How my photo became a front cover image!

04/03/2019

HOW MY PHOTO BECAME A FRONT COVER IMAGE!

When I moved to the Oxfordshire village of Bodicote, I never imagined I’d be asked to photograph the front cover image of its parish magazine!

It’s a stunning church and so I didn’t need to think twice! I quickly grabbed my camera bag and hotfooted my way through the village.

The photo above is the third front cover image I have secured since my first shoot for them. So as I reach my hat-trick, it seems a great time to show you what happens once my image reaches the printers!

DESIGN TRANSFORMATION

Designer at Technique Print working on the front cover image

The image is sent to Technique Print in Banbury which has the important task of printing nearly 2,450 copies of Bodicote’s Parish Magazine. The first step is to add the magazine masthead and copy that helps promote the magazine’s content.

ON THE PRESS

Once the entire magazine has been designed, the artwork is transferred onto ‘printing plates.’ The printing process includes four colours of cyan, magenta, yellow and black with each one having its own printing plate. You can see one of the plates for the front cover below with my photo delicately etched onto it.

Printing plates pictured alongside a giant printing press

The printing plates are thin metal sheets which are then loaded onto the huge £1m printing press pictured above. Then it’s time to load the ink!

Montage of shots of printer's ink pots sat on the printing press

Each sheet of paper is then sucked up and carried through the entire press on a cushion of air that prevents the paper being marked.

Paper being loaded onto a printer's press

This machine prints 15,000 sheets per hour which is extremely rapid and quite a challenge to photograph! The sheets of paper pass over the four coloured plates layering each coloured ink until the final image is produced.

Magazine front cover on the printing press
Printing press creating the front cover of a magazine

THE PROOF’S IN THE PRINT

Waiting patiently at the end of the press is Dean who is a master craftsman. He starts by running a proof and then calibrates the ink levels to ISO standards. This ensures they’re printing the colours exactly as I photographed them.

Printer working at Technique Print
Printer checking a proof with an eyeglass at Technique Print
Magnifying glass sat on printer's proof

Once Dean is happy, he prints 2,450 copies of each page. They are then loaded onto a pallet ready to be machine folded, cut and stapled into the final magazine.

Montage of images of a printer moving a stack of paper around Technique Print

THE FINAL FRONT COVER IMAGE!

And voila…the final magazine is printed, delivered to St John The Baptist Parish Church and hand-delivered around the parish! And I’m very proud to say that I have already been asked to photograph the next front cover!

St John the Baptist Parish Church magazine stood next a cup of te and daffodils

To learn more about Technique Print please click here. Or if you’d like me to photograph your business then please click here!

COMMENTS
EXPAND

Such an interesting article…takes me back to my old screen printing days. things have moved on a bit! I still think it is exciting to think that only the basic colours go to make up every colour.

ADD A COMMENT

Get In Touch

Would you like to discuss your next photo shoot? Drop me a line below and let's get the ball rolling!

Error, name is a required field.
Error, please enter a valid email address.