background
A book can be broadly defined as a written document of at least 49 pages of text that communicates thoughts, ideas, or information. Over the centuries, books have changed dramatically, taking on a number of different forms. To a large extent, the evolution of the book has followed the expansion of forms and methods of communication and the ever-increasing demand for information.
The earliest known forms of written documentation were the clay tablet from Mesopotamia and the papyrus scroll from Egypt. examples of both date back to 3000 B.C. Independent of these developments were Chinese books, made from strips of wood or bamboo held together by string. these books date back to 1300 B.C.
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modern book production arose as a result of the invention of the printing press. Although the invention of the printing press probably also occurred earlier in China, the introduction of movable type and the printing press in Europe is attributed to Johann Gutenberg of Germany. Gutenberg, in collaboration with his associates Johann Fust and Peter Schoffer, printed a Latin Bible using a hand-press with movable lead type around 1456. Each individual letter in early handwritten type was designed in a style that closely resembled writing or handwriting. Therefore, the first printed books in Europe closely resembled the books produced by scribes. Books printed in the fifteenth century are now called incunabula, a word derived from the Latin word for cradle. In 1640, Stephen Day printed the first book in North America, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
As the printing press and movable type mechanized the book production process, books became available in greater numbers. in the nineteenth century, however, the demand for books could not be met quickly enough by the hand-printing process. printers developed larger presses to accommodate larger sheets of paper and/or the newly invented continuous paper rolls. these improvements allowed printing presses to produce books at a much faster rate. During the mid-19th century, further advances were made, including the invention of the papermaking machine (1820s), bookbinding machinery (1860s), and the cylinder press (1840s); later, linotype (invented in 1884), cast type by line rather than by individual letter.
Book production in America and throughout the industrialized world flourished and expanded during the 20th century. Major advances in printing, such as the introduction of offset printing and computerized typesetting, have made mass production more economical. The development of the paperback, which was introduced in the 1940s to offer a less expensive alternative to the traditional hardcover book, has also made books more accessible to the public. Although the invention of other forms of media, such as radio and television, has had an adverse impact on reading in general, books remain the main source of knowledge in most of the world.
raw materials
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Books are made from a variety of different coated and uncoated papers that differ in weight and size. In addition, inks of different colors can be used. Also, while the front and back covers are usually made of heavier paper, they will vary in terms of weight. For example, hardcover books have a durable cardboard cover, while paperbacks are made of thinner paper. Cover stocks are usually coated with different colors or designs.
Since the 19th century, book production has involved the use of sophisticated machinery, including typesetting machines, a web or sheet-fed press, and book binding machines.
layout
The process of designing a book continues throughout the production stages. Initially, the author, along with a publisher and book agent, will consider design elements related to the scope and purpose of the book, the desired focus of the topic, whether illustrations should be used, and other topics such as chapter headings and its placement. In determining those elements, the intended audience for the manuscript will be considered, along with accepted editorial standards. Other design considerations include whether a book should have a preface, a foreword, a glossary to define specific terms, an index to reference key words and concepts, and a supplementary material appendix.
Once a book manuscript is written, editors and authors must refine the manuscript into a final edited version before production. In most cases, this involves a review, edit, review, review, and final approval process. After completing these manuscript design factors, the editors and art directors will determine the following characteristics:
- page size and style
- font size and style
- paper type and weight for text and cover
- use of color
- presentation of images/illustrations in the text, if necessary
- covers/illustrations
the manufacturing process
Once the book is written and the appropriate design elements are agreed upon, production of the book can begin. the first stage is typesetting, in which the actual text is converted to type style (known as font) and size (known as point size ) appropriate. . After proofreading the typeface version of the book and making any necessary changes, it is ready for printing and binding, in which the actual pages are printed and bound together with the cover, resulting in a finished book. typesetting and printing (“printing” consists of filming and all subsequent steps) is usually not done by the publisher but by specialized vendors.
typesetting
- 1 First, the script is converted to the desired font and point size. if the manuscript has not been completed on a computer, it must be typed on a computer by the typesetter. however, if it is already in electronic format, the typesetter simply has to make programming changes to convert the manuscript to the proper style. the result is usually (but not always – see step 3 below) a galley of the text. a galley form of manuscript consists of long pages of text in a single column. the galley includes the proper font, but proper pagination still needs to be resolved.
- 2 proofs are corrected and edited by the editor to detect errors. this stage is particularly important if the manuscript has been composed (typed) from a printed copy of the text. if the manuscript was composed from a computer disk, most errors should already have been corrected during a revision of the manuscript. the single-column format of galley proofs makes it easy to review.
pages and mechanics
- 3 After the proofs are thoroughly proofread and edited, the pages are produced (or lasered). an exact layout of compound pages but usually printed on standard typescript paper, the pages are also checked by the editor for accuracy. some books skip the galley stage and go straight to the pages. once the necessary changes have been made, the typesetter produces a mechanical composite page. Also called a camera print, the mechanical is printed on high-quality paper that is suitable for filming, the first stage of the printing process. the job of the typesetting provider, if different from the editor, is already done.
