The computer-centered method of getting from the author's conception to completed print-or electronic-book has come to dominate publishing, involving not only the setting of type but also the preparation of manuscripts, editing, illustration creation and processing, page makeup, color separation, and preparation for printing. Even more significant than its use for these individual procedures is the computer's role in creating an integrated system that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Covering all the publishing processes up to distribution, Bookmaking addresses the needs of publishing professionals, whether they do the work themselves in-house or have it done to their specifications by outside suppliers. But this new edition is not only about technological change; all aspects of bookmaking have been reconsidered. The text that served the industry for nearly three decades has been updated where appropriate, while still providing the unchanging facts and principles of book craft.