Sunday, April 20, 2014

The Trials And Tribulations Of On Demand Publishing

Or online publishing, printing, call it what you will... First off, this is is hardly the comprehensive review- in fact, my experience is somewhat limited at best. But I have had a few instances that point to what seems to be a particularly ongoing and universal trend- that is, your first order is done to spec and everything comes out hunky dory. Your next order... call it sophomore luck, call it- we reeled ya in the first time and now you take what we give ya. Gotta problem with that?

Shame really, cause many of these services, when they give two shits, can really produce some quality product. Back in '09, I had a Blurb book made of B&W images and the first order came out no problem- FWIW, I understand their printing and paper quality offerings have increased in the intervening years. The second order of books delivered some oddly cut trapezoidal offerings that looked like the remains of my first hangover. Last year, I had some Christmas cards made by Zazzle; came out great- ordered a bunch more, and a third of them had some very noticeable pink tiger streaks. This year I ordered a small book from Artisan State, and damn it looked great, if I do say so myself! I made the traditional second order and... looks like they did some free of charge and totally unrequested cropping on the images well beyond their own self appointed red border zone! Coincidence??? Believe what you will, but it certainly feels like the going rule of thumb.

Perhaps the pricier publishers with the pricier offerings yield more consistent quality results- one would hope...

2 comments:

Eric Rose said...

Face it your jingst.

Stan B. said...

Mom did say I was born cursed...