Printing Your First Photography Book with Rapido Books
Pierre Gauthier contacted Rapido Books one day for a very special project: to pay tribute through a high quality photo book to his friend Pascal Lafontaine, a BMX professional rider who had passed away from cancer a few months earlier, at the age of 28.
A great BMX enthusiast, Pascal had overcome a leg amputation in 2015 and then resumed his training to devote the last months of his life to making a video of his best movements and technical figures. This video traveled the world, earning him the admiration of the BMX community and the title of 2019 Rider of the Year in the internationally renowned magazine DIG BMX.
Rapido Books had to measure up to this unique project: the story of exceptional sports performance and resilience in the face of illness. The Extra Mile is a collection of memories of the dozens of filming sessions that Pierre and Pascal did together, so that Pascal’s story will not be forgotten and will continue to inspire people with cancer and those who are in a situation of disability.
PIERRE’S PROJECT
After doing his research, Pierre contacted Rapido Books because of its full range of services and its portfolio of projects similar to his (artist catalogs, photography books).
A graphic designer and photographer by trade, Pierre had heard of our unique customer approach in the field of printing and binding. A meeting at our offices convinced him that Rapido Books was the right fit for his project.
When I saw the books Rapido was printing, I knew the quality would be at the level I was looking for.
I was 100% sure of that.
THE CHALLENGES
Printing a photography book always requires close collaboration between the photographer, the graphic designer in charge of the layout and the printer. For this project, Pierre carefully chose each photograph from the hundreds of shots he had taken. He was also the one who did the layout, so as to infuse his vision into the entire creative process.
Not only was this Pierre’s first book, but it was also a project he cared deeply about. The photos therefore had to be perfectly reproduced in print. Quality is of utmost importance at Rapido Books. On this Rapido and Pierre met eye to eye.We were committed to ensuring that the result satisfied Pierre’s expectations: “The major thing that I appreciated the most was your desire to work with the client to move the project forward. I really felt that there was also this concern on your side to deliver a quality product”.
RAPIDO BOOKS’ SOLUTION
Our technical team partnered with Pierre and provided him with advice and resources throughout the process to ensure an optimal end product:
- Preliminary meeting to identify the technical requirements of the project
- Printing of a test copy in just a few days
- Development of an image processing procedure to improve the printed result
- Production of flatbed printing tests to ensure desired improvements
I know it’s rare for printers to offer this kind of customer service.
Many just prefer to print the files they receive, and charge you more if you want more support.
RAPIDO BOOKS’ COMMITMENT
At Rapido, we believe that our role is more than just pressing ink on paper. Using state-of-the-art digital printing technologies we constantly strive to match the excellence of past master printers, committing to the same high standards and the same attention to detail.
For this same reason, we favor four-color process even when printing black and white photography. This method produces deeper blacks and richer shades of gray. In order to avoid different renderings on each page of your work, which would be completely unsightly, it is essential that the treatment of all your images be homogeneous.
To allow this, we have produced a blog article detailing everything you need to start you on the right path. We even share our exclusive recipe with you to get the best results. At Rapido, we believe that the better informed our customers are, the better our collaboration with them will be.
Henri Dulac
Production Manager
THE RESULTS
When Pierre distributed the 400 copies to his network, the quality made a strong impression: the joint work of Pierre and the team at Rapido Books made it possible to spread the story of Pascal Lafontaine as Pierre had hoped. The book, printed on Lynx 160M/80lb paper with a hardcover binding, gave this project the sobriety and elegance that the subject it addresses required.
I am very satisfied with our collaboration, I recommend Rapido to all those who have short-run book projects. You have the equipment, the expertise and the team to do it, and the results speak for themselves.
I was really impressed with your work, congratulations.
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