Publishing Software advice

ERU

ERU

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Hi,
I've been looking closely at the design of the latest climbing/biking/kayaking/sport guides and would like to find out more about the format/publisher that is used to produce them.
As a climber and ametuer photographer I am starting to think about making a small scale text/photo based book - an idea that started with my own 'photobook' type idea; that kind of became extended...
Being a idea/project that may span a few years I think now is a good idea to select a format to follow. I've noticed a few people do this on their own and at home using relevant software.
Who are the people to look more closely at? What software would be a good start? I'm also interested in what you think of said software? Do you think it's good value for money? Being predominately a one man band the cost is a serious hurdle to success for me.
I guess i'm looking at downloading some kind of book making software suitable for my purpose (i.e. photos and text - with watermarked photos) and begin working with it!
Cheers all
 
There are a number of types of software out there from the various companies that supply photobooks, including the rather Excellent Designer Pro, from Loxley, plus offerings from Blurb, Jessops and Photobox, amongst others.

If you're wanting to do it yourself, Adobe Indesign is used widely in publishing to create magazines and other layouts, plus various other specialised (read: expensive) software.
 
Cheers for the reply. Yeah i've got a list of people that might be suitable but need to narrow it all down a bit I guess.

I'm not too familiar with 'Adobe Indesign' but how would I stand when it came to getting it into print? Would some publishers only let me use their own software? I basically need to start compiling text/photos/watermarks now and know it's all going to work out.
 
A huge amount of this depends on how and by whom you plan on printing this, as it will need to be in a format they see as acceptable. I think though, as long as you output to an acceptable PDF format you should be fine.

As stated InDesign is probably the ultimate and is used by pretty much all print houses (thats ive work in / know about). Like all Adobe stuff you can get a 30 day trial.
Take a look here for alternatives.
 
Adobe Indesign is the main software used for this sort of thing, but maybe it is best choosing a printer first and finding out their requirements, although most should be able to support .pdf.
 
mattyh said:
Send it over as High Quality Print as said above, and it won't usually be a problem, but, it does depend on the printers you're using...

Are you planning on printing small/single quantities?
Click to expand...

I was thinking more along the lines of including fonts, crop, and bleed. This could be truely madening if what the printers require isnt fulfilled by the software your useing and you have to start fluffing it manually.
 
Cheers guys - Adobe Indesign sounds like a good start, so i'll give it a go. It sounds like it will give me a lot more flexibility at a later date. Whereas if I stick to one single publishers software i'd be committed to just them.
mattyh said:
Are you planning on printing small/single quantities?
Click to expand...
I'm looking at small quantities but the more I can sell at a later date - the better. I guess something like 25>50>100, then more if successful, would be a good 'off the top' of my head figure.

I'm absolutely clueless about printers. Where would I start? What sort of budget would I be looking at for the above quoted figures? Am I right in thinking I just rock up with my Adobe Indesign template and try to get a good deal?
 
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