Tag Archives: Book Design

InDesign On-Demand: Low Budget Publishing Digitally for ministries and non-profits

Skilled Workman Posted on by

A Brand New Release: Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 & InDesign 7.5—a Radiqx Press Ministry Aid Help for authors & teachers publishing in the new millennium The focus of this book is very sharp. It is designed for people who are designing books and booklets with very limited capital and few personnel resources. It is a sharing of techniques for the new wave of author/pastor/teacher/designers who need to get their work published digitally & online. It is designed to … Continue reading →

So: you need to provide ministry resources?

Skilled Workman Posted on by

Now there is some real help. InDesign has been the best page layout tool for print for over a decade now. I was blessed to be in on the beta team for version one in 1999. I can remember how excited I was that there was finally a software tool I could use fluently that fit the way I think. Now InDesign 7.5 for the Design Premium suite CS5.5 is here I don’t know when it will … Continue reading →

Why ebooks need typography

Skilled Workman Posted on by

What is typography? A good functional definition is very sweet and simple: Typography is the art & craft of making words easy and comfortable to read Some of this has to do with font choices: But ebooks (other than PDF) do not presently allow embedded fonts Some has to do with leading and point size: but ebooks give few controls here, and the readers can butcher that at will A lot has to do with column width: … Continue reading →

A major new release at Hackberry Font Foundry

Skilled Workman Posted on by

Announcing this all over You may have seen this already, but it is a major piece of work and probably my most mature and sophisticated set of font designs yet. I finally broke down and spaced them for body copy—so they will work well at text sizes [from 9-point to 12-point] without the need to fiddle with the spacing. The design is a contemporary take on oldstyle serif typefaces using Jenson as the mask. The roots of … Continue reading →

PDF to ePub conversions

Skilled Workman Posted on by

No, this is not a step by step. It’s a discussion of the realities of dealing with publishing in the second decade of the 21st century. Specifically, I want to talk about dealing with graphically intensive books in multiple channels. One of the Linked-In groups I’m in has been debating the role of XML in “future-proofing” documents. They are mainly coming from employment at large publishing houses with hundreds or thousands of legacy books—many from before the … Continue reading →

eBooks & ePUB: multi-channel releases

Skilled Workman Posted on by

One of the interesting things about the new paradigm of publishing is the lack of exclusivity. As I publish works for Radiqx and clients, I am continually struck by how many places I normally release things. My norm now is to start with Lulu, then do a Createspace version, then make an html version for Kindle, then a Word version for Smashwords, an ePUB version on Lulu for iPad, a PDF of one of the versions for … Continue reading →

Silly me! Found a new shortcut in FontLab

Skilled Workman Posted on by

It really helps production efficiency and speed. Great find! Command+Arrow Key on selected pieces moves 100 units This shows my ignorance of things like this, but I just discovered a great shortcut built into FontLab. As I have mentioned many times, moving selections right or left is a constant thing—especially while building composite glyphs and letterspacing a new font. One of my irritations over the years has been the internal debate over whether it is more efficient … Continue reading →

I’ve added a new site: Bergsland Books

Skilled Workman Posted on by

As I get ramped up to submit my new novel to publishers (and enter it in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award), it has become increasingly obvious that I need a separate site for my fiction. So I resurrected my old domain bergsland.org and converted it to Bergsland Books. http://bergsland.org and who knew it would be transformed to The Skilled Workman?  Life is full of surprises. It’s up and running with some simple stuff for Black Sail: a Christian covert … Continue reading →

Merry Christmas! & thoughts on the coming year…

Skilled Workman Posted on by

it’s been a surprising year. I never would have expected to be forced into going into what the government calls retirement. That has been a huge adjustment. For a man, retirement is close to what housewives experience if circumstances keep them from being able to clean their home. it attacks the core of our being. I have been amazed at how much of my self identity is tied up in what I do. On the other hand, … Continue reading →

Black Sail: Invasion Amazon release with ISBN

Skilled Workman Posted on by

We published a version for Amazon, too. We made the most common graphic design mistake and it cracks us up. So, we let it slide. Publication Date: Nov 22 2009 ISBN/EAN13: 1449531237 / 9781449531232 Page Count: 408 Binding Type: US Trade Paper Trim Size: 6″ x 9″ Language: English Color: Black and White Related Categories: Fiction / Political

Continue reading →