Books have been around for a long time. If we take a step back and look into history, books appeared when ancient civilizations started developing different forms of writing. In those early days, the material could be a rock or even a tree in which they could capture their stories.
Fast-forwarding to the pharaoh’s time, Egyptians were the first ones to utilize a material that resembled paper, “papyrus.” Even though Egyptians would bind the papyrus together to form an object similar to a book. India is considered the birthplace of bookbinding. Here, scribes would bind palm leaves between wooden boards to create a religious text.
However, the process of book mass production began in the mid-15th-century with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg. Today, publishers all over the world have many technologies available to produce books of many sizes on a daily basis. Depending on the company, some steps might vary, but overall they all follow the same procedure.
How a book is made: Step-by-step guide
Once the manuscript has been through its final revision with the editorial team and the author, it enters the design stage. Here is where art directors will intervene to help determine factors such as the page and typeface size, colour, weight of the paper and illustrations.
Some of you might be wondering, then, when does the book cover design take place? We had the pleasure of speaking with Sarah Kaufman, an amazing book cover designer who walked us through this unique process. If you want to learn more about this, check the complete interview, here.
1. Typesetting
This is the first step right after the manuscript has been released from the initial editorial process. Here the text will be converted into a specific font and point size. When the electronic version has these characteristics, a galley of the manuscript is created. The galley consists of long pages of text in a single column that is proofread and edited by the publisher.
2. Production of pages and mechanical
After the galley comes the pages, which could also be called lasers. These show the exact design of the page and are printed on typing paper. When the pages are approved, a copy is printed on high-quality paper to get it ready for filming. This is called a mechanical.
3. Filming
In this stage, each page is photographed with a large camera to produce negatives. These negatives need to undergo a special process to maintain the shades, the result is known as halftones. When the book has more than one tone is necessary to make a negative of each tone. That’s why books with illustrations cost more, since these require more preparation.
4. Stripping and Blueprints
All the negatives are placed into a sheet named flat or goldenrod, each of these can hold 32 to 64 pages. To be a review, these are lined up on a table that has a fluorescent light that shines through the negatives. After blueprints are created to be checked by the editor and the art director.
5. Plates
If all the flats are approved they are photographed with the negatives exposed onto an aluminum sheet called a plate, which is treated with chemicals that attract the ink.
6. Printing
The plates will be the ones sent through the press. Depending on how many colours the book has, the plate will have to go through the press several times. Overall 3 printing processes are available: offset lithography, letterpress, and gravure. The one used for a specific book will be determined by the machine the factory has.
7. Binding
Sections of the book are folded into signatures which are then sewed. The signatures are glued to the spine, and the edges are trimmed.
Even though the book-making process involves all these steps, at the moment, many technological advances are changing this, such as desktop publishing equipment. If you want to learn more about this process, we recommend reading this New York Times article.