Nowadays though, there is another option in the form of
on-line digital off-set printing, and it has been made possible
by the convergence of three technologies – digital photography,
the internet and the digital offset press. These digital presses,
including the industry standard HP Indigo, can print a book
directly from a digital file, and they can print one copy as
efficiently as they can print a thousand copies. There are over
200 Indigo presses in Australia and dozens of companies offering
online books, from Blurb and Apple to the likes of Vista Print
and Officeworks. One Australian company with the most
experience in producing on-demand books though, is Momento.
When Momento was founded in 2004 it was one of the first
companies in the world to provide an on-demand photobook service
and slowly the company has expanded to offer a range of products
aimed at both the consumer and the professional markets.
Momento offers amateur photographers a choice of nine
different book sizes (including landscape, portrait and square),
four different paper stocks, and a choice of hard covers from
printed and linen options through to leather and faux leather.
Other options include embossed titles, coloured end papers,
frosted f ly papers and matching clamshell boxes.
Users of their service can also make their photo books
available for sale to family and friends via a private web link
with a digital version of the book that they can browse first,then buy if they so choose. If you qualify as a professional
photographer (and you’ll need an ABN to do this), Momento
also offers a professional line. Momento Pro offers photobooks
in 12 sizes (including landscape, portrait and square formats)
12 different paper stocks (including 300gsm lay f lat papers and
a 220gsm cotton rag printed on the Indigo printer), six binding
options, 40 covers, 20 finishes and boxes. Moment Pro has
also started making fine-art books using Epson UltraChrome
inks printed onto 220gsm cotton rag papers. Adding to the
personal touch, the pages are hand stitched together to ensure
they lay perfectly f lat. The prices on Momento books start at
a rather affordable $50 and go through to $500 depending on
the size, number of pages and level of customisation involved.
Momento Pro is also working with some of Australia’s and
New Zealand’s best photographers to create large, hand-bound
photobooks for fine-art collectors. Instead of being printed
on a digital offset press, these books are ink-jet printed onto
cotton rag papers using archival inks. This does raise the cost
of each book rather significantly, in some cases to as much as
$5000, but nowadays there’s a growing market for unique or
very small edition books. Some art and photography collectors
know that a collection of beautifully crafted prints in a book is
easily worth as much as one large print on a wall, and they are
paying for that privilege.66 AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY + DIGITAL JULY 2015
ABOVE
Momento offers
a range of quality
photobook options,
at prices which
enthusiasts can
afford.
OPPOSITE PAGE
Melbourne wedding
and portrait
photographer,
Mercury Megaloudis
is one many
photographers who
have replaced the
traditional wedding
album with Asuka
Books professional
photobooks.