satisfied list, too.  I know I&amp;#8217;ve been pretty vocal in the forums about quite a number of book production topics.  And I&amp;#8217;m pretty sure support is quite tired of hearing from me.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;But, I&amp;#8217;m sitting here holding the book is ordered as a proof and I can&amp;#8217;t stop paging through it. The computer-generated images came out great, with the huge, full-bleed color backgrounds looking smooth and silky. I just added the book to the bookstore and informed the 29 contributing artists (!) that our collection is now a &lt;span class="caps"&gt;BOOK&lt;/span&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Thanks, Blurb, this project wouldn&amp;#8217;t have been feasible any other way.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-30T07:23:51Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9654</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2099</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-30T07:23:51Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Woot!  Thanks, Admiral B. for the detailed info.  Would I be correct in thinking that the spine board is chosen when the book is bound, not in BookSmart.  I know how to tweak the table of data in BookSmart, but I'm guessing that wouldn't get me a different spine size.

vangloy: Just to clarify, the spine binding isn't loose in anyway. Everything seems secure in my book.  This is just the aesthetics of what the book looks like closed, edge on. I doubt the vast majority of book owners would ever notice.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Woot!  Thanks, Admiral B. for the detailed info.  Would I be correct in thinking that the spine board is chosen when the book is bound, not in BookSmart.  I know how to tweak the table of data in BookSmart, but I&amp;#8217;m guessing that wouldn&amp;#8217;t get me a different spine size.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;vangloy: Just to clarify, the spine binding isn&amp;#8217;t loose in anyway. Everything seems secure in my book.  This is just the aesthetics of what the book looks like closed, edge on. I doubt the vast majority of book owners would ever notice.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-29T04:14:42Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9609</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2070</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-29T04:14:42Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>I printed a 150 page hardcover 10x8 book.  The spine seems way to wide for the thickness of the pages, by about 50%.  When looking down on the spine, there is a noticeable gap between the last page and the inside of the back cover. It is much more than conventional hardcover books have.

The pages are just over 5/16" thick.  The inside edge of the spine is 10/16" at the back edge, and 8/16" at the "pinched" point.

I know there has to be some play in the binding, but doesn't seem like way too much?  Is this because Blurb uses only a fixed set of spine boards and need to go to the next higher range?  If so, I'd love to know what they are, as I'd consider adding or dropping pages to get a better fit.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;I printed a 150 page hardcover 10&amp;#215;8 book.  The spine seems way to wide for the thickness of the pages, by about 50%.  When looking down on the spine, there is a noticeable gap between the last page and the inside of the back cover. It is much more than conventional hardcover books have.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;The pages are just over 5/16&amp;#8221; thick.  The inside edge of the spine is 10/16&amp;#8221; at the back edge, and 8/16&amp;#8221; at the &amp;#8220;pinched&amp;#8221; point.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;I know there has to be some play in the binding, but doesn&amp;#8217;t seem like way too much?  Is this because Blurb uses only a fixed set of spine boards and need to go to the next higher range?  If so, I&amp;#8217;d love to know what they are, as I&amp;#8217;d consider adding or dropping pages to get a better fit.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-26T17:29:10Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9487</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2070</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-26T17:29:10Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Really, Blub should move it's barcode. The International ISBN Agency's own "ISBN Users' Manual", section 8.2 states:

"The recommended location of the EAN-13 bar code symbol for publications is the lower 
right quadrant of the back, near the spine."

So, 'cmon Blurb- move it!  Of course, you have to leave where it is for all existing books, on the assumption that authors have designed the rear cover to accommodate its current location.

Better yet - just remove it!  It's on the final "Blurb" page anyway.  Give us back our back covers!

