Creating ready-to-print photo books with Ruby and TeX
Photo BookEngineering

© Lead Image © Eric Reis, 123RF.com
Instead of composing photo books online, Mike Schilli prefers to use Ruby and TeX to program an application that generates print-ready PDF books.
I thought I had actually already given up printed books. Today, when I buy a paper book, typically used, I immediately send it to the paper cutting guillotine. The individual pages are then fed to my scanner and ultimately end up digitalized on my iPad, where I then read them.
But there is one type of paper book that I still cherish and even find preferable to digital formats: thick hardcover photography tomes that you might find scattered haphazardly on a little table in a hotel lobby or a vacation home. You just plop down in an armchair next to them, lean back, put your feet up, and start leafing through the high quality pages.
These books are known as coffee table books, probably because they are usually found on coffee tables. You can even create such works yourself with your own photos! Various online providers offer browser tools for uploading photos and laying them out across the pages of a virtual paper book. If you then press the send button and pay the bill, after roughly a week, your mailperson will deliver a high-quality book with a hard cover directly to your home (Figure 1).
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
News
-
The 14" Pinebook Pro Linux Laptop is Shipping
After a considerable delay, the 14" version of the Pinebook Pro laptop is, once again, available for purchase.
-
OpenMandriva Lx ROME Technical Preview Released
OpenMandriva’s rolling release distribution technical preview has been released for testing purposes and adds some of the latest/greatest software into the mix.
-
Linux Mint 21 is Now Available
The latest iteration of Linux Mint, codenamed Vanessa, has been released with a new upgrade tool and other fantastic features.
-
Firefox Adds Long-Anticipated Feature
Firefox 103 has arrived and it now includes a feature users have long awaited…sort of.
-
System76 Refreshes Their Popular Oryx Pro Laptop with a New CPU
The System76 Oryx Pro laptop has been relaunched with a 12th Gen CPU and more powerful graphics options.
-
Elive Has Released a New Beta
The Elive team is proud to announce the latest beta version (3.8.30) of its Enlightenment-centric Linux distribution.
-
Rocky Linux 9 Has Arrived
The latest iteration of Rocky Linux is now available and includes a host of new features and support for new architecture.
-
Slimbook Executive Linux Ultrabook Upgrading Their CPUs
The Spanish-based company, Slimbook, has made available their next generation Slimbook Executive Linux ultrabooks with a 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPU.
-
Fedora Linux is Coming to the Raspberry Pi 4
Thanks to significant work in the upstream, the upcoming release of Fedora 37 will introduce support for the Raspberry Pi 4.
-
New Linux Ultrabook from TUXEDO Computers
TUXEDO Computers has released a new 15" Ultrabook running Linux.