The need to photograph

Some days I just "have to" photograph something. It is like a physical urge that I must address, and it's funny how it happens on days that aren't very good for photography.

Yesterday it really rained. The recorded rainfall for Palm Springs was 1.57 inches, a new record for December 17th beating the 1.52 inches in 1940. I was so anxious to use my camera, I took an umbrella (not for me, but to protect my precious camera) and went outside to see what I could find. The water had filled our pool to the rim and the spillover from the spa was flowing nicely:

I played with some closeups of the raindrops peppering the pool, and altered one a bit in Photoshop:

And finally, I had some fun with the way the tile inlay in the spa looked below the water disturbed from the rain and captured this:

So, in the spirit of trying to explain myself and my photographic process on this blog, I just thought I'd share - not because these are necessarily my best work, or because they are commercially viable, but because this is what photography is about for me. My ultimate goal is to create an image that captures the essence of what I am feeling at the moment so that I will remember that feeling in years to come. I imagine myself as an old woman reliving the moment by looking at the photograph and remembering the wind on my cheek, the smell of the place, perhaps the coolness or dampness as I am breathing in. If the photograph doesn't do that for me it ends up on the cutting room floor.

Today, the sky is blue again and there is snow on the mountains ☺ I am heading out the door to find something to photograph - because I NEED to!

New YouTube Fine Art Photography Slideshow

I'm excited to announce that a new YouTube video has just been posted (click play above) featuring a new collection of my fine art photographs. I want to give a very special thank you to Christopher Steer of Eagan, Minnesota for composing and performing original, beautiful piano music to accompany my photographs! He is very talented and I am honored to be able to share the spotlight with him. So, please take a break for a few minutes and enjoy a peaceful journey,

☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆ Happy Holidays ☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆

Alison and Christopher

Design Style Guide

Today I was pleasantly surprised to learn that two of my Fine Art Photographs are included in two short "One Minute to Inspire" YouTube videos promoting the best handmade home decor available online.
Color in Your Home
Red and Gold is beautifully bold

For more treasures, please be sure to visit DesignStyleGuide.net where you will find high quality home decor items such as:
Furniture, Holiday Decor, Home Accessories, Pillows & Quilts, Pottery & Glass, Wall Art, and many items Under $20!

Here is an example of a beautiful treasury that you will currently find on the site curated by Avec Dieu Couture (who makes gorgeous pillows, wine bags, and custom drapes!):

My First Follower!

I am so happy to report that Terri is the first to Follow My Blog! Her blog Originals by Terri is beautiful and there are so many interesting things to find both in her shop and her promotion of others! She makes gorgeous jewelry using semi-precious stones and sterling silver, so please check out her Etsy shop obtp and find something you can't live without ~ she is offering free shipping through December 31st!

Terri chose "Cabin Window" as the free 4"x6" photograph that she would like to receive, so it will be on its way to her in tomorrow's mail. If you would like to FOLLOW MY BLOG - please click on the link to your right ☺ ---------->

Happy Holidays!

My 2009 Limited Edition Wall Calendar is here!

Featuring the Fine Art Photography of Alison Du Bois, a limited edition archival quality 2009 wall calendar (only 6 have been printed) with a certificate of authenticity signed on the back by the artist, my Wall Calendar has arrived!

This calendar has been printed by a professional lab using genuine 4-color offset ink printing on heavy-weight, glossy paper - just like wall calendars found in bookstores. Date pages are matte-finished for easy writing, are large enough to allow for plenty of notation, and include major holidays. This deluxe calendar measures 10” tall (closed) x 13” wide and has a quality metal spiral binding with a hole in the top center for easy hanging.

The exceptional quality of this calendar makes it ideal to economically enjoy these fine art photographs throughout the year and then frame the individual photographs when you are finished. The cover of the calendar is not printed on, so you actually get 13 full bleed (borderless) 10x13 photographs! Many of my most popular photographs are included in this calendar :

Cover: Autumn Avenue

January: Aspen Grove

February: Stone Arches

March: Silverton Trestle

April: Amalfi Coast

May: Mushroom

June: Tidepool Rush Hour

July: Statue of Liberty

August: Pastoral

September: Apple Cart

October: Aspen Sky

November: Valley Floor

December: Sunrise Snow

© 2007/2008 Alison Du Bois

Playin' Hooky with DSG

"It was a chilly winter night and when the alarm clock went off he snuggled under his cozy quilt for a few extra minutes of sleep. He wished he didn't have to leave the warmth to go to work. It was still dark, just before dawn, and a little birdie told him that it was snowing outside. He dragged himself out of his lovely bed and as soon as his feet hit his soft rug he made his decision...he prepared a steaming pot of Earl Grey tea and plopped
himself into his favorite comfy chair. He took out his journal and wrote down last night's dreams, and his plans for his "sick day". He was wonderfully happy in front of the mesmerizing fire!"