(The aforementioned manual can be gotten here: http://www.isbn-international.org/en/manual.html)</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Really, Blub should move it&amp;#8217;s barcode. The International &lt;span class="caps"&gt;ISBN&lt;/span&gt; Agency&amp;#8217;s own &amp;#8220;ISBN Users&amp;#8217; Manual&amp;#8221;, section 8.2 states:&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;The recommended location of the &lt;span class="caps"&gt;EAN&lt;/span&gt;-13 bar code symbol for publications is the lower &lt;br /&gt;right quadrant of the back, near the spine.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;So, &amp;#8216;cmon Blurb- move it!  Of course, you have to leave where it is for all existing books, on the assumption that authors have designed the rear cover to accommodate its current location.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Better yet &amp;#8211; just remove it!  It&amp;#8217;s on the final &amp;#8220;Blurb&amp;#8221; page anyway.  Give us back our back covers!&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;(The aforementioned manual can be gotten here: &lt;a href="http://www.isbn-international.org/en/manual.html"&gt;http://www.isbn-international.org/en/manual.html&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-26T05:33:33Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9478</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2052</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-26T05:33:33Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Is there any chance this will be fixed in a later version of BookSmart?  One could easily imagine an option to have different covers for softcover and hardcover editions and this would easily solve the ISBN issue.

Having to upload the book twice doesn't seem like a workable option: The buyer experience would be pretty poor.  What would you do?  In the description text say "if you want the hardcover version, click here."?  I doubt that users would find it.

I suppose I'm just going to leave the bar code off altogether.  Fie!</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Is there any chance this will be fixed in a later version of BookSmart?  One could easily imagine an option to have different covers for softcover and hardcover editions and this would easily solve the &lt;span class="caps"&gt;ISBN&lt;/span&gt; issue.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Having to upload the book twice doesn&amp;#8217;t seem like a workable option: The buyer experience would be pretty poor.  What would you do?  In the description text say &amp;#8220;if you want the hardcover version, click here.&amp;#8221;?  I doubt that users would find it.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;I suppose I&amp;#8217;m just going to leave the bar code off altogether.  Fie!&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-26T05:26:21Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">2</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9477</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">681</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-26T05:26:21Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>No need to buy a bar code - there are several web sites that will produce them in seconds for free:

Try:
http://www.milk.com/barcode/

Or:
http://www.tux.org/~milgram/bookland/</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;No need to buy a bar code &amp;#8211; there are several web sites that will produce them in seconds for free:&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Try:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.milk.com/barcode/"&gt;http://www.milk.com/barcode/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Or:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tux.org/~milgram/bookland/"&gt;http://www.tux.org/~milgram/bookland/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-26T05:06:39Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">3</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9473</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2003</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-26T05:06:39Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>I had a bear of a time with the spine text too.  I gave up on keeping it locked - after all, I don't change my title *that* often....  So, I unlocked it, typed it one more time and was done.

Now, I still sometimes found that it would snap back and lock itself!  This was quite annoying, but I didn't see a repro case, so I haven't submitted a bug.

I suspect it is because I didn't use an official title page layout anywhere in my book.  I didn't like those layouts and so I just used one of the normal image layouts for my title page.  I think this gave BookSmart fits.  I did add a title page at one point, set the text in that page as per my book, and then deleted the page.  This seemed to make BookSmart happy for awhile.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;I had a bear of a time with the spine text too.  I gave up on keeping it locked &amp;#8211; after all, I don&amp;#8217;t change my title *that* often&amp;#8230;.  So, I unlocked it, typed it one more time and was done.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Now, I still sometimes found that it would snap back and lock itself!  This was quite annoying, but I didn&amp;#8217;t see a repro case, so I haven&amp;#8217;t submitted a bug.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;I suspect it is because I didn&amp;#8217;t use an official title page layout anywhere in my book.  I didn&amp;#8217;t like those layouts and so I just used one of the normal image layouts for my title page.  I think this gave BookSmart fits.  I did add a title page at one point, set the text in that page as per my book, and then deleted the page.  This seemed to make BookSmart happy for awhile.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-19T16:38:47Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">2</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9147</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">2007</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-19T16:38:47Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>If you mean you'd like to move the container where you type the text, say moving it up or down, you can't.  The positions of the containers (text and image) are fixed in each layout.

