Re: DOCBOOK: Print books in book format

[Lee Moore <moore at wrc dot xerox dot com>]

Hi,

I work in the area of digital book printing and so I might be able to help
you.

In our experience, the process of creating a physical book (such as you
would find in a bookstore) is best designed by looking at the steps in reverse
order of execution. That is to say, start with the finished book and
work backwards toward the raw materials. This is a "pull" model rather
than a "push" model.  We find that the later steps place constraints
on the earlier steps so designing the work process in the reverse
direction of the data flow allows you to capture these dependencies.

If I assume that you want a paperback book ("perfect bound"), then the 
last two steps are:

1) do a perfect binding of the book body ("block") to the wrap-around
cover.

2) trim the result of above to make the cover and body flush with
each other.

What steps come before are highly dependent on your binding
process. For example, "signatures" may or may not be necessary.

I suggest that you interview printers/binderies and
ask them what formats they accept. If you want a wrap-around cover,
I would think about how you are going to do that. You could use
a drawing tool (Adobe Illustrator, etc.). I don't think there
is a DocBook style sheet to do this.

best of luck to you on your adventure,

Lee Moore
Xerox Corp.
Rochester, NY USA



>>>Uten Navn said:
 > Hi,
 > 
 > Does any one of you docbook writers know how a docbook (or other document) 
 > can be printed (on your personal printer) in a traditional book fashion?
 > 
 > I'm looking for a solution where I get the printout formatted such that the 
 > pages can be wrapped up like a ordenary book.
 > 
 > Ex: Print two pages on each side (A4 in my case) of the paper. When the 
 > pages are printed I could use a stapler, old fashone thread or something to 
 > bind the pages.
 > 
 > Any pointers, links or sugestions would be appreciated.
 > 
 > Best Regards
 > Staale Flock
 >