Hi there. I want to share a collaborative initiative called PrePostPrint. I am a F/LOSS exclusive designer instructor and artist, and this non-profit project means a lot to me, my collaborators, and I think for the future of printed design. Let me know your thoughts, and subscribe to our mailing list if you are interested to keep updated.
PrePostPrint is a laboratory and research group for alternative free publishing workflows. We are specifically interested in the creation of hybrid and printed publications with web technologies.
PrePostPrint gathers those working with experimental publishing techniques and helps to make their projects and tools more accessible. We share the desire to re-think all links in the chain of publishing. We want to forego the classical DTP programs and turn to technologies that are more accessible and sociable, and that can evolve and adapt to each given project. Coding becomes a design tool that permits to reinvent the editorial process, and allows to continuously question and re-invent publishing forms and formats.
In the showcase, you will see studios and independent designers working with HTML, CSS (@media print), custom-made tools, but also books and publications made with those technologies, taking advantage of the power of open web standards to publish a new kind of printed objects.
It is obvious that such an approach is possible thanks to libre / open source software and methodologies, also really dependant on open standards. Our workshop focuses on working with such tools or building new ones under open sources licenses.
The following images are publications made without proprietary design software, most of them are made with HTML and CSS.
This project sounds really cool. Thanks for sharing. These days HTML+CSS are powerful tools and with the newer specifications (columns, css shapes, grid, etc.) there will be little you could do in print before, that you cannot do with web standards. I mostly do Web stuff and no print, but it’s cool to know such group exists.
You are right, but I think the most interesting case is to do what proprietary / traditional tools can’t do, and by the way reinvent what editorial graphic design is: live content handling, generative layout / content / typography, variable fonts, generative iconography, collaborative editing in real time, and so much more…
Great !!!
It’s encouraging to see that there is a growing interest on the wonders (and headaches) of creating publications for print and screens using web technology.
I’m really longing for meeting others involved in this, share our experience learn from others experience and ideas.
All the best!
This is great, thanks! We make a lot of books with HTML and CSS, using a Jekyll-based workflow we developed for producing books in multiple formats. We’ve written about some of our projects on our website.
I love learning from others doing similar work, so I’ll join the PPP mailing list to keep updated.
Such a great job!! I checked the HTML2PRINT a few years ago but ould not handle some bugs.
I believe that a HTML/CSS based publishing workflow will give much more power to the people who want their ideias printed.
Much love to PrePostPrint!
Also will check @arthurattwell workflow ASAP.
