The Making of Christmas in Idaho

Merry Christmas, everyone!

To share a bit of holiday cheer, I wanted to tell the story of how Christmas in Idaho came to be.

Life is full of serendipitous encounters. You never know where someone will find you, and Ray Downing (author of Christmas in Idaho and Emmy Award-winning illustrator) found me from an interview I did for Markzware software. Ray wanted to bring his book to life, and he was looking for information on preparing it for print. After watching my interview, he decided that he needed a professional, rather than advice. So, he reached out to me, and our collaboration began. 

Ray and his wife Maria, and Thomas Hummel of CrashPaper (our printer) completed the team. Each of us was engaged from the outset of the project and integral in bringing the book to fruition. Together we made important decisions on manufacturing techniques, materials, and in the end, delivered an outstandingly beautiful product. 

The challenges of working with overseas printers required multiple tests, video proofs, and samples. We used a process called stochastic screening to create the halftones for printing, where the random distribution of dots yielded a very fine, detailed printing result. 

The 3D-sculptured embossing required converting the cover art and bird into multiple levels of grey, corresponding to the different levels of metal for the die-making process. And of course, we obtained sample cases and samples of the foil stamping and embossing to ensure quality at every step.

With all its fine detail, quality materials, gilded edges, and ribbon mark, Christmas in Idaho, is truly a unique gift book. And working on this project was a gift in itself, for this is the kind of fine quality publication Book Lotus Productions strives to create.