High-End Black & White Printing

We are now offering a stunning patented black & white printing technology suitable for the fine art and photography markets. 
Independently developed by a multiple award winning printer using 4 colour printing with black and 3 specially formulated greys, the level of detail, tonal purity and grey balance control is truly breathtaking. For high-end black and white titles, this is the way to go. 

High-End Colour Printing

From the same stable, we are also able to offer high-end colour printing with an impressive extended colour gamut.   Again, this is a patented process using specially developed inks and FM screening to produce a brighter, cleaner and more intense range of colours than is available with conventional screens and process inks.

If you'd like to discuss using either technology on your next project please contact us here.

The corridor of fame!

Looking for a Paper Engineer?

                                                                                                      


Pirates of the Caribbean - The Black Pearl, Parragon

Imago is able to bring you the expertise of a talented and creative paper engineer with over 15 years of experience in the field. Keith Finch, who is UK based, specialises in the design and production of pop-ups and paper mechanics, devising highly original and diverse projects as illustrated below.

Struggling to get workable costs for your pop-up projects?

Rising hand labour costs and falling print runs mean production costs can be a major headache for novelty publishers, yet the pop-up as art form has never been more popular.  Keith's detailed knowledge of the production process enables him to create pops which are visually stunning, yet efficient in their paper usage and construction without sacrificing their impact. 

Review the following pics to get an idea of Keith's portfolio and contact us if you would like help with any of the following :

• Paper engineering of new projects including provision of storyboards, nesting sheets, cutter guides and mock-ups
• Examining existing projects to help reduce manufacturing costs
• Assessing printer's dummies and suggesting improvements or adjustments



Happy Ever After, Funtastic



The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  40th Anniversary Edition, Penguin USA 

 


Frank Lloyd Wright in Pop Up, Thunderbay Press

Hot Products!

In our quest to bring the latest ranges, trends and innovations to the market, there is a lot of 'sifting' to be done. We do get some real classics pouring into our inbox - and here are just 2 of our recent favourites which just ooze class and sophistication - I present:

THE CHEWED GUM MAGNET

and

THE TOILET MUG

(with endless tasteful possible uses)

If anyone would like to order - we have an excellent source of supply....

New editorial courses launched

We are launching three new editorial courses this autumn : Copy-Editing Workshop  16 Nov (Imago, Thame)
Proofreading Workshop  12 Dec (Imago, Thame)
Better Business Writing  13 Dec (Imago, Thame)
Click on the links above to view course synopses.

All courses are one day events and have been devised to reflect current publishing practice.

Our Trainer Graham Smith is a publisher, editor and trainer with more than 20 years' experience in book, Internet, and corporate publishing.

For more info and to book please visit www.imagotraining.co.uk or email Gaynor Johnston at training@imago.co.uk

Courses are priced at £365 per person.



Giving Your Book the Edge

There is much more to decorative book edges than gilt edging with gold foil... so much more! Why not foil stamp with text? Or, keep the booksellers sweet by stamping spine info for a wire-o bound book along the back edge. 

No need to restrict yourself to decorating your edges with text - geometric patterns and even tonal images can be used with pretty impressive results as shown below :

Board books or wooden books can really come to life with some painted edges:



And these holographic foiled edges shimmer and shine on the shelf:

These are very simple but fantastically effective... sprayed edging that absolutely steals the show:



Puppet Books

When Calm Down Boris won Richard and Judy's Best Book for Children in 2006, we were all thrilled, but none of us surprised. Boris was a revolution and we have always been immensely proud to produce these wonderful books for Templar.

Boris now has friends, each of them wonderful, colourful and bursting with personality.  The puppets are attached at the back cover in such a way that they can be twisted and turned. Watching kids play with these books, or indeed watching the parents sharing these books and acting out the story with their children, is all you need to see the real added value the puppet brings.

Templar are now launching a smaller format featuring Norman and Ernie. We are already in love all over again.... 

New kids on the block - Norman and Ernie



Imago Aus clean up at the Galley Club Awards

This sell-out event, held at Lowenbrau Keller in The Rocks, Sydney on Friday 22 July, celebrated books and magazines across several categories and Imago were thrilled to win in three, including the prestigious, Book of the Year.   Here are our winners :

Category Six :  Sheetfed Mono or Duotone book, cased or limp bound, no price limit
Winner :  Hell's Only Half Full - Printed by Imago
Publisher :  National Museum of Aus Press

Category Seven & BOOK OF THE YEAR : Sheetfed Limited edition book, no price limit
Winner :  The Arrival and Sketch Book Suitcase, Shaun Tan - Printed by Imago
Publisher : Hachette Australia, Production by Anne Macpherson and Isabel Staas

Imago Australia's Sales Director: Alison Wheeler with the winning product.

The Arrival is beautifully produced (if we do say so ourselves) and the stunning artwork and design treatment all come together to make, well, Best in Show!    Congratulations to all involved.

Graphic Detail

We have recently started to produce a lot more graphic novels than ever before and we absolutely love it!

The artwork and detail is always unique and there seems to always be something just a little  bit special about them. This latest offering from Canadian Publisher Drawn and Quarterly has a great cover and the best imprint page we have ever seen.

Below is a selection of some of the other gorgeous titles we've produced recently which all have something unique about them:

The Twilight Saga : The Official Illustrated Guide

When we were approached by Little, Brown Book Group with a new top secret project an air of mystery and suspense had us all on the edge of our seats. Twilight has amassed a phenomenal following, so the new Twilight Saga - the Official Illustrated Guide, had to be kept well under wraps to avoid any details being leaked into the ether.

The steps taken to ensure this happened have been quite extraordinary and I am pleased to say our suppliers, ably managed by our team in Singapore, stepped up to the mark. 

To start their journey files were personally delivered by hand straight to the printer in Thailand and plotters were then created and checked on site. All plates were run at the same time and locked in the secure pre-press room until needed - two plating operators were on duty during the process. Non-conforming plates (rejects) were bent inward and held in the secure plate bin located adjacent to the press until after the book release date. The guarded printing area  housed 2 x 8 colour presses dedicated to the job and only authorised, badged and separately uniformed staff were allowed into the area. All make-readies were held in a cage for destruction after publication and printed sheets were stored in a secluded area with a 2 metre high sheeting surround and under constant CCTV monitoring.

Security cameras were installed in the bindery and security guards employed in order to ensure goods were not removed from the area. All waste material was bought to the bailing room and shredded under the supervision of the pressroom supervisor.
Transportation was equally carefully managed with drivers having to remain in the truck throughout the loading process. In Australia each container was accompanied from port to warehouse by a security car. 

The schedule was also super tight and as you can imagine there was a large sigh of relief when everything ran like clockwork and the book launched to high praise! Everyone involved has enjoyed the challenges working on such a high profile project can bring.
 

New Gallery!

We have recently updated our website with an all new gallery showing off a wide range of some of the fabulous projects we have recently worked on. We will keep updating it so check back often to see what we've been up to around the globe.