266 lines
14 KiB
HTML
266 lines
14 KiB
HTML
<!--startcut BEGIN header ==============================================-->
|
|
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
|
|
<HTML><HEAD>
|
|
<title>Micro Publishing LG #47</title>
|
|
</HEAD>
|
|
<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#0000AF"
|
|
ALINK="#FF0000">
|
|
<!--endcut ============================================================-->
|
|
|
|
<H4>
|
|
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
|
|
</H4>
|
|
|
|
<P> <HR> <P>
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
|
|
<center>
|
|
<H1><font color="maroon">Micro Publishing</font></H1>
|
|
<H4>By by Rick Holbert and <a href="mailto:mark@tcu-inc.com">Mark Nielsen</a></H4>
|
|
</center>
|
|
<P> <HR> <P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- END header -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p><br>
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#INTRODUCTION">Introduction</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#OVERVIEW">Overview</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#COPYRIGHT">Copyright</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#SOFTWARE">Software</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#HARDWARE">Hardware</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#FABRICATION">Fabrication</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#CONCLUSION">Conclusion and References</a></li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<hr WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<p><a NAME="INTRODUCTION"></a><b><font size=-1>INTRODUCTION</font></b>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>"Micro Publishing" or
|
|
publishing "Books on Demand" has been, up until now, only a dream. Most
|
|
of the pieces were already in place, (Desktop Publishing Software, Laser
|
|
Printers, Imposition Software, etc.). The last key ingredient was an inexpensive
|
|
way to bind and cover the books into professional looking "Perfect Bound"
|
|
books.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>The future just arrived.</font></font>
|
|
<p><a NAME="OVERVIEW"></a><b><font size=-1>OVERVIEW</font></b>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>The process I'm about
|
|
to describe will allow you to use FREE Linux software tools, a laser printer,
|
|
contact cement, and an easy to build
|
|
<a href="http:gx/nielsen/bookvise.jpg">book
|
|
binding
|
|
vise</a> to produce professional looking "Perfect Bound" paperback books
|
|
for the cost of the materials.</font></font>
|
|
<p><a NAME="COPYRIGHT"></a><b><font size=-1>COPYRIGHT</font></b>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Please observe all copyright
|
|
and licensing restrictions. There are plenty of "Open" books in the Linux
|
|
Documentation Project, and "Public Domain" books at Project Gutenburg.</font></font>
|
|
<p><a NAME="SOFTWARE"></a><b><font size=-1>SOFTWARE</font></b>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>The primary tool used
|
|
to build books with Linux is mpage. I use mpage to set up the pages for
|
|
printing (four virtual pages per physical sheet). This process is called
|
|
"imposition."</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Mpage uses the postscript
|
|
page description language for both input and output. All the other tools
|
|
are used to translate other formats into postscript, or to translate postscript
|
|
into other formats.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Additional tools include:</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>TeX and LaTeX</font></font>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>dvips</font></font>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>PDFTeX and PDFLaTeX</font></font>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>GhostScript</font></font>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Acrobat Reader</font></font>
|
|
<p><a NAME="HARDWARE"></a><b><font size=-1>HARDWARE</font></b>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Besides a computer capable
|
|
of running Linux, you will need a laser printer (single sided, non-duplexing
|
|
printers work ok), and a book binding vise.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>The book binding vise
|
|
consists of a thick board measuring 10 inches by 13 inches (I made two
|
|
vises from a piece of 10 by 30 inch particle board shelf), and three pieces
|
|
of one inch square metallic tubing (like the kind used to make TV antenna
|
|
booms). The three pieces of tubing measure 8 inches, 11 inches, and 13
|
|
inches. Holes are drilled through the board and tubing to accommodate 1/4
|
|
inch carriage bolts. For binding 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch books the 8 inch and
|
|
11 inch tubes are first arranged to form a T. The 8 inch tube runs vertically
|
|
along the left, 10 inch side of the board. The 11 inch tube runs horizontally
|
|
along the middle, 13 inch section of the board. The 11 inch tube may be
|
|
optionally repositioned at the bottom, 13 inch side of the board for binding
|
|
8 1/2 by 11 inch books. The 13 inch tube runs horizontally along the top,
|
|
13 inch side of the board, and is attached with 3 inch carriage bolts and
|
|
wing nuts so it can be adjusted up and down.</font></font>
|
|
<p><a NAME="FABRICATION"></a><b><font size=-1>FABRICATION</font></b>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Now it's time to literally
|
|
put all the pieces together. Our first step is to translate our source
|
|
document into postscript.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>If your source is a TeX,
|
|
texinfo or LaTeX document you may use tex/latex or texi2dvi and dvips to
|
|
convert it into postscript. However, be warned. The default fonts used
|
|
with dvips are type 3, bit mapped founts. These look fine once printed,
|
|
but they are ugly when viewed with GhostScript or Acrobat Reader, and produce
|
|
large files.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>An example of the commands
|
|
are as follows:</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1> tex filename.tex</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1> tex filename.tex</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1> makeindex filename.??</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1> dvips filename.dvi
|
|
-o filename.ps</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1> or in the case
|
|
of texinfo files (like the GNU docs)</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1> texi2dvi filename.texi</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1> dvips filename.dvi
|
|
-o filename.ps</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>A better solution is
|
|
to use PDFTeX or PDFLaTeX to convert your TeX/LaTeX source document into
|
|
a PDF, and then to export it to postscript.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>The command is pdftex
|
|
filename.tex or pdflatex filename.tex</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>For texinfo files you
|
|
should run texi2dvi or tex, tex, makeindex first to create any indices
|
|
or cross references first. You may also try using GhostScript to convert
|
|
PDFs into postscript using</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>pdf2ps filename.pdf filename.ps</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>If your source is a PDF
|
|
you can use GhostScript's pdf2ps command as described in the previous step,
|
|
or use Acrobat Reader to print to a postscript file.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>If the PDF file is encrypted,
|
|
you may need to download a GhostScript security patch from Australia. A
|
|
GhostScript error message will give you the details.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Now we're ready to use
|
|
mpage to set up our 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch book. The pages are arranged into
|
|
"signatures" in the order 4, 1, 2, 3. That way they read in the correct
|
|
order when the page is folded in half.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>mpage produces two files.