I found these items on Etsy by searching "interiordesignteam" and you can see the treasury on Etsy to click and comment by clicking here. Please visit the shops of these talented artists ~ NorthCityStudios, TheGeckosNest, BettsQuilts, uncommondepth, ara133photography, GraceDanielDesigns, KarenInTheWoods, patspottery, hushmouse, intotheblystic, justmare, and octoberphotography ~ I'm sure you'll find many more things to love!


THE NEW WEBSITE HAS LAUNCHED!!! You may find more items like these on the new Design Style Guide website at DesignStyleGuide.net to get some creative ideas to decorate your home!

I've been Tagged!!!

I got tagged by Joanna's Photography! It’s great way to introduce yourself to other bloggers!
Rules for tagging other bloggers:
Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
Share seven facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.
Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Please check out Joanna's Etsy shop, she has some lovely photographs!


Here are seven little known, random facts about me :
1. I love to find a quiet spot in nature, then become very still and concentrate to feel the lightest breeze on my face. I sometimes do this before I begin to photograph the scene and I think it helps me to capture the essence of a place.
2. I'm a bit of a techie - I love the challenge of learning how to use new technologies.
3. I amuse my friends and family with my "invention of the day" - sometimes silly and some really useful things! Here are a couple of examples: a computer monitor that has the correct full spectrum lighting to help people with S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder)....attaching a wet wipe to every bag of Cheetos so you can get the orange off of your fingers....convert gas stations to solar powered battery charging stations that you can drive into and exchange your depleted rack of batteries for a new rack - gas stations stay in business and you can drive greater distances.
4. I love to read! When I was younger and able to focus completely on what I was reading, the words on the pages would be in color (example: the word "grass" would be green on the page). That ability disappeared in my early twenties - I was concerned that something was wrong and learned from my doctor that it was a rare syndrome and that most people only see black print.
5. I'm organized, highly intuitive, ethical, and definitely an idealist!
6. In conjunction with two other writers I sold a one-hour comedy special to Showtime.
7. Horror movies really upset me.

(The photograph of me was taken by my talented daughter, Dana Johnston)

Here are the "Magnificent Seven" that I am tagging:
KatrinaDreamer
RoadsideScholar
Boone's Hooks
DZFantasy
Shayla Maddox
Citrus Tree Designs
Robin Lynne

Design Style Guide

The Design Style Guide is a collective group of artists and designers that work together to promote themselves through networking.

There are so many amazing artists in the Design Style Guide group! They use varied media, thoughtfulness, and focus to create fantastic items to enhance your home or office, and I'm so proud to be a member! I will begin featuring some of these talented artists in future posts. To view more work by Design Style Guide artists, please visit their blog at: http://designstyleguide.blogspot.com/

A website is currently in development to showcase these artists for professional Interior Designers, Decorators, and Home Stagers to find these unique works of art for their clients. Watch my posts for more information when it is ready to "go live"!
The original artwork and fine art photography in this post are my hobby. I would love it if you would please "follow my blog" by clicking the link to the right ~ ~ ~

My Favorite Poem

THE LAKE ISLE OF INNESFREE
by William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innesfree,
And a small cabin build there,
of clay and wattles make:
Nine bean-rows will I have there,
a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there,
for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning
to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer,
and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now,
for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with
low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway,
or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Fine Art Photography by Alison Du Bois

My New Creation

I'm in love with my newest creation ~ It is so luxurious and rich with the colors of autumn!


A handmade pair of one of a kind porcelain cones by glass artist Starr May of Palm Desert capture glorious strands of freshwater cultured pearls in shades of cream, gold, brown, wine, and copper accented with green and wine seed beads and topaz Swarovski crystals.





