How to Layout and Design Your Book Like a Pro

How to Sequence and Design Your Next Book Like a Pro from Blurb Books on Vimeo.

“Pro photographer and book designer Mat Thorne presents an introduction to book design principals. This webinar covers an overview of typography, essentials of cover design, and laying out front & back matter. Mat also shares examples and offers inspiration from published photography books.”
Find more bookmaking resources here.
Learn more in my digital printing and digital photography workshops here.

Blurb's Bookify Plug-In For Lightroom


Now you can seamlessly flow the photos you edit in Lightroom 3 straight into your Blurb Bookify™ books with our new Lightroom plug-in.
Here’s how simple it is.
– Flow edited Lightroom images into Bookify™ (online).
– Choose your book’s layout and style from within Lightroom.
– Stream photo captions automatically into your book’s text boxes.
– Automatically capture file data for the images in your book.
Blurb’s BookSmart is also coming soon to Lightroom.
Find out more about Bookify.
Read more with my Bookmaking online resources.

Blurb's Bookify

Blurb recently announced it’s new online bookmaking tool Bookify.
“Some projects are simpler, just begging for a streamlined solution. If what you want to create is a beautiful photo book – tonight – then you really should give our new online bookmaking tool, Bookify, a spin. It’s a fantastic new way to make books at Blurb.
Bookify features a specially curated set of our most popular layouts – or you can just drag and drop your photos and the page will design itself. Amazing. Plus, the whole thing is online so you can make a book from wherever you are.
So while PDF to Book is great for more involved projects, Bookify is ideal for simpler work.”
Here’s why:
•    It’s streamlined. Curated layouts and our most popular fonts.
•    It’s convenient. No download necessary. Simply import your photos from Flickr® or your computer, and start making your book instantly. You can even work on your book from more than one computer.
•    It offers all the Blurb goodness – professional quality, stellar image printing, great paper choices, hardcover or softcover, and five of our book sizes – and all at affordable prices.
Make a book with Bookify by November 2 (11:59 p.m. PDT) and save 25%.*
Just type in the appropriate promo code at checkout and you’re set:
•    USD $ coupon code: BOOKIFY
•    GBP £ coupon code: BOOKIFY1
•    EUR € coupon code: BOOKIFY2
•    CAD $ coupon code: BOOKIFY3
•    AUD $ coupon code: BOOKIFY4.
Find more resources in my Bookmaking lessons.
Learn more in my bookmaking workshops.

Blurb's Return Policy

BlurbDamages
If your Blurb book was damaged in shipping or has a production defect (like banding or improper binding) Blurb will replace it. Simple email them a picture of your problem to start the process.
There are a number of things that can go wrong that Blurb can’t cover, which you can control by carefully checking a file before you upload it.
Here’s Blurb’s Return Policy.
Blurb guarantees your satisfaction with the workmanship of your book. On the off chance your book arrives damaged or with a manufacturing defect, contact us via Blurb’s Customer Support within 14 days of receipt. We’ll make things right. Please understand that Blurb does not provide refunds or cancel orders, and except for the cases expressly described in this return policy (i.e., your book arrives damaged, with a manufacturing defect or a defect in workmanship), Blurb cannot otherwise accept returns.
Please note that each book you order from us is individually made by one of Blurb’s top-notch professional book-printing partners. There may be minor differences across different prints of the same books and/or across books printed by our different book-printing partners, including, but not limited to, slight variances in color fidelity and binding type. While we work very hard to keep our product as consistent as possible, this variation is a normal occurrence and is not considered a manufacturing defect or a defect in workmanship and does not qualify for a reprint.
When Purchasing Your Own Book
Your book is all yours: Blurb does not proof, edit, or change your content in any way. This means it’s your responsibility to review your book before you publish, and fix:
– Typos, grammar, unfinished text, or other text errors
– Low-resolution images that may appear blurry in print
– Dark images that appear dark on screen (Blurb doesn’t lighten your images to match what you see on a backlit screen)
– Design issues, including book format, organization, style, color, and page layout
– Any other creative choices you made in Blurb BookSmart® or PDF to Book you want to revisit
We strongly recommend printing a hard copy of your book on your local printer for a final once-over. (You might ask a friend to look it over, too.) If you find changes you’d like to make, no problem. Just make them in Blurb BookSmart® or your original PDF to Book file, upload the revised book, and then order as many copies as you’d like.
When Purchasing a Book From the Blurb Bookstore
Blurb is not responsible for the quality of the content of any book in the Blurb Bookstore. Each book you purchase from the Blurb Bookstore is custom printed only upon your order, and we don’t warehouse books, therefore we do not accept returns or process refunds for any reason, except to the extent we guarantee your satisfaction with the workmanship of our books, as described above.
Learn more with my Bookmaking Lessons.
Learn more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.

