Urulókë wrote:

Typically, when I see "proof" used in regards to book publishing, they are talking specifically about something made using the same process that the end product will use, so everything can be validated before they crank out thousands of copies.

Yes! That makes good sense. But, I guess part of me was pondering whether that is cost and time effective when still working on the layout/design? Would the dustjacket proof process be different than the actual book proof process?

LanceFormation wrote:

Urulókë wrote:

Typically, when I see "proof" used in regards to book publishing, they are talking specifically about something made using the same process that the end product will use, so everything can be validated before they crank out thousands of copies.

Yes! That makes good sense. But, I guess part of me was pondering whether that is cost and time effective when still working on the layout/design? Would the dustjacket proof process be different than the actual book proof process?

Without knowing the history of this particular jacket, it seems reasonable to think that they printed the proof when they thought they were done - but then with such strong feedback from Tolkien, they had to re-do it.

Registration marks are fascinating, they are easier to see on postage stamps, to make it easier to see if the coloured print passes are aligned correctly and also if any colours are missing, but the principle is the same for dust-jackets.



There are three sections of printer's marks on these stamp sheets.

The black section on the left points to the centre of the sheet.

The cross-hairs at the top are printed with all the colours, and they should be a sharp cross-hair, if it was blurry it would indicate that the paper was not aligned correctly during the printing process. This is the registration mark.

The Traffic Lights make it very easy for the printer to spot if a colour has not been printed, I think these are sometimes used on dust-jackets, but usually trimmed in the production process.

Urulókë wrote:

LanceFormation wrote:

Urulókë wrote:

Typically, when I see "proof" used in regards to book publishing, they are talking specifically about something made using the same process that the end product will use, so everything can be validated before they crank out thousands of copies.

Yes! That makes good sense. But, I guess part of me was pondering whether that is cost and time effective when still working on the layout/design? Would the dustjacket proof process be different than the actual book proof process?

Without knowing the history of this particular jacket, it seems reasonable to think that they printed the proof when they thought they were done - but then with such strong feedback from Tolkien, they had to re-do it.

Yes, that seems like the most likely series of events. Thanks!

Trotter wrote:

Registration marks are fascinating, they are easier to see on postage stamps, to make it easier to see if the coloured print passes are aligned correctly and also if any colours are missing, but the principle is the same for dust-jackets.



There are three sections of printer's marks on these stamp sheets.

The black section on the left points to the centre of the sheet.

The cross-hairs at the top are printed with all the colours, and they should be a sharp cross-hair, if it was blurry it would indicate that the paper was not aligned correctly during the printing process. This is the registration mark.

The Traffic Lights make it very easy for the printer to spot if a colour has not been printed, I think these are sometimes used on dust-jackets, but usually trimmed in the production process.

Thanks Trotter. Anyone (like me) who has purchased a consumer color printer have probably had exposure to running the alignment process and producing alignment sheets. Seems to be an equivalent process.

And I suppose the dust-jackets (like the remy Two Towers) that still show registration marks did indeed escape trimming.

My copy had one of those advertisement cards laid in; jacket was priced:

https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=23628#forumpost23628