However, you can choose a title page layout (from the templates on the left) that has a large text block covering most of the page.  Then you can type your title, and enter lines of just a single space before your title to move the title down.  Then by adjusting the font size of those lines with just spaces you can control how high or low your title appears on the page.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;If you mean you&amp;#8217;d like to move the container where you type the text, say moving it up or down, you can&amp;#8217;t.  The positions of the containers (text and image) are fixed in each layout.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;However, you can choose a title page layout (from the templates on the left) that has a large text block covering most of the page.  Then you can type your title, and enter lines of just a single space before your title to move the title down.  Then by adjusting the font size of those lines with just spaces you can control how high or low your title appears on the page.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-19T16:33:06Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">4</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">9146</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">1919</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-19T16:33:06Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>They intentionally use a pretty poor quality rendition in the PDF proofs both so that the PDF is small, and so that you won't be tempted to print that PDF elsewhere.  On screen they use low resolution versions so that the program stays responsive.

For photographs, the low quality they choose doesn't look so bad, but for line-art (as in my book too), it looks awful.  However, as promised, since my art was all hi-res, my test book came back from Blurb with the art looking great.

So long as your originals are about the sizes that BookSmart tells you it wants for each image container, you should be fine.  BookSmart will give you clear warning symbol if you try to use something too low res.

By the way, if your images are at least 1/2 what the container in BookSmart says it wants for an image, there is probably no value in resizing them externally.  If they are much bigger than what BookSmart says, then perhaps resizing externally will make things go faster.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;They intentionally use a pretty poor quality rendition in the &lt;span class="caps"&gt;PDF&lt;/span&gt; proofs both so that the &lt;span class="caps"&gt;PDF&lt;/span&gt; is small, and so that you won&amp;#8217;t be tempted to print that &lt;span class="caps"&gt;PDF&lt;/span&gt; elsewhere.  On screen they use low resolution versions so that the program stays responsive.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;For photographs, the low quality they choose doesn&amp;#8217;t look so bad, but for line-art (as in my book too), it looks awful.  However, as promised, since my art was all hi-res, my test book came back from Blurb with the art looking great.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;So long as your originals are about the sizes that BookSmart tells you it wants for each image container, you should be fine.  BookSmart will give you clear warning symbol if you try to use something too low res.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;By the way, if your images are at least 1/2 what the container in BookSmart says it wants for an image, there is probably no value in resizing them externally.  If they are much bigger than what BookSmart says, then perhaps resizing externally will make things go faster.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-15T07:10:59Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">4</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">8951</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">1961</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-15T07:10:59Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>AHA!  Blurb forms are messing up my links!  Every time I post a link to the right thread, it gets munged back to this thread, so forget the nice link formatting.  The thread is here:
     http://forums.blurb.com/forums/2/topics/1542</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="caps"&gt;AHA&lt;/span&gt;!  Blurb forms are messing up my links!  Every time I post a link to the right thread, it gets munged back to this thread, so forget the nice link formatting.  The thread is here:
     &lt;a href="http://forums.blurb.com/forums/2/topics/1542"&gt;http://forums.blurb.com/forums/2/topics/1542&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-13T01:18:11Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">8839</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">1517</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-13T01:18:11Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>Ah, my bad - and there is no way to edit a posting.... so, the thread should be here: &lt;a href=http://forums.blurb.com/forums/2/topics/1542&gt;Quality of Text&lt;/a&gt;.  Amazing that the search facility can't find it!

