More On PDF Publishing Resources

In my March 19th, 2009 post regarding PDF publishing of photographic projects, I wrote the following :

"In Brooks Jensen's recent Lenswork podcast, which one can listen to here, he extols the virtues of using pdf format e-books to enable photographers to reach a wider audience, while avoiding the fiscal constraints that are associated with publishing a physical book. I was intrigued by this, though I wonder if the constraints are as strong as implied given the newer methods of self-publishing associated with print-on-demand services available from companies like Blurb.

Nonetheless, I found the idea interesting and tried to search around the internet a bit for information about designing and producing a pdf photography book. However, I found very little out there. Now, I know very little about using Adobe Acrobat and suspect that my inability to locate information on this subject may simply be that what is required is a good general book about how to use Acrobat, as opposed to special information on how to create pdf photography books.

So, I guess I am hoping that perhaps someone out there might be able to provide some good resource books or websites on the topic of how to use Acrobat to publish photographic e-books....or at least some place to start obtaining a bit of background knowledge. Anybody want to make suggestions???? "

Though I did get some helpful responses to my query as to resources, there was still a void as to where to start.....particularly if the aim was not so much to learn InDesign or Acrobat as much as to learn what was necessary in order to focus on the type of publishing that a photographer would do.

Well, Brooks Jensen does it again!! He recognized that there is a relative void of information in this niche and put together a very solid training DVD on where to start and how to proceed. The DVD is a direct extension of the workshop he began giving on this subject.

Knowing the quality of everything that comes out of LensWork, I decided to purchase the DVD. At $79 it is a bit steep, but once one receives it, sees the quality of the information, the extremely coherent presentation, and the uniqueness of the product I can say that it is well worth every cent!!! The DVD can be purchased here.

I haven't yet finished the DVD, but am far along into it. It has exactly the type of information I was looking for and clearly is able to get one started making PDFs without any further training. It is also able to point one in the right direction in regards to where to obtain more focused information, if needed. To be more specific, it is not an InDesign training program but tells you what aspects of InDesign you need to know and provides a nice detailed overview of these parts of the program. Perhaps even more importantly, it carefully reveiews how to structure and design a PDF presentation.

Perhaps I will have more to say once I finish the DVD in its entirety. But I can tell you this.....if you have any desire to consider self publishing a photographic PDF and don't have a strong background in how to get the job done, this is clearly a superb way to start. I couldn't have hoped for a better resource. Thanks Brooks!!!