Genuine Carnelian finishes the ensemble and the quality construction is protected by french wire. The graceful piece fastens with a secure 14K gold filigree pearl clasp and measures 21 1/2" long and is 1" in diameter.

Creating something beautiful that will adorn someone else, maybe on a memorable occasion, makes me so happy!

Donated to Rare Artisans and available in their shop at: http://www.rareartisans.etsy.com/

The Workroom

I created a new listing for my Etsy shop today entitled "Treadle" http://alisondubois.etsy.com. The photograph depicting the decaying workroom of a seamstress in the abandoned mining town of Bodie, California, features her dusty vintage Singer treadle sewing machine and worn wooden table and chairs.

Along with wondering what she created in her special space, it got me thinking about the differences between her workspace and my own modern version. So, I thought I'd share some quick snapshots of my area created in a walk-in-closet...yes, losing space for clothes, shoes, and purses was hard to do, lol!

My room measures 6' 4" x 6" 10" and I admit I tidied it up a bit before taking pictures, but there is a place for everything. I find it easier to work on projects if I put things away regularly, as it gets messy pretty quickly.

My chair swivels between my jewelry workbench and my sewing/painting area. I do my soldering and patina work outside as there is no ventilation in this room (safety first, always!) I store my sterling silver, copper, brass, and gold filled wire and metal sheet in my bench drawers. The pegboard is great for keeping my tools handy. I use the shelves above the closet poles to store some other supplies.


I utilize these cabinets for my shipping supplies, polymer clay, stamps, paints (oil, watercolor, and acrylic), beads and findings, art papers, scrapbooking supplies, and miscellaneous treasures which fill up the closed cabinets that you see, too.




Okay, the secret is out, I have spilled a teeny bit around the corner into the next room with this Chinese cabinet that has a few more tiny bits and pieces:)

This is my sewing, painting, beading, etc. area. My old Kenmore sewing machine has been with me for about 30 years - I service it regularly and it works like a dream. Working on a quilt in this small space is impossible, so the dining room table is pressed into service for this activity.


I store my serger on a shelf and use the folding table between the jewelry bench and my mannequin when it is needed.

The picture on the bulletin board is a working copy of a Red-shouldered Hawk that I was fortunate to capture a picture of when he landed on the edge of the spillover from our backyard spa into the pool. I'm working on a large watercolor that I hope to finish this month. I'm more proficient with oils and acrylics - watercolour is not my medium - but I'm enjoying it very much!

I needed a bit more space to store my sewing supplies, so this little area where I enter the closet is useful.

By the way, the photographs on the walls are mine, and I enjoy changing them out by the season to pretend I am outside. The wall hanging in this corner is hand quilted by me with lovely gold thread, and I painted the small framed watercolor on the stand.





And this my laptop computer, which is old as the hills and takes forever to start up, but it is very handy for keeping track of my projects and for playing music while I work. It's also great for learning new techniques - it's amazing what you can learn on YouTube!
Thanks for taking the time to check out my creative work space ~ I'd love to read your comments, especially if you have a link to your own post of what your workroom looks like!

Best wishes,

Alison

My Coffee Table Book

I'd appreciate it if you would take a moment to vote in the Weekly Grand Champion Etsy Challenge (hopefully for my "A Collection of Photographs by Alison Du Bois" coffee table book) at:

http://etsychallenge.blogspot.com/2008/09/915-weekly-grand-champion-your-category.html

And, if you wouldn't mind too much, maybe you could forward my shameless begging request *sheepish grin* on to your email list for me ~ I'd really like to win this so I can go on to the annual contest.

My self-published photographic coffee table art book contains 31 glossy pages and measures 11 ½” by 15”. This deluxe hardcover book is printed on high quality archival (lignin and acid free) paper with high quality ink by a professional printer. The black background makes the colors really pop! This first edition book includes a dust cover. Many of the 80 photographs included in this collection are listed on my http://www.alisondubois.etsy.com/ site. The layouts include from one to four photographs per page, and photos have captions. The book is available for purchase here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12706242

Thank you so much for your help, and don't forget to vote in the other categories, too, at http://etsychallenge.blogspot.com/ - I think you will enjoy trying to choose between all of the talented artists competing!

Front Page of Etsy

I made the front page of Etsy last night in this beautiful treasury created by http://www.gollybard.etsy.com/. Holly creates whimsical watercolor paintings - I'm particularly taken with her dragonflies.

