How can you make a thousand-year-old text shine by presenting it to the public in an appropriate form? It’s an opportunity to create a unique object, but how then to choose suitable paper, cloth binding, endpapers, boards and a dust jacket to add value to a book which is at once spiritual, literary and scientific?

Here we present the design of the “Adamantine songs”: texts written in India towards the end of the first millennium. Spiritual in nature, they are accompanied by a scientific commentary. The challenge in preparing such a book is to reveal through manufacturing choices all the richness of the text and illustrations without falling into the trap of superfluous polychrome.

The visuals, the graphic style, the layout and the cover have already been developed by the publisher. What remains is to determine the papers and other materials to be at the height of artistic quality.

Beautiful brown printed dust jacket

Creative Ideas

The choices are facilitated by a close collaboration between a Pulsio Print manufacturing consultant and the publisher. There are two steps:

Find papers whose feel immediately gives the impression of an exceptional item. The very high quality bulky paper of paper maker Salzer (Austria) is chosen for the book interior to ensure sufficient volume, but at the same time lightness and comfortable handling. The jacket printed on coated matt paper protects the designer paper (cotton laid) of the hardcover. Fedrigoni’s Freelife, used for cover pages, looks and feels like a craft paper – a beautiful introduction to a volume whose text was written a millennium ago.

Realise the publisher’s colorimetric concept. The jacket printing that gives the main tone of the range of colours is made in four-colour, but the choices of paper colour for the cover pages – in this case “Merida” by Fedrigoni Freelife – and the cloth for the spine – TDM035112 Mustard – are taken in close collaboration by the publisher and Pulsio Print. Not to mention the little contrasting touch given by the headband in aged gold.

Beautiful hardcover book with a brown printed dust jacket
Colored endpapers match with the color of the printed dust jacket
Colored endpapers match with the color of the printed dust jacket

Unique Project

“The Adamantine Songs” – a little jewel of a creation – owes its success to the close co-operation between the client and the Pulsio Print consultant. This project illustrates the importance of being listened to by your printer. It would be impossible if we were content with offering a simple formula for service provision from web to print without any discussion!

At the same time, for those who want it, Pulsio Print offers an online platform which allows publishers to set up an entire project by themselves, including hardback-bound books with all the options available online: multiple ranges of cloths, laces and other finishes!

So the choice is yours: create your own unique project online or ask us for advice!

Detailed Worksheet

Title: The Adamantine Songs

1. Trim size: 154 x 240 mm

2. Finished size (hard cover): 160 x 243 mm

Binding: Section sewn

3. Cover: Integra 300 g / m2, Printing: 4 + 0, Matte lamination

Dust jacket: Ivory Cotton laid Art Paper 150 g / m2, Printing: 2 + 0 (black and Pantone 111U)
2.5 mm card

Cloth: Toile Du Marais TDM035112 Mustard appearing on 1st and 4th cover – 20 mm

Heat stamping on the cloth: CK11 film

Headband: gold Ref. 55616 – 441

Back: square

4. Text:

Endpapers: 8 pages designer paper Fedrigoni Freelife Merida 150 g / m2 without printing

Interior paper : Salzer Blue white paper 80 g / m2

Printing: 1/1

Print run: 300

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