After writing the poem and matching photographs to verses to figurines, they all had to be compiled both for printing and the eBook. I used GIMP for all the graphic manipulations as well as page layout. The basic process was to:

1. Posterise figurine images

2. Size and place photograph to suit

3. Create and cartoonise cut-out / see-through

Each verse required four pages:

1. Who am I Introduction

2. Verse facing page

3. Verse

4. Introduction facing page

After the four images for each verse were exported from GIMP to png files, they were imported into PDF-Exchange Editor to create the PDF for printing. Completely different image exports were required for the PDF eBook, that is, the see-through bits needed to be seen through the cut-outs.

I made printing unnecessarily difficult, as I went to OfficeWorks first, and although they said their printers would be able to print out the pages with accurate and reproducable registration of the images this did not happen. It was only after the 3rd draft print that I realised that the problems were not mine or my software, but theirs. They were very good about it all, admitted the shortcomings of their printers and gave me my money back.

After a dejected weekend wondering how I was going to hack this together, I remembered Springwood Printing who did an awesome job on my mother's funeral programme. Their wonderful services and people were just trouble free from the start to end (lesson learned, and hopefully remembered this time).

Springwood Printing didn't see the necessity of further draft prints, so it was straight to final print, cut out the holes in each page then binding.

I'm not a present wrapper, so chewed the ear off the poor Newspaper Shop Man trying to decide what and how; I'd seen black and white wrapping / ribbon in my mind's eye, but there was not a lot to choose from, but the end result is perfect.