I'm so happy that she included my photograph entitled "Stone Arches" that was taken in Pompeii, Italy.

Thank you, Holly!

Front Page of Etsy

I made the front page of Etsy.com today in this beautiful treasury created by http://www.girlsavage.etsy.com/ who makes cute plush creatures and her "Feltidermy" have been featured on Cute Overload, The Martha Stewart Show and CNN American Morning!

I'm so happy that she included my photograph entitled "Solidarity" that was taken in Pompeii, Italy.

Thank you, girlsavage!

Bodie, California

I received a picture from my sister-in-law of the matted and framed collage of my pictures of Bodie, an abandoned gold mining town in central California.

Thank you for sharing your picture with me, Virginia! It's nice to see it up on a wall :)

What I did on my summer vacation ~

I just returned from my summer vacation and wanted to share an incredible adventure with you that I was lucky to experience. I toured the USS Nebraska in Bangor, Washington! She is a ballistic missile submarine carrying 24 Trident missiles that can be targeted independently.

It was a strange and wondrous moment, standing on the deck before we went down the ladder, to realize that the arched area I was standing on could someday open up and a nuclear missile could be launched through it. Trident missiles are fired by the pressure of expanding gas in the launch tube. When the missile is far enough away from the submarine, several stages of motors and boosters ignite. Within about two minutes the missile is traveling about 20,000 feet per second.

Once on board, I was impressed with the organization and engineering involved in creating this beautiful work of art. Courteous sailors, busy with their duties, took time to answer my questions and graciously danced when we had to pass in a narrow passageway. The missiles are quite large - about 44 feet high and almost 7 feet around - so 24 of them fill a large portion of the vessel, but overall it seemed surprisingly spacious. I learned about how the air is cleaned and recirculated, visited the ship's medical office, imagined sleeping in the crew's quarters (you do need to be organized!), checked out the galley, and explored all the nooks and crannies.

The USS Nebraska is 42 feet wide and 560 feet long - for comparison the Seattle Space Needle is 605 feet high. Submerged, it displaces approximately 18,750 tons and it carries a crew of 155. It is propelled by a nuclear reactor and it is the 14th ship in the OHIO class.

I feel much safer knowing that this submarine is patrolling our waters. I got an opportunity to think about being at sea for three months at a time and the kinds of consequences this brings about for a sailor. Not only having to get along with the rest of the crew in tight quarters, but the effect it has on their familial relationships. Young men, most of them in their early twenties, with new babies and young wives - not only missing them, but being unable to even speak with them during their deployment as they have to maintain silence. Their wives learn to handle everything at home themselves, yet when the sailor returns he has to reintegrate into his family and couples have to get to know each other again. Daily duties have to be redistributed, children need to "ask Dad" again....and then he faces deployment again, and it all starts over. Very difficult, and I congratulate these families on their ability to do this so that the rest of us can enjoy the protection provided by these submariners. Thank you!

I was unable to take any photographs to share with you due to high level security clearance required to take this tour, but I have it in my memory forever! If you ever get a chance, there is a public Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington that has some wonderful exhibits related to submarines http://www.history.navy.mil/museums/keyport/index1.htm that is well worth the visit.

I Passed!

I am very happy to report that I got an "A" on my final exam! A certificate for Diamonds & Diamond Grading, as well as the Graduate Diamonds Diploma from the Gemological Institute of America is on its way! Their distance education program is excellent and allows me to study at home at my own pace. I am planning to take a break for a few weeks and then I will begin my next course of study, Colored Stones.

Electronic Copyright

Branching Out and trying something new ~

Yesterday afternoon I finished work on my next series of photographs that I plan to incorporate into my new book and was ready to copyright them. So, I decided to give the new United States Copyright Office electronic copyright system a try.

The Copyright Process - standard method:

Previously I printed out a hard application form from their website http://www.copyright.gov/ and completed it, made prints of my photographs and accompanying information, - made a copy of everything for myself, then mailed them registered return receipt to the Library of Congress (LOC). Waited for three or four days to track online and get notification that they were received by the LOC. At this point I could start to publish the photographs because they are protected as soon as they are received, but I still had to wait for over 6 months to get a certificate that a publishing house might need to verify that they are my copyright. Wait for about 5 months for them to cash your check, wondering all the while if there is anything wrong? Then continue to wait for your certificate. I am still waiting today for a certificate from a submission I made on October 22, 2007 - when I spoke to the Copyright Office a few days ago they said it is still being processed and may take a few more months as they are so backlogged things are taking about 8 months now due to the changeover to their electronic process (which he said is taking about 4 months)!

cost - $23.02 prints and copies

fee- $45.00

mailing - $5.25

Total = $73.27 for 81 photographs + about 6 hours of my time running around initially and then calling and checking on it!