|
|
One for the front page pairs (i.e., 4 - 1, 8 - 5, etc.), and one for the
|
|
back page pairs (i.e., 2 - 3, 6 - 7, etc.).</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>The mpage commands are:</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>mpage -O -b Letter -o
|
|
filename.ps > filename_front.ps</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>mpage -E -b Letter -o
|
|
filename.ps > filename_back.ps</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>You may optionally translate
|
|
your two files into PDF using</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>ps2pdf filename_front.ps
|
|
filename_front.pdf</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>ps2pdf filename_back.ps
|
|
filename_back.pdf</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>I find it easier to print
|
|
from Acrobat Reader, and it makes distribution to other Operating Systems
|
|
a lot easier.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Now print the front pages.
|
|
I like to break the job down into ten page chunks. That way, if the printer
|
|
jams, or the human messes up, I've only lost a maximum of ten pages. Take
|
|
the pages out, and put them back into your laser printer so that the corresponding
|
|
back pages will print on the back of the pages you just printed. You will
|
|
probably have to print them in reverse order, (i.e., 10 through 1, 20 through
|
|
11, etc.). You may have to experiment a bit to get your pages into the
|
|
right orientation.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Once you've printed both
|
|
sides, fold them in half (a folding machine comes in real handy here),
|
|
and stack them in the book binding vise. Place your legal size card stock
|
|
cover under the folded pages, and align as needed. Clamp down the long
|
|
tube. Score the cover twice, using a dull utility knife, or an old ball-point
|
|
pen where it will fold along the spine of the book. Apply contact cement
|
|
along the paper folds, and the corresponding area of the cover (between
|
|
the score marks).</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Let it dry for 10 to
|
|
15 minutes, and roll the cover over the folded pages. Run your fingers
|
|
along the spine of the book to ensure a strong bond. You may also use a
|
|
rounded object like the side of a pen for this task.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Loosen the clamp, carefully
|
|
take the book out, fold the rest of the cover over, and place it back into
|
|
the clamp (with any excess cover allowed to overlap the bottom aligning
|
|
tube). Go over the spine a few more times with your finger or the side
|
|
of a pen.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Remove the book from
|
|
the vice, place it horizontally on a flat surface with a weight on top
|
|
of it to keep the pages flat, and let it sit over night.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>You may now trim the
|
|
cover, add title stickers, or laminate as desired. Congratulations! You've
|
|
just made a book</font></font>
|
|
<p><a NAME="CONCLUSION"></a><b><font size=-1>CONCLUSION</font></b>
|
|
<br><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>I hope you've enjoyed
|
|
this short discussion of "Micro Publishing." It may take a little
|
|
practice, but after three or four times, your books should look fine.
|
|
Remember to follow all safety precautions when building the vise, and to
|
|
use the contact cement in a well ventilated area.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>Some references are as
|
|
follows:</font></font>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1>
|
|
<a
|
|
href="gx/nielsen/bookvise.pdf">
|
|
bookvise.pdf</a>
|
|
- book binding vise plans</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New,Courier"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.mesa.nl">www.mesa.nl</a>
|
|
- mpage author's home page</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.tinaja.com/">www.tinaja.com</a>
|
|
- Several articles about "Books on Demand", postscript, acrobat, etc.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.gigabooks.net/">www.gigabooks.net
|
|
</a>-
|
|
Sells ready made book binding vices along with a book describing the process.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.cappella.demon.co.uk/">www.cappella.demon.co.uk</a>
|
|
- Discusses postscript markup language and additional binding processes.</font></font>
|
|
<p><font face="Courier New"><font size=-1><a href="mailto:zing@genericbooks.com">e-mail
|
|
me</a> - With your constructive comments, questions, or whatever.</font></font>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<hr WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<br><i>Rick works as a computer guy at
|
|
<a href="http://www.teamamerica.com">TeamAmerica</a> and Mark works as a
|
|
computer guy at
|
|
<a href="http://www.tcu-inc.com">The Computer Underground</a>. For some
|
|
reason, these two dudes
|
|
have started a company called <a
|
|
href="http://genericbooks.com">ZING</a>
|
|
(ZING Is Not GNU, well what is GNU?
|
|
GNU is Not Unix) to promote and distribute free and open software and literature.
|
|
Mark doesn't know why he attached his name to this article since Rick did
|
|
95% of the work, but it looks good for his resume.</i>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- BEGIN copyright ==================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<H5 ALIGN=center>
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 1999, by Rick Holbert and Mark Nielsen<BR>
|
|
Published in Issue 47 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, November 1999</H5>
|
|
<!-- END copyright ===================================================-->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!--startcut footer ===================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<A HREF="index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/indexnew.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="../index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/homenew.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ FRONT PAGE ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="mcgowan.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/back2.gif"
|
|
ALT=" Back "></A>
|
|
<A HREF="../faq/index.html"
|
|
><IMG SRC="./../gx/dennis/faq.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ Linux Gazette FAQ ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="pedersen.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/fwd.gif" ALT=" Next "></A>
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
</BODY></HTML>
|
|
<!--endcut ============================================================-->
|