A plea to those who digitise old newspapers for archival purposes

Newspaper illustration brings news stories to life. Take this article written by Jack Woodward about his war experiences - The original colour newspaper illustration done by my father Peter Stephenson in his role as a newspaper illustrator is paired here with the black and white scanned page. See how much art history and vividness is lost in a black and white scan? Imagine my frustration when I tried to track down some of his artwork in old newspaper archives, only to find them scanned in black and white. The Sunday Mail Colour Magazine and use of colour illustrations in the Courier Mail an advance in commmercial illustration which enhanced the look of newspapers. What a pity to not preserve it in colour as well.

Drawn to Art - the life and art of Peter Stephenson

Are you an artist who would like to put together a professional looking portfolio? Or a family member who would like to publish a "life in art" book for an artist? As mentioned in my previous post, there are some excellent self-publishing sites you can use to produce and sell a professional looking book. Recently I used blurb to put together a book about my artist father who worked as an illustrator for the Courier Mail newspaper in Brisbane. You can preview this book here http://au.blurb.com/b/4031969-drawn-to-art

Drawn to Art by Editor Anna Casey | Make Your Own Book

The software is free to download and there are numerous templates for page design. There are also useful walkthroughs and design tips on the site. Once uploaded you have a couple of weeks to order at least one copy, and then you can list the book for sale or promote it within a private group of friends. They can preview it on the site before deciding to order a copy. There are also ebook options. As with all self-publishing, the price is not cheap as chips, but there are volume discounts. I would be interested to hear any comparisons of other services for self-publishing.