Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Greg"
<dfaprinting@y...> wrote:
>
> Well in the last week, we've seen many options, from ultra cheap, to 
> DIY and expensive. So what price would you consider good? This being 
> for say an 8x10 on a nice acid free double sided semigloss (like an 
> offset press semigloss)with between 20 and 50 pages in a hardcover 
> binding (sewn or glued, but not a post type binding). Pigment inks of 
> course, from some kind of inkjet at fairly high resolution. Short 
> runs only (on demand type of thing). Completely color managed, with a 
> gamut of at least what a typical press can produce (similar to SWOP 
> v2), but with extended gray inks for better highlights.
> 
> And the final question, what kind of market do you think there is for 
> something like this?
>

I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I can offer the
following data point:

Michael Reichmann on Luminous Landscape put together a book of 26
prints on 11"x17" paper, printed on Epson Archival Matte with an Epson
4000, and bound by a professional book binder. He made 100 copies,
sells them for $495, and according to the website has sold at least 70
of them:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/about/monograph.shtml

I would guess that if the book construction is high-quality, then
there is certainly at least a limited market for these. But I'm sure
it helps to already have an audience, a community of people who
already know your work. 

For pricing, it may be useful to think of the book as a collection of
photos. How much would you charge for the same number of photos
printed individually? Factor in the binding costs, and then factor in
a "bulk" discount sort of thing.

Dave