RF Book Project - Next steps

I was under the impression that the book is horizontal in orientation?
 
5x7.5 will keep the same image proportion as 4x6 and still fit in the book.

Todd
 
We need our Editor-in-Chief to say go.

5x7.5 for both Portrait and landscape will fit the page.

300 dpi JPEGs.
 
We need Gene :)

As interesting as it is to get 25 people from literally around the globe to agree on things it's also time consuming :)

But we've done REALLY well so far... think of it...we are on day three and already have drafts for front and rear cover, draft for foreword and 5-6 photos for the back are already in - and people are really trying to narrow down their two submission photos.

GREAT going everyone!!!!

Orientation of Book:
I must admit I had always envisioned the book to be in portrait mode (as also shown here: http://www.pbase.com/rsilfverberg/image/33891290)

Not sure what is 'worst' - portrait photos in a landscape layout book - or landscape photos in a portrait format book.

I personally simply HATE turning the book on its side when viewing portrait vs landscape so my own strong opinion is to have them all oriented in the same way for the reader.

b) Size of photos:
If we do a portrait oriented book then 5x7 would work well for them - but in that case the landscape photos would get a maximum size of 5x5.

Can anyone check my math on that? :)
 
My apologies for getting behind in the discussions. I was on deadline with a magazine assignment (which I filed today !! Yay !! )

My understanding -- and someone correct me if I'm wrong -- is that we're doing an 8.5x11" book in vertical format (spine along the long edge). I didn't see any other options for orientation on the Lulu site, though I may have missed it.

Now, of that 8.5" width, subtract 0.5" for gutter space, where the book is bound. That leaves 8". If your longest length horizonal image is 7" that only leaves 0.5" white space around it. 6.5" would leave 0.75" white space, which would probably make the image look better.

Portrait orientation prints have more room on the page and could easily go to 9" on the long edge.

Or we keep all photos at 6.5" or 7" on the long edge for uniformity.

I don't think we should set a set size on the short edge because some images may be cropped and others printed full frame.

My math reads like this (someone check the figures):

7" x 300dpi = 2100 pixels on the long edge

6.5" x 300dpi = 1950 pixels on the long edge

9" x 300dpi = 2700 pixels on the long edge

The short edges will fall however you crop your image.

So, for example, in Photoshop you would do Image Size 300dpi and set the long edge to 2100 pixels if we decide to do 7"

This weekend I will try to mock up four image pages to scale that you can download and print out on your printer to see what you think works best.

Also, don't think in terms of image size in KB. This is usually a factor of resolution + which colours are in the image. B&W's are usually smaller than col images, but not always. Dark images are usually smaller than bright ones. The key thing is getting the 300dpi and the correct number of pixels on the long edge and letting everything else fall where it does.

Gene
 
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I meant to add: if you want to get started on rescanning your images, at this stage scan them at the max resolution your scanner will do and do any post-processing you need to do EXCEPT for sharpening.

Once we have image size sorted out, you can then interpolate your image to the correct size, preferrably downsizing them.

Gene
 
Gene, if you were a woman I'd kiss you!
Well..you know what I mean..eh...moving on !


Guys - let's follow Gene's lead on image size, orientation, etc.

It all sounds good to me (and yes, some mock-ups would probably be VERY useful for people (like me)!

Thanks again!
 
After reading Gene's suggestions on image size for printing. My opinion would be to have 6.5 inch on the longest side of the photo at a resolution of 300 dpi. More balanced look in the book. :)
 
Please everyone hold off on this topic until Gene have had a chance to do some mock-ups this weekend :)

There is only the option of doing portrait layout books through LuLu.

Gene's example will demonstrate the size options you will have.

Thanks.

:)
 
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