filming
- 4 mechanical composition now goes to the printing and binding provider. First, each page of text, including line drawings, is photographed (or filmed) with a large camera to produce page negatives. these negatives are the opposite of what will actually be printed. in other words, the text and photos will appear backwards in negative form. negatives are then checked to ensure there are no blemishes. while printed words and line drawings have only one shade of black, photographs have many shades, from the palest gray to the deepest black, and must be filmed using a special process to maintain these shades. the process converts shadows into black and white dots: very light areas have many dots, while darker areas have fewer dots. converted photos are known as halftones. If the book is going to have more than one color of ink, a separate negative is made for each color. for color photographs, for example, four negatives are generally used: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. for this reason, colored books will have negative overlays (one negative overlay for each color). due to added overlays, a book printed in more than one color incurs additional setup and cost.
undress
- 5 The negatives are then taped or “peeled” into place on a large sheet called a goldenrod or flat. each plan contains 32 or 64 pages, and enough plans are used to equal the number of pages in the book. strippers examine each finished floor on an alignment table to ensure text and illustrations are properly aligned and in sequence. (The book’s pages are not lined up in consecutive order on the layout, and in fact some of the pages are upside down. This placement is necessary because the final paper version of each layout will be folded multiple times; once the sheet is folded, pages 32 or 64 will be in the correct order (this placement method is known as imposition.) To facilitate this examination process, the alignment tables are equipped with a fluorescent light that shines through the negatives, making it easier for the stripper to read and align the text.
planes
- 6 To make sure the book runs smoothly, each shot is tested by shining ultraviolet light through the negatives to expose their images on special light-sensitive paper. the resulting pages are called blueprints (or silverprints, bluelines, or dyluxes) because the paper and ink appear blue or silver. then the editor carefully checks the plans. if an editor or art director finds a mistake in a shot or decides to make a change, the page in question must be rephotographed. the new negative will be stripped onto the plane.
plate manufacturing
- 7 After final approval, each shot is photographed and the negatives are exposed (or “burned” on) a thin sheet of aluminum called a plate. The sections of the plates that contain text and illustrations are then treated with an ink-attracting chemical, ensuring that the text and illustrations print on press.
- 8 The plates are then sent to the printer. if printed in a single color, each plate will require only one pass through the press. if you print more than one color, an additional pass will be required for each color. for example, if two colors are used, the paper passes through the press twice.
- There are three main printing processes used in book production: offset lithography, letterpress, and gravure. the process used depends less on differences in quality than on economic factors such as the availability of machines, the number of books printed (the print run) and the speed of delivery. presses are sheet-fed (loose sheets of paper are fed) or reel-fed (huge rolls of paper are unwound and passed).
link
- 9 once the sheets are printed and dry, they are sent to the binding. while many large print shops have their own bindery shops, other smaller print shops must send printed sheets to an outside bindery shop. in binding, plans are folded and collated into signaturas books (correctly folded sections of 32 or 64 pages) which are then bound in the proper sequence. all these functions are automated.
- 10 Book binding also involves sewing signatures, gluing spines, and inserting linings and trimming edges. the amount and type of binding depends on the type of book (soft cover or hard cover) and its size. in the final step, the book is “boxed” or enclosed in a cover.
quality control
To help ensure a quality product is produced, printers perform a series of regular checks. In addition to checking the accuracy of the plans, printers will pull a press proof, or sample, before the print run begins. if certain areas of the proof are too light or too dark, on-press adjustments may be required.
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After the book signatures are attached, the printer will check them to make sure they have been folded and stitched correctly. They will also check if the covers of the books are bound correctly to prevent the books from deteriorating with use.
Some of the instruments used to control quality include densitometers and colorimeters , which are used to evaluate color printing processes; paper hygroscopes, which measure the moisture balance of paper versus the relative humidity of print rooms; and inkometers, which measure the quality of the ink to be used in printing.
the future
Book production has remained virtually the same since the early 20th century, except for changes in typesetting. Although dedicated typesetting machines (linotype or monotype) have been standard equipment in printing houses and typesetting companies since 1900, desktop publishing on microcomputers has become a cost-effective alternative. With the right typesetting software and a laser printer, users can generate text, insert graphics, and create layouts and page layouts as sophisticated and detailed as those produced by traditional typesetting machines. As a result, authors, publishers, printers, and virtually every other business have been able to set type and perform page layout and design on microcomputers. Also, depending on the resolution and quality of the laser printer, users can create fonts that a printer can use to shoot a negative. this type is known as camera-ready.
In addition, desktop publishing accessories such as scanners and graphics software allow users to insert even more computer graphics and scan photos, printed graphics and text into their desktop system.
For book production, many authors, publishers, and design shops now have their own desktop publishing equipment, allowing them to give printers camera-ready copy. If they don’t have laser printers with sufficient print quality resolution, they can simply give the book to the printer in disk form and have the printer write to a laser printer with high resolution. Either way, desktop publishing gives the user more control over design and lowers production costs.
Because desktop publishing is relatively new, changes and improvements continue to make the systems easier to use. As more people gain access to such systems, book publishing and publishing in general will see more widespread use of desktop publishing in the future.