The new and improved Copyright Process - Electronic Copyright:

So, yesterday afternoon at about 5:15pm I was ready to give it a try. Wow...what a pleasure! It took me 40 minutes from start to finish. I created an account http://www.copyright.gov/eco/index.html, then filled out the application form. The next step was to pay on a separate secure site which was easy and fast. I was returned to my application without any difficulty and the final step was to upload my submission. There is a 30 minute time limit and it was suggested that if my file was too large I might need to creat a .zip file, however I only had 75 photographs for this submission so I just uploaded them individually. When I hit the "submit" button they were all uploaded within 7 minutes, and I was given a confirmation page with the document files and titles to print out for my records. Then I was returned to the home page where I can now track my submission electronically with a unique file number. The biggest advantage is that my photographs are acknowledged as submitted immediately and I don't have to wait an additional 3-5 days for mailing delivery confirmation!

cost: - $0 printing and copies

fees: - $35

mailing - $0

Total = $35 + 40 minutes of my time (this will increase slightly over the next four months as I track my open case online to ensure that it is completed, but should be minimal as it will not entail redialing and waiting on hold for the copyright office).

I highly recommend the new Electronic Copyright process for artists and photographers - it is cheaper, faster, and less stressful!

Rare Artisans Exhibition News

I am very honored to belong to a group of craftsmen that began to collaborate about a year ago ~ "Rare Artisans". We put together a simple website to showcase the artist's works last November, and we began to build our http://www.rareartisans.etsy.com/ shop in January of this year.

I'm extremely pleased to announce that Rare Artisans recently received an unsolicited communication from the Pasadena Bead and Design Show inviting us to exhibit our handcrafted jewelry, original artwork, and photography. Apparently they found our website http://www.rareartisans.com/ and liked our work!

The show will be held at the Pasadena Hilton on August 14 through 17, 2008. Thursday-Sunday; 10AM to 6PM daily. This is a well publicized, juried artisan trade show showcasing two hundred and fifty exhibitors who are committed to design and handwork: wearable art, handmade beads, art jewelry, designer components, art couture, lapidary, textiles, enameling, ceramics, embellishments, metalwork, collectibles, glass, interior décor, and decorative arts, along with artisan suppliers to the trade. It is well publicized in all major bead, jewelry, gem & textile magazines, including; Ornament, Belle Armoire, Belle Jewelry, American Style, Niche, Art Jewelry, Bead & Button, BeadStyle, Beadwork, Stringing, Beads 2008, Colored Stone, Fiber Arts, and Jewelry Artist, along with local and LA area advertising in newspapers and weekly magazines and radio advertisements.

We are all elated and on cloud nine!

Sunday Morning

I rarely have time these days, but I long for the Sunday paper this morning. I am remembering how much I used to look forward to a cup of coffee on the back porch with the crossword puzzle. Impossible to spend any time "on the back porch" here in the desert at this time of year, lol, but I think I'll take a trip to the store this morning and pick up the New York or LA Times and have a go! On a lazy Sunday morning, a special treat is just what I need☺

Front Page of Etsy

My photograph, "Red, White, and Blue" made the front page of Etsy in a Treasury curated by soleilgirl last night! Here's the link to the Treasury entitled Bleu, Blanc, Rouge http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=14865

THE STEWART LITHIA MINE

Recently, I was fortunate to visit the Stewart Lithia Mine in Pala, California with an academic group from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). As a current student at the GIA, this was a very exciting opportunity to visit a working mine not open to the public and to listen to Blue Sheppard (the mine owner) recount his discoveries!

Located in north San Diego County, the area is rich in pegmatite. A pegmatite is a coarse grained igneous rock (formed deep within the earth) having a grain size of 3cm or more and composed of granite and its constituents like quartz, feldspar and mica. The Stewart Lithia Mine was originally mined to extract lepidolite, as the lithium it contained (about 5%) was refined and used for ceramic glazes, to color flares, and for grease. Lepidolite ore is a beautiful conglomerate of lilac, lavender and pink and seemed pretty soft to me. Additionally, it contains bits of pink tourmaline crystals!