Get Great Color in Blurb Books!

BlurbColorVideo
X-Rite and Joe Brady offer this free 52 minute webinar on how to get great color in Blurb books.
video Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Book (37 Minutes)
Learn how to: create your book; work with photos, text, and layouts; upload your book; and more.
video Blurb BookSmart® Design Tips and Techniques (26 minutes)
For those who already know the basics of BookSmart, this intermediate session explores several design ideas you can use in your books.
video Using InDesign® to Make a Blurb Book (3:33)
A short three-minute introduction to using Adobe InDesign® to create compliant PDF files by using the Blurb PDF/X-3 Export Preset and the Blurb Templates.
Learn more with my Bookmaking Lessons.
Learn more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.

20% Off Books In Blurb's "Digital Photo Liberation" Month

BlurbJulyDiscounts
Make a Blurb book by July 31 and get 20% off. Blurb is declaring July “Digital Photo Liberation”. Liberate all those holiday/wedding/baby/you-name it photos locked away in your camera and on your computer. Set them free – get them out of the digital world and into the physical world – in a book made by you.
Simply type in the appropriate promo code at checkout.
–  USD $ coupon code: LIBERATION
–  GBP £ coupon code: LIBERATION1
–  EUR € coupon code: LIBERATION2
–  AUD $ coupon code: LIBERATION3
–  CAD $ coupon code: LIBERATION4
Learn more with my Bookmaking Lessons.
Learn more in my Bookmaking Workshop.

Blurb Volume Discounts

BlurbVolumeDiscounts
With Blurb you can order one copy of your book or many. Volume order discounts begin on orders of ten or more copies of the same book. For orders of 1,000 or more, Blurb offers offset printing for better economies of scale. Your discount grows along with the size of your order.
What are the discounts?
10    – 199     10%
200 – 400    15%
401 – 999     Request a POD price quote here.
1000+          Request an Offset price quote here.
Find out more and get answers to these frequently asked questions here.
–  Do I need to order a proof book before I submit a volume order?
– Will my volume order books look like my proof book?
– How much is shipping?
– How can I get a price quote for a volume order?
– What is the total turnaround time for volume orders?
– Why do volume orders take longer to process?
– What are my payment options for a volume order?
Learn more with my Bookmaking Lessons.
Learn more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.

Blurb's Photography Book Now Contest

BlurbPBNContest
Only two more weeks remain in Blurb’s Photography Book Now contest.
Blurb books must be submitted by 11:59 PDT July 15.
Categories include Fine Art, Editorial, and Portfolio.
The Grand Prize is $25,000.
Jurors include Darius Himes, Monica Allende, David Fahey, Michael Mack, Lesley A Martin, Susan Meisalas, Erin O’Tool, Martin Parr, Judith Puckett-Rinella, and Brian Smith.
Get the inside scoop from the jurors here.
What makes a winning photo book? Darius Himes (publisher)
Which photo books have been most influential? David Fahey (dealer)
What books should you read on a desert island? Brian Smith (photographer)
What are last year’s PBN winners are up to now?
Learn more about the the PBN Contest here.
Learn more with my Bookmaking Lessons.
Learn more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.