Leather Craftsmen (Library Bound)

Production Tips

Fiber Black & White Papers.

Fiber black and white papers require special attention to prevent mounting problems in library bound books. A little special attention toward these orders will help the speedy delivery of these books from the manufacturer.

Drying.

Fiber papers will tend to curl if not dried and shipped properly. Should the paper curl, your book company will have an impossible time trying to mount the prints. And if you are texturing the prints, curling can cause the print to crease (because it can not lie flat). You will find these suggestions to help prevent the fiber prints from curling. First of all, drying the prints are the most important. Most fiber prints will curl is not dried in canvas drying presses. Flat bed dryers are the most efficient. This dryer consist of a metal area where the print is placed image up. A canvas tarp then covers the print and presses the print onto the metal area. You should dry at low temperatures. High temperatures shall cause the print to shrink and curl because of the excessive heat.

Storing Prior To Shipping.

Once the prints are dried at low heat temperatures, they should be stored on a humidity free box. Empty paper boxes make great storage boxes, as they were designed to keep excessive moisture from papers. Fiber papers can regain moisture at any time. Prints stored in boxes will gain less moisture, especially if you live in a very humid part of the country (such as Florida).

Shipping.

When you are ready to ship your prints, it is important to keep humidity out of the prints while they are in transit. Slipping your prints between two pieces of cardboard will help keep the prints flat. However, you will need to press the cardboard to the prints very tightly (this will help seal out moisture). You can either rubber band the pieces of cards, or tape the cardboard (with the prints in between). You should cut your cardboard at least a half of an inch larger than the print to prevent the prints from becoming bent.

Marking Print Position.

Your book company will need to know the position of your photographs. Montage, an album design software program, provided a printed layout for your book company to follow. Montage is distributed by Art Leather Manufacturing, 888-88-ALBUM. This software allows you to design the book and print a layout of the book. This layout can be sent to your book company for a layout guide. Montage was designed specifically for Art Leather products. However, it can be used simply as album design software with any album company. You may find that some of the mat formats will vary from company to company. You may need to make some hand drawn adjustments on your layout. Overall, the software will still save you time is design and provide an excellent printed layout guide. Most album companies will use the Montage layout as a guide.

However, every book company has their own way of print position indication. Leather Craftsmen prefers you to write the position number on the back of the print with a soft pencil. In a four, image up page scenario, images would be marked 4a (top left), 4b (top right), 4c (bottom left), and 4d (bottom right). If you had 2 4x5 images at the top and one 5x7 horizontal image on the bottom, it would be marked 4a, 4b (2 4x5’s) and 4cd (5x7). You should check with your book company to find specifics in their proper image position indication method.