Digital Book Design and Publishing

This is the first book I bought on digital publishing. Even though it is not a recent publication, it is general enough to still be a good introduction.

FROM THE FRONT FLAP

CONTRARY to futurists’ predictions that computer culture would mark the demise of the book, electronic technologies, by changing the way books are produced and distributed, are creating a renaissance in book culture. At least as significant to print publishing as Gutenberg’s moveable type in its time, electronic, or desktop, publishing has brought the tools of book production to anyone who owns or has access to a personal computer. Add a scanner and printer, page layout and image processing programs and you have, at your desktop, a means to work with typography, images and page design undreamed of fifteen years ago. This book covers all the essentials of digital bookmaking for photographers, artists, designers and for writers who want to move beyond the manuscript to the page. Based on his years of work as a photographer, bookmaker and teacher, Douglas Holleley has developed a clear and considered approach to “Digital Book Design and Publishing.” You will find a progression through the process of bookmaking, from a consideration of maquette and materials through printing and bookbinding, as well as a step-by-step guide to page layout and image processing software. A rich and varied selection of reproductions from historical and contemporary illustrated books and artists’ books places digitally produced books in a historical continuum.