Yes, your other points, cb, of course stand and were great.  As for degraded text, judging from many forum posts here, whether or not that degradation is important or not will depend heavily on situation.  Many people are simply putting short captions in large font sizes on colored backgrounds.  They feel they have had acceptable or excellent results.  In my case, my book has a fair amount of technical code set in 8pt., black on white.  The book also has peculiar layout needs... So I ended up tweaking the layouts in the XML files to make it so that I could enter all text in BookSmart text containers.   (Don't try this at home, folks, you need expert XML skills to do it.)</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Ah, my bad &amp;#8211; and there is no way to edit a posting&amp;#8230;. so, the thread should be here: &lt;a href="http:" /&gt;Quality of Text&lt;/a&gt;.  Amazing that the search facility can&amp;#8217;t find it!&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Yes, your other points, cb, of course stand and were great.  As for degraded text, judging from many forum posts here, whether or not that degradation is important or not will depend heavily on situation.  Many people are simply putting short captions in large font sizes on colored backgrounds.  They feel they have had acceptable or excellent results.  In my case, my book has a fair amount of technical code set in 8pt., black on white.  The book also has peculiar layout needs&amp;#8230; So I ended up tweaking the layouts in the &lt;span class="caps"&gt;XML&lt;/span&gt; files to make it so that I could enter all text in BookSmart text containers.   (Don&amp;#8217;t try this at home, folks, you need expert &lt;span class="caps"&gt;XML&lt;/span&gt; skills to do it.)&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-13T01:17:19Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">8838</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">1517</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-13T01:17:19Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>The article was great but I think you missed a detail about text.  It looks like to me that the text you printed with Blurb was type-set in some image editing program like Photoshop, then exported as an image, and put into BookSmart on a full-page, full-bleed photo layout.

BookSmart's rasterizer prints such images quite differently than it prints text entered into a BookSmart text container.  If you were to enter the text directly into the text columns in a BookSmart text page layout, then you'd find that the text was just as perfect as LuLu's.  I did a test book to verify this, posted about in this thread: &lt;a href=http://forums.blurb.com/forums/2/topics/1542&gt;Quality of Text &lt;/a&gt;.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;The article was great but I think you missed a detail about text.  It looks like to me that the text you printed with Blurb was type-set in some image editing program like Photoshop, then exported as an image, and put into BookSmart on a full-page, full-bleed photo layout.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;BookSmart&amp;#8217;s rasterizer prints such images quite differently than it prints text entered into a BookSmart text container.  If you were to enter the text directly into the text columns in a BookSmart text page layout, then you&amp;#8217;d find that the text was just as perfect as LuLu&amp;#8217;s.  I did a test book to verify this, posted about in this thread: &lt;a href="http:" /&gt;Quality of Text &lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-12T21:56:34Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">8817</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">1517</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-12T21:56:34Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>A follow up: I probably shouldn't admit this, but since I'm an geeky-programmer type, I dived into the files that make up my book and tweaked the layouts.  It is very very difficult to do, and quite error prone without any documentation, but the result is that I now have layouts where the column widths match, the gutters are consistent, etc.

For me, probably because I am the geeky type, this was almost a deal-breaker for me and Blurb.  If I hadn't figured out how to get good layouts, I would have had to gone to a different service.</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;A follow up: I probably shouldn&amp;#8217;t admit this, but since I&amp;#8217;m an geeky-programmer type, I dived into the files that make up my book and tweaked the layouts.  It is very very difficult to do, and quite error prone without any documentation, but the result is that I now have layouts where the column widths match, the gutters are consistent, etc.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;For me, probably because I am the geeky type, this was almost a deal-breaker for me and Blurb.  If I hadn&amp;#8217;t figured out how to get good layouts, I would have had to gone to a different service.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-12T21:42:10Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">1</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">8816</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">1752</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-12T21:42:10Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
  <post>
    <body>I have the same issue.  Can someone from Blub tell us if the cover is printed on a different press, and if so which one?</body>
    <body-html>&lt;p&gt;I have the same issue.  Can someone from Blub tell us if the cover is printed on a different press, and if so which one?&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
    <created-at type="datetime">2008-01-04T15:22:35Z</created-at>
    <forum-id type="integer">5</forum-id>
    <id type="integer">8435</id>
    <topic-id type="integer">1863</topic-id>
    <updated-at type="datetime">2008-01-04T15:22:35Z</updated-at>
    <user-id type="integer">189592</user-id>
  </post>
</posts>
