Tuesday, October 28, 2008

New Portfolio Book

2008 Portfolio
By Stacey Peterson

I've been wanting to print a small portfolio for a while now, mainly to give to potential collectors or those who buy my work. I did some research, decided that Blurb seemed like the easiest way to put together a small book, and went ahead and put together a book of what I think are the strongest paintings I've done this year. I wanted to keep it small, since I plan to include it when I ship out paintings, and Blurb's 7x7" format is just perfect. I got my first printed copy today, and I think it turned out pretty well - it looks professional, and the photos inside are fairly accurate.

If any of you are looking to self-publish anything, and need a quick and easy way to do it, I'd highly recommend Blurb. The software is easy to use, and the product is professional

For anyone who wants to check it out, use the link above or the one I've added to my blog sidebar. Thanks for looking!

15 comments:

  1. I've used Blurb several times and am a huge fan. They make it really easy to turn out a cool book.

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  2. Very cool idea! Love the images in the preview, especially the study - January Aspen. I can just feel the crisp dry air.

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  3. Hi, I just found your blog and am looking forward to reading it on a regular basis.
    Nice website and art !

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  4. Stacey the book looks great. I've thought about this too and am wondering how 'easy' is 'easy to use'?
    This really is a good way to thank clients and to self promote. Nice job and thanks for sharing.
    Marc

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  5. thanks for the link-I just ordered a soft copy as a Christmas gift. Your art speaks to my love of that part of the country perfectly

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  6. Stacey, thanks for being so generous in sharing your information on Blurb books. Yours looks very classy and you should be proud of it.

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  7. Stacey, you are so cool! Great book. I love the idea of self-publishing a portfolio. I have been looking at Lulu.com for publishing a book I am designing for the University I work for. I like what I see at Blurb better. Thanks again.

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  8. Thanks for the comments everyone. I also looked at lulu.com, but found them lacking in the software department. The Blurb software is fairly easy to use, as long as you are willing to accept the fact that you can't do too much customization to their layouts (i.e. you can't move photo or text boxes, etc - you just have to pick the layout for each page from a number of options and go with it as is). It took me a while to figure out how to pick/make custom colors for backgrounds and text, but once I figured that out I was able to put this together in a couple of evenings of work. Not bad!

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  9. Hi stacey, I found you through lisa call's blog - tonight when I get home I'll link your blog off mine: www.janavanwyk.blogspot.com

    i'm a painter! I'm in the middle of reorganizing my studio - the before pictures are on my blog... will post "after" pics soon.

    Jana

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  10. Hmm, I thought I posted a comment here.
    Great looking book Stacey!
    I downloaded the blurb stuff months ago thinking that I would do something like this. I ran into a glitch with the java program and keep putting off looking for a solution. Thanks for the kick to get me started.

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  11. Thanks SO much for posting this Stacey! Your book looks great and this is really helpful to me, as I have been trying to figure out what to do about sending out images to potential galleries, this might be the perfect solution.

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  12. Hi Stacey. It looks great! I just started working on a similar project last week using the 8 x 10 Blurb format but I think I might switch to the smaller one after seeing yours. I am glad to hear you are pleased with the images. Well done!

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  13. Stacey thank you for the link to what looks to be the ideal format for quick book. Your paintings are always beautiful and speak of your connection to the area genuinely. No matter big or small they are superbly done!

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  14. Stacey, it's fantastic and classy.
    Your blog is very motivating.

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