{"id":9461,"date":"2026-05-06T11:04:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/?p=9461"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:46:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:46:40","slug":"the-harbingers-path-print-update-proof-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/2026\/05\/the-harbingers-path-print-update-proof-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"The Harbinger’s Path: Print Update #3 – Book Proof Photos! | May 6, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Harbinger’s Path | Chapter 2, pages 3-4 (Printed proof – not final) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I spent much of the tail end of April finalizing The Harbinger’s Path<\/a> print version, and wanted to share some photos of one of the book’s proofs from during this time! I ended up spending much more time than I’d planned refining the print version, and despite telling myself not to do this excessively – I ended up manually adjusting or making art refinements to every single page, haha. On the plus side, I’m pleased with how it’s turned out! I think the extra time was worth it, and I hope this comes across to anyone who holds the final book in their hands! <\/p>\n

All photos in this post are graciously taken by my printer (many, many thanks to them again for being so wonderful to work with!). <\/p>\n

The rest of the photos & post are below, along with one or two higher-resolution photos:<\/p>\n

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High-res photo of the above spread here. <\/a>(Please try not to share this & the rest of the photos in this post.) <\/em><\/p>\n

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Cover (Proof – not final)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

High-res photo of the cover here. <\/a><\/p>\n

These photos are taken of the book’s third physical proof, which was the final one they recommended I do to work out some final adjustments! This means while the images here are near completion, they are not the final version – I made some slight edits before sending off the final file (which is printing as I type this!)<\/p>\n

As these are not the final book, think of these photos more as previews.<\/strong> Even the cover will be slightly different from the above photo! In the final book, the cover text is better centered, and I also adjusted the subheading to be less wordy (changing “A Trahearne & Malyck Doujinshi Fan Comic” to simply “Trahearne & Malyck Fan Comic)! <\/p>\n

I’ll show some photos below, and then afterward, type up some thoughts about the proofing process while finalizing the book: <\/p>\n

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Chapter 2 Finale Spread (Proof – not final)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Back Cover (Proof – not final)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Chapter 3 Finale Spread (crop) | (Proof – not final)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adjustments made during the final proof <\/h3>\n

Colors & Values <\/h4>\n

When I received the first proof, after being far too excited seeing the comic in print for the first time, I began going through the book and writing down notes for what to change for the final book. I noticed two features I knew I wanted to change for the final book: <\/p>\n

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  1. The book printed too dark (a common issue when printing a digital image), and <\/li>\n
  2. The book had much more vibrant cyans than the postcards<\/a> printed by this same printer in March. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For #1,<\/strong> I learned late during the printing process that it is standard to lighten images when preparing images from RGB (digital) to CMYK (print). I had been doing an RGB to CMYK conversion already, where i thought I had been accounting for values being too dark. I think I did not account enough for it, though, as the printed pages still turned out darker than I would like. I ended up adjusting nearly every single page manually to have them not print as dark. <\/p>\n

    I learned this after submitting the files for Proof #3 (the photos in this post), but I did try testing it out with one or two spreads in Proof #3 to test if I did need to lighten the images. You can see this best in the spread at the top of this post (also pasted below) – and I was so delighted when I saw my printer’s photograph of it. This printed so much closer to what I had in mind, as this spread in both Proof #1 and Proof #2 printed too dark for my taste. <\/p>\n

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    The Harbinger’s Path | Chapter 2, pages 3-4 (Printed proof – not final)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    For #2,<\/strong> I learned that this was because I tried a different form of PDF compatibility compared to the one I used in the postcard order. I tried this because the setting I tried was the one recommended for the contact cards I printed from another printer at the same time, and I wasn’t sure if this one was more standard. I might do a more technical write-up about this at a later point – if only to consolidate my notes, because this was all new information to me that I didn’t come across easily.<\/p>\n

    In summary, though, the PDF setting I used initially (the one I used for the contact cards) is newer, and it better represents those bright blues used digitally that are often more difficult to convey when going from digital to print. From my postcard prints, though, I surprisingly strongly preferred the more subdued, yet still vibrant, blues from this older PDF setting. To me, the newer PDF setting looks almost garish (though it’s arguable they are so similar, it’s possible these differences might only matter to me), while the older setting looks far more elegant and beautiful. <\/p>\n

    I only learned this after printing proof #2 – I didn’t want to print so many proofs (I had only planned on printing 1!), but my printer highly encouraged me to do these additional proofs. I’m very glad and thankful they did, as it did reveal enormous differences (to me) that I wanted to change for the final. <\/p>\n

    Double-page spreads <\/h4>\n

    Another feature that ended up adding a good amount of time was figuring out the alignment for the continuous, double-page spreads in the book. The book has a total of 5 interior double-page spreads, and these were initially a challenge to align smoothly. <\/p>\n

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    Prologue spread showing seam alignment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Both proofs #1 and #2 printed with the interior centerfold seam eating much more of the spine artwork than intended. I later learned this is a bit of a tricky thing to pull off well in perfect-bound books. This spread, in particular, printed with Amaranda continuously looking far too squashed – but after a few back-and-forths with my printer, we finally figured it out! And now, you can see she looks much closer to the original intent of the artwork. <\/p>\n

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    Chapter 3’s finale spread one more time, to show the centerfold seam alignment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The centerfold alignment can also be seen in Chapter 3’s finale spread, with the vine from page 26 crossing over back to page 25. <\/p>\n

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    Chapter 2’s finale spread again, to show Caladbolg’s centerfold alignment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Another spread where this was most noticeable is Chapter 2’s finale, where Caladbolg crosses over from page 14 into page 13. At the time, I thought this was a cool idea for a double-page spread. During this book’s printing process, I learned that, generally, you want to avoid doing this, haha. You generally want to avoid important elements crossing over the center gutter, such as figures – or, in this case, with an object where the seam would be easily noticeable if it was misaligned. Even in the above spread, Caladbolg is now aligned across the centerfold – but depending on how you hold the book, it can look less aligned. This is as close as is possible we can do for print with this type of book-binding, and I’m guessing this is why the general advice seems to be to try avoiding doing this if you can! <\/p>\n

    Early versions of this spread, in particular (in the first two proofs) printed so misalgined, that the two parts of the blade were not even touching each other. I was rather concerned for a while. But I enjoyed the challenge and learned a lot doing this, and though I’m biased because I’ve seen this spread so much at this point, I’m very happy with how it printed. <\/p>\n

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    The Harbinger’s Path – Limited Print Edition
    \nGeneral Info and Links<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n
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    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    Book Dimensions and Page Count<\/span><\/h4>\n