EDITED: 9 Jul 17:15 by DREADFULGATE

My printer just called - they never got the mail with the downloading address for the inside pages of the album. A whole week lost because I thought it's pushy to call if they got the mail alright. He said they should be able to finish the book in time, but what if the files are still wrong?

There's a lesson in there somewhere, I'm just not sure I want to know...

______________

Finally decided releasing the thing on FCBD just because there's a free version is just pretentious. Aiming for Monday now. Or the whole slot between Monday (uploading the info site, plugging it in the forums) until Wednesday (which is always the best day to contact the press).

I might release a torrent version tomorrow, just for the sake of it. I might not. I'll see tomorrow.

EDITED: 2 May 2008 by DREADFULGATE

Alright, that was a long break.

Actually, it wasn't. It's just, last week I was too busy juggling two jobs to post anything here or even check P&P for updates on the other threads. (Is it just me, or are ALL the interesting threads in this section now?)

One of last week's jobs isn't comic-related. All it did for my comics work is slow it down and reduce my sleep to about four hours a night. The other job, of course, was finishing the book.

After the delay with the printer, that part turned into a high-pressure job. Especially since the second proof sucked as well. 450dpi didn't do it. The printer told me they used a 1200dpi machine, so after another futile try with lower resolution, I decided to go all the way and change my files to 1200dpi. (Actually, some are at 600dpi grayscale now. They looked good in the last proof, so I guess that works, too.)

Of course, you can't just enhance the resoution of b&w inks and hope for the best. It'll just look as scrappy as it did before. For a moment, I considered vectorising the whole bit, but that would have made too much of a hassle and still looked bad. Instead I used a bitmappy effect that smoothed all the corners. (It's called 'palette knife'. I have no idea what it's supposed to do.) (Corners, in that size = pixel 'staircase' artifacts.) It took me an afternoon to figure it out, but it worked. Yeah, I know you shouldn't do that because you lose all kinds of detail, but, well, that's the point, isn't it? I wanted to lose details. (Actually, that's why I sometimes use vector graphics. They lose a lot of the rough edges and create a smooth, almost oily appearance. Sometimes that's what I'm aiming at.)

While I was at it, I noticed more small mistakes I had to correct to make the book the best book possible. Being pressed for time, though, I didn't go back to the original files for that, but changed the 1200dpi files directly. Which means, I'll have to do it again for the English version. I know, I know.

So, the last proof copy, on Friday, checked out. Now the printer is printing. (At least I hope so. I was very clear about how urgent it is.)

Yesterday, I released the first part of the download version. It's on http://connydasalbum.dreadful-gate.de - feel free to check it out, if you can read German. The "Basisversion" is the free one.

Today, I went throught the first draft I mentioned the other day. It felt unbalanced, so I used different approaches to editing. One was typing it into an editing program (I use celtx now, but I can't post any experiences yet because it's the first time), but it was late last night, and I got tired after two pages. The other approach involved sitting on the balcony (I mentioned the heat wave, right?) and drawing thumbnails. Actually, more like toenails or, you know, really big thumbs. My thumbnails are in postcard format. they're more of a scripting device at this stage, rather than the layout device they're supposed to be. (I'd scan them, but it's all soft pencil, so I'm not sure they'll show well. Maybe later. Remind me if I don't get it done.)

The main thing I learned from thumbnailing the story is where the problem is located. Everything up until p. 5 worked fine, and then I lost focus. Which is exactly the story's problem: Half-way through, the story shifts from Conny's story to her mum's story. The other day I wrote it isn't Conny's story at all, but that's not true. There are things at stake for her. By focussing on her mother, I feel like I'm devaluing her story. (Almost fell for it myself, didn't I?)

So, now Conny's story needs a new ending. And her mother's story needs to be reframed, because it's still a good conflict. There's another problem: both stories have a similar feel. Well, they do now, because they spent so much time together.