As I continue to edit and play test, I've been doing some more book layout for my solo realm-making RPG. I've finalized a trim size of 4x6 inches. I was originally shooting for Moleskin Sketchbook size of 3.5x5.5 inches, the goal being to make this product a pocket book, but couldn't find a POD printer that offers it. I finally found a print-on-demand printer that offers 4x6. I like the idea of a portable, discreet game that can be played anywhere: lunch breaks, coffee shops, the train, etc. 4x6 fits the bill.
I have also been wrestling with book layout software, or lack thereof. I wanted to use Apple Pages, which would have worked fine if they had not removed the ability to layout facing pages in version 5. What good is a book layout app that can't even do facing pages? It also rejects a page size to three decimal places, like 4.125 inches for example. It truncates the dimension to 4.12. I guess Apple doesn't want you have a page size on an 1/8th inch increment, which my printer requires. So then I looked into InDesign. Looks great, but Adobe's subscription model is absurd. So I landed with using good old Adobe Photoshop, bought and paid for before they switched to the subscription model.
Photoshop is not the ideal book layout software, but frankly it does everything I need it to. And I've been using the app for 15 years so there's zero earning curve. I would never use it for a big book, but I'm only dealing with 24 pages or so. It looks like I'll be able to export all the files into a PDF with embedded fonts. So...we'll see...so far so good.
Here's a sneak peek at a home printer proof of some of my newer layout stuff. I have some of the illustrations for the book already done, but have a dozen or so left to do: 4 or 5 full page images, and a hand full of smaller diagrams.
I have also been wrestling with book layout software, or lack thereof. I wanted to use Apple Pages, which would have worked fine if they had not removed the ability to layout facing pages in version 5. What good is a book layout app that can't even do facing pages? It also rejects a page size to three decimal places, like 4.125 inches for example. It truncates the dimension to 4.12. I guess Apple doesn't want you have a page size on an 1/8th inch increment, which my printer requires. So then I looked into InDesign. Looks great, but Adobe's subscription model is absurd. So I landed with using good old Adobe Photoshop, bought and paid for before they switched to the subscription model.
Photoshop is not the ideal book layout software, but frankly it does everything I need it to. And I've been using the app for 15 years so there's zero earning curve. I would never use it for a big book, but I'm only dealing with 24 pages or so. It looks like I'll be able to export all the files into a PDF with embedded fonts. So...we'll see...so far so good.
Here's a sneak peek at a home printer proof of some of my newer layout stuff. I have some of the illustrations for the book already done, but have a dozen or so left to do: 4 or 5 full page images, and a hand full of smaller diagrams.
Caught your post on Google+ for Lone Wolf Roleplaying. A nice start! As an ex-graphic designer, and an IT tech supporting designers for the past 15 years, I know your pain re: layout software and developers' stupid choices.
ReplyDeleteThough nothing will replace InDesign (even Quark), you might want to take a good look at Scribus: https://www.scribus.net/
It's free, and open-sourced. It has been developed for a number of years on the Linux platform, but has also been ported to Windows and Mac OS X. Though I've not used it on my Mac (I have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription provided by my employer), I've used it for years on Linux and just tonight decided to install it on my Windows 10 notebook. If you try it out, use the latest development snapshot from May, 1.5.2.
Although there's a bit of a learning curve, it's one which you'd have with InDesign, as well. Once you learn Scribus, the jump to InDesign or Quark is negligible, far easier than jumping from FreeHand or CorelDraw to Illustrator (or if you like, going from Pages to Word).
There's a good online manual at https://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Help:TOC -- there are even tutorials online, such as on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sEoYZGABQM
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the link! I'll download Scribus and give it a try.
DeleteAlso, I've warmed up a bit to Adobe's Creative Cloud. I needed Acrobat to compile my page spread PDFs into one multipage PDF. It wasn't a nightmare to use their monthly subscription service. Renting InDesign by the month seems a little less horrible now. It'd take many projects worth of monthly fees to surpass the cost of buying the software outright. Maybe Adobe isn't totally evil...
But I look forward to installing Scribus and playing around with it first. Ideally open source is the way to go, but in practice, I was never able to make the leap from PS to GIMP. Or from Lightwave to Blender. But I've not yet learned any book layout apps, so this'll be a good test. No leap to make.
...and Bam! Scribus tute for RPG design: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkzsuscdVVI
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