Crown

A few years ago I took a course at Index called Painting a Website. In it I was introduced to Bindery.js, a javascript library for creating printable books with HTML and CSS. I fell in love with the idea and have since used Bindery to print zines, Passover Haggadah, my sister-in-laws graduation gift, etc. The library is no longer actively maintained but it was a lovely piece of software to use.

On my quest for a replacement I came across a suitable replacement in PrinceXML. I've come to like it and the customizability, but feel that the command line interface is a little opaque. In typical fashion, I decided that what I needed was a framework; something to sit on-top of Prince and make it easier to use. My solution is Crown: A framework for creating books using html, css and PrinceXML.

As the tagline suggests, you create books from html with it. Under the hood it calls PrinceXML but generally makes the authoring and editing process better. The main benefit is that it make book creation scriptable. With it you can create a factory/UI for generating/designing books and then with one click have a printer ready asset.

I used Crown to create Flora Figures and hope to create all of my artist books and zines with it going forward.

-mello

P.S.

Happy Prince Day!