Tourmaline (Mohs 7.253) is harder than quartz and produces gorgeous gemstones when cut. It comes in a variety of colors including pink, green, blue, black, etc. Most of the pink tourmaline that was mined at the Stewart Mine went to the empress of the Ch'ing Dynasty Imperial Court and her entourage, who purchased everything they could get in order to have it exported to China. Gem quality natural pink tourmaline is five times as rare as gem diamond and more than ten times as valuable as gold in its pure form.

In the tunnels, Blue explained to the group how he learned to “read” the rocks and understand where to look for tourmalines. In addition to touring the underground tunnels of the mine and seeing the sites where some of the largest and most beautiful tourmalines were discovered we were allowed a few hours to search the ground and tailings around the mine. It was a beautiful day, having cleared up from the previous two days of hard rain. That rain definitely gave us an advantage by washing away some of the loose dirt and exposing the heavier minerals. I was able to pick up several fairly good size pieces of pink tourmaline that were laying right on top of the soil, and on careful examination of the walls of tailing piles I could see the crystalline shape that I was looking for and simply pull the tourmalines out. That's me in the center in a pale pink top.

I found several small pink, green, a pale blue, and even a bi-color. But, try to imagine my excitement when I saw the flat end of largest one (center in my photo) and kept pulling as this beautiful 26.7 carat dark pink tourmaline measuring 1" long x 1/2" wide x 3/8" thick emerged from the sandy soil!



I showed it to Blue and he held it up for the rest of the group to admire…and within minutes my little area was full of eager “miners” hoping to find something similar. A few visitors found beautiful tourmalines that day, and one person found a pretty kunzite.

I hope to find a cutter who will be able to carefully fashion the large one into a gemstone, but in the meantime I enjoy looking at this pretty collection every day.

It was a fabulous trip and I learned so much!

Publishing Industry Terms

Hi - I thought the following Terms might be helpful for those just getting interested in self-publishing their work - especially for our newly formed ABCs Etsy Street Team!

Publishing Industry Terms

BISAC Subject Codes
Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) Subject Codes are standard categories used by the book-selling industry to categorize books.

ISBN
An International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a unique 10- or 13-digit number assigned to every book that identifies its binding, edition and publisher. ISBNs are obtained from R.R. Bowker, the US ISBN agency, or the International ISBN Agency.

Bleed
Bleed is extra image or background that extends beyond the trim marks of a page. It should not include any "live" elements that cannot be cut during the final stages of the printing process. When an image is intended to be printed to the edge of a page, it should extend at least 1/8" off the edge so that when the page is trimmed, small variations in the trim won't result in a white line down the edge of the page.

Grayscale
A photo or image made up of varying tones of black and white. Images to be printed in black and white should be converted to grayscale prior to addition to the printed work.

Full-color
Printing using a combination of inks (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, or CMYK) to achieve all possible varieties of visual color.

CMYK
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) are the four printer colors used to create full-color prints. Combining each of these four colors in varying proportions allows you to create the full color spectrum.

RGB
Red, Green, Blue (RGB) is the color spectrum used by color monitor displays and TVs. The combination and intensities of these three colors can represent the whole color spectrum. Digital images captured in color from most scanners or taken with a digital camera are in RGB color mode. Images in RGB color mode should be converted to CMYK for the printing process as RGB doesn't include a true black.

DPI
Dots per Inch (DPI) is a measure of image resolution. The higher the number, the sharper the image. For the highest quality printing, you should include images of at least 300 DPI in your book.

Image Resolution
Image resolution refers to picture detail or the actual number of pixels that are packed into a digital image. Resolution is defined as the number of pixels per square inch (ppi) or as the number of dots per square inch (dpi). For all practical purposes in discussing resolution, pixels and dots are essentially interchangeable.

Trim Size
The size of your final book after it is printed, bound and trimmed. Trim sizes are always indicated as width in inches by height in inches. For example, a trim size of 6"x9" means the printed book will be 6 inches wide and 9 inches tall.

Trade Paperback
Refers to a paperback book bound with a heavy paper cover.