Final Publication Mock Up (a whole mess)

Today I tried to create the mock up for my final publication so that I'd be fully ready to print the final real things as well as to confirm all the necessary parts to create it. In contrast to what I've imagined and expected from yesterday all of the things that I've planned did not exactly go to plan which made me really frustrated and disappointed.

As I've said in my previous blog I wanted to print out the Indesign layout that I've created so that I'd know exactly how the publication will lay out and if they worked when printed out. When I tried to print the InDesign layout that I've set up already a warning messaged pop up saying that the page wasn't the right size therefore I asked for help from one of the technicians and it turns out that I've set up my layout in a really long winded way (where I've put both pages of the publication onto the A3 document hoping it would print both sides perfectly); and all the bleed and margin marks that I've intended to have would've been unnecessary and useless. They suggested that I set up my actual InDesign pages to the size that I want my pages to be (which is 132mmx198mm) and print it on an A3 document whilst centred to the pages match up both sides with the crop and bleed marks put in the right place. Following this advice, I've changed my whole InDesign document again which I thought wouldn't take me that long as I've only got text on my pages. After doing this, I thought everything would print out fine as long as I followed the options for a coptic (kettle) stitch bind. However, as I was printing out sections of the pages they were all coming out in a weird set up e.g. page 1 and 3 where printing on the same side on both sides instead of three being on the right side and also I forgot to rotate the texts on the inside pages so they where coming out the wrong, way as well. Because of this I had a really hard time trying to figure how how I could make the pages sync together as when I hit preview they all looked completely fine however, when printed they were all coming out wrong. I've tried 2-up Perfect bound and 2-up consecutive but the same thing happened! I was getting really frustrated as they weren't coming out the right way as it's been shown to me on screen. This was when I decided to use the Postscript File option so I could look at the physical layout of the publication  on screen and from there changed the layout of the pages in relation to how they would come out. I've noticed that the inside pages where not only upside down but the texts where also on the opposite side, which I quickly changed so when they print hopefully they'll print the right way. After doing all of this I quickly printed out some sections to see if they printed out alright before printing my mock up. After doing this I decided to try and print my mock up with the paper stock that I'm intending to use for my final which are:

• Cylus 170 gsm White - I chose this paper as it's not too heavy or too thin as a page stock for my publication as well as is quite smooth in texture and also cheap (£1.00 per A1) which in terms of thinking of commercially printing the publication will be fairly cheap as one sheet can print 8 spreads with 16 pages. 
• Colorplan 135 gsm Ebony Black - This G.F Smith paper has a really good quality to it considering it's only 135 but feels as if it's a similar weight to the Cylus paper stock. However, its (£2.00+) per A1 sheet, though I don't think this will have a big impact on production cost at all. Maybe using this for certain pages will help reduce its cost and wastage.
• Cylus 100 gsm White - I also choose this stock wight as I am intending on using different paper stock for certain parts of my publication. It's also only (£0.57p per A1) which is very very cheap for 16 pages worth.

Stupidly, I accidentally printed the pages wrongly by clicking the wrong option as I printed the pages in sections (I must've put the wrong page numbers on the range) therefore all the pages came out wrong on the mock up paper stock). At this point I would be lying if I don't admit I wanted to cry but I did want to cry. I also did not have any spare paper stock as I've only bought enough therefore I just decided to roll with it (because one I already know it come out perfectly fine anyways and two I really have no one to blame for my stupidity). Also because the black paper stock had black text on them I could barely see the crop marks making it even harder for me to see where to properly cut the page to size to which was another problem. 

After cutting the pages into size I decided to bind it using kettle stitch bind to see if the binding would really work. I've noticed with the 100 gsm paper that it would rip really easily and had bigger slacks that most of the pages therefore I'm starting to reconsider this idea and it may interfere with the rest of the pages within the publication. In addition, After doing the whole bind I didn't really like how the black pages look very much random on the publication (at first I wanted it to alternate between black and white however after laying my InDesign file there where some designs which needed more white pages than black consecutively and was hard to change) therefore I'm also reconsidering the use of this paper stock - maybe I should just use white for the whole publication? or only use black for the front and back pages? Furthermore, obviously because the pages printed out wrong I do 't fully have the full mock up experience and look of the publication to see if everything is centred and rotated the right way of if certain pages needed to be arranged, which was the biggest disappointed of my day probably because this whole day and whole mock up was supposed to be for. Overall, I think today was quite a rollercoaster for me, as I started the day feeling pumped and ready to do my mock up hoping it would turn out right with no problems to literally having EVERY BIG LITTLE PROBLEMS I could possibly ever have. I've learnt a lot of things today and have realised that nothings is ever easy with creating publications, even with just the tiniest details. However, if I was to look at this in a positive light, now I do have the right layout for my InDesign file giving me less stress to worry about; my binding technique works functionally and aesthetically well and only just tiny details are left to be changed now.