LiterARTure

How it works

You can upcycle your old books by folding their pages systematically. And while you may have dog-eared your books before, be it by accident or on purpose, LiterARTure offers you the model you need to transform the book’s pages into an artwork of your imagination.

A) Generating your unique model

1. Firstly, you have to choose a book that you want to work on. The ideal book is a hardcover with a minimum of 350 pages to allow for a certain plasticity of the end-result.
2. Then, you simply upload your chosen image (containing a lettering or a logo-type image (nothing too complex as this will not look well)) or drag the image into the drag-and-drop-box on the page and click on “continue”.
3. After this, you fill in the form with the necessary data (start and end page, page height, width of the open book and the name the model’s file should have). LiterARTure will then process your input to create a personalized model allowing you to fold your image into the pages of your chosen book.
4. You will be shown a preview of the model in the next step, showing you how the front of your book will look after you are done. Our program will adapt the size of your image to the width of the open book, therefore it will add white space on top and below your image. Should the preview our program generated look absolutely nothing like your chosen image, it is highly probable that your image is too complex. We recommend using simple words, shapes and forms, preferably in one colour.
5. After pressing the button “Generate Model”, your browser will open a new tab where you can see the final model. It will also automatically download the PFD file under the name you chose in the settings form or under “Book.pdf” by default.

B) Upcycling your old book

1. To properly transform your book, you should first print out the model and get yourself a trustworthy pencil. Then lay down the book on the table in front of you, its spine facing towards you.
2. Then you open the book on the first page you have to fold and lay the model alongside the long side of your book. The numbers on the model indicate the page number the appendant line corresponds to. (If your model indicates that the first page you have to fold is page number 3 (the number next to the first line in the model says “3”), then you put the model alongside the book page number 3).
   If you have correctly measured the height of the book pages in the model-generating-form, the model’s lines should have the same length as your book page.
3. In the next step, you look at the contents of the line of your model associated to the page number you are on. The line is either
   1. Empty; in which case you can turn the page and leave it be (we recommend completely folding the page towards the spine to make it less visible in the end) or
   2. (Partly) black; in which case you use the pencil to mark the beginning and the end of the black space in the model’s line on the length of the book page. These marks will tell you where you should fold in the next step.
4. After marking the black space, you now fold the left corner of the page downwards until it forms a 90°-angle at the place where you marked the beginning of the black space in the step before. Then, you do the same thing for the right corner of the page, folding it downwards so it forms a right angle at the place you marked the end of the black space in the last step.
5. You should now see a page with two dog-ears, one on each side of the page. Turn the page and lay the next line of the model alongside the next page. Then you repeat steps 3. and 4. until you have reached the last line of the model.

When you have folded all the pages indicated by your book, you should now see your image or lettering folded into the pages of your book, making it a creative piece of decoration (not only for book lovers) or a unique and personal gift.

We from LiterARTure wish for you to have fun while repurposing your old books.