It's possible to use desktop publishing software to produce a booklet, but whenever I try, I goof when it comes to guessing which pages go upside-down next to the other pages and how to orient the paper in the laser printer. I end up pulling out the scissors and a pot of half-cured rubber cement and finishing the thing the old-fashioned way, with the old-fashioned results: crooked, misaligned text.
But ClickBook software makes booklet production basically brainless. Just go through the usual steps of printing a file from whatever application you happen to be using (word processor, database, spreadsheet), and the ClickBook dialog box will pop up on the screen. Then select the size of the booklet you want (from ridiculously itsy-bitsy to half-page), and, Presto! Your printer spits out the pages, along with an instruction sheet explaining how to put the paper back in the printer for printing on the other side. The hardest part is assembling the finished product from the printed pages. ClickBook could have done a better job of indicating which lines needed to be folded and which needed to be cut. I had to resort to reading the instruction manual to get it right.
One snag bookleteers run into is binding their mini-magnum opuses. Standard office staplers don't have the reach for larger booklets. But the ClickBook package comes with an order form for long-reach and saddle staplers that'll make this part of the process a snap. One of these staplers will set you back at least 50 bucks, but you'll be happy you bought one when you discover how difficult it is to get the job done without it.
Also thrown into the ClickBook package: the Paper Direct specialty paper catalog, so you can make your booklet look snazzy.
This is neat - instant books! Now all you need to do is come up with something interesting to put in them.
ClickBook for Mac and Windows: US$69.95. BookMaker Corporation: (800) 766 8531, +1 (415) 354 8161, fax +1 (408) 655 6071.
STREET CRED
How Buildings LearnCinemania '94
No-Brainer Booklets
