LightRoom's Robert Reiter collaborates with artist Ellen Wiener to turn a fan-fold book series into a life-sized, folded print.

Berkeley, CA – Robert Reiter of LightRoom, a Bay Area fine-art printing company for photographers and other artists, has joined with artist Ellen Weiner to create life-sized prints out of fan-fold books. The first project turned a 30 page fan-fold book into a nine-foot panorama picture.

"I heard a dozen negative replies from photographers and printers when I described my project, and generally, the reasons for it was that was 'we've never done it before,'" says Wiener, as she reminisces on her first project with Reiter.

Unlike the previous people Wiener went to, Reiter accepted the challenge.
"I didn't see any reason to not do it, but I knew problems would probably creep in," said Reiter. "Still, it sounded interesting and I love working with clients to solve these kinds of problems."

Reiter began the project by scanning the pages. The first problem came up while trying to align all the scans so they could be trimmed down and easily folded. Lining up each page in the series didn't guarantee that each page fold was at exactly 3.5 inches, so that required laying out grid lines for each fold and assembling the scans to bring each fold of the original book into the proper alignment on the print. Reiter and Wiener also experimented with different papers to find one with minimal surface cracking when folded.

Another problem came when the final printing was done. They were printing eight strips on one sheet of paper, each too big to fit in any paper cutter. As a solution Reiter had to unroll the print and use a straight edge and razor to slice each strip out. With enough patience and a steady hand, Reiter eventually became proficient.

Even with the challenges he encountered from Wiener's project, Reiter is happy with the experience.

"Printing Ellen's eight books has always been fun," said Reiter. "When clients come to me, I'm always suggesting alternate printing options, different papers and materials, trying to encourage photographers and artists to look beyond the obvious and traditional ways to present their work. We have so many materials and tools at our disposal today, the only limitations are our imaginations."

For more information on LightRoom's services, call (510) 649-8111 or visit them at 2263 Fifth Street Berkeley, CA or on the web at http://www.lightroom.com. To learn more about the beautiful artwork created by Ellen Wiener, visit http://www.ellenwiener.com/.