>Here's the other caveat. Lightning print is decent but not yet equivalent
>quality to the mass-quantity printers. (SJ Games recently had occasion to
>look into LP as an option, and we decided not to go with them yet precisely
>for the quality reason.) The hope is that the printing will continue to
>improve until LP is indistinguishable from other printing processes.
I do use LPI, three books so far. It's a high speed laser so it'll
never look quite like traditional print and the QA is still kinda
shoddy. Partly because their process was designed for paperbacks, for the
most part, so artwork was not much of a consideration. The other major
issue is they've grown at an absurd rate and been adding extra shifts and
extra lines. Looking at my reprints I can almost tell you when it happened
each time. :)
Plus side of LPI. It is better than a Kinko's special, you can do hard
covers ( currently only in 6x9 ), and your setup costs are minimal ( Under
$100 in most cases. ) If you are a Wizard's Attic client ( something
everyone should look into ) they'll order for you and apply it against your
account, making you out of pocket money even less. WA sells at pretty much
every level and is an environment that encourages distributors to consider
small number restocks, thus keeping you in stock and available to the retailer.
There are simple tricks and rules to keep in mind while doing layout
for an LPI book and the quality is less distinguishable from a Whitehall
run. It'll never compare with McNaughton and Gunn or Bang, but it's not a
bad setup.
Another plus. The account rep who handles game books is a gamer and
married to an industry freelancer. This seems to help. :)
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