Melbourne photobook manufacturer RoyleBind used PacPrint to launch its "hybrid LCD photobook". The system uses patents in the cover substrate, printing and binding to incorporate Chinese-made LCD screens into RoyleBind photobooks, said managing director Cliff Royle.

Visual affairs artist Glenn Holbrook, whose film credits include two of the Transformers movies, The Mummy, Speed Racer and Where the Wild Things Are, said: "This is a far cry from what I usually do. It's captured my interest and I would like to see more investment come into it.

"PacPrint was the first time anyone had seen it. It will be interesting to see what response this will get when it hits overseas markets."

Royle said combining pages and LCD screens was much harder than it sounded.

[Feature: Royle embraces innovation]

"I believe we're the only ones who can do that. The whole process is new. It's not just the photobook – it's a whole new method of making photobooks from start to finish," he told ProPrint.

Royle said a variable spine had to be devised so the photobooks could open properly and move easily from page to page. Printed pages can be bound in before and after the screen.

He said the hybrid photobooks would