Stack of press sheets from Beyond Drifting by Mandy Barker
Mandy Barker‘s upcoming photobook Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals went to print this week in the UK, and we’re keen to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the process on press! The book is printed litho – by sheet-fed offset – on Munken Polar Rough art paper, which has the cotton-like texture and feel that we wanted to complement the antique book design.
Beyond Drifting sheets coming off press
As sheets come off press, it’s truly amazing to see how efficient the process is, and how quickly sheets are printed – check out a short video of the Heidelberg press in action (Warning – it’s a bit loud!):
Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals by Mandy Barker – on press April 2017 from Overlapse on Vimeo.
A lift machine is used to turn a stack of sheets for printing the reverse side. For this book 16 pages fit onto each printed sheet.
Sheets stacked for turning to print second side
Used CMYK plates in the bin
Viewing and approving sheets coming off press – test scatter proof seen at right
Press time is both an exhilarating and stressful experience! Months (and years) of creative photographic, design and production work are funneled and transferred into a final form. Decisions made can no longer be changed, adjusted or tweaked. Soon we will receive a load of boxes filled with the visualised object made real – and we’re excited for you to get your hands on it!