Well I'm posting them a day late, but here are some pics (with explanations) from the press check of our children's book,
No Monster Here.
1. The printer ran a few sheets for us to look over to see if the colors and registration look good. If we wanted a page to be a little more yellow or a little more magenta, then they would make the adjustments and print a few more sheets. They would do this until we were happy with the colors.
2. Here is the color scanner that would scan the color bars (you can see them in the first image on the bottom of the sheet). They do this to see exactly how dense the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inks are printing. The scanner can also tell if the densities are the same consistently from the left side of the sheet to the right side of the sheet.
3. Another sheet that we're checking over. When the book is bound all pages will be folded in half and then will be sewn down the side of the book 1/4 inch from the folded edge. So we needed to build in a little "cross-over" area (or gutter) down the middle of the page. You can see the "cross-over" area going down the middle of the monster's face in this image. After it's bound the gutter will disappear and the monster's head will become perfectly aligned.
4. Part of the printing press. Each tower prints a different color, either Cyan, Magenta, Yellow or Black. Each tower holds a drum that holds a plate.
5. Here's one of the 4 plates that was used to print the cover. I think this is the Black plate.
6. Here's a stack of paper with one side printed already.
7. Now the stack of paper is starting to run through the press.
8. Here it is coming out the other side (after going through all the towers) all finished.
9. Here are all the pages stacked up after printing. They'll sit here for a day or so to dry out. Then they will get cut and folded here at the printer. After that the folded pages head off to the bindery where they will get sewn and bound. And in about two weeks I'll have actual finished books in my hands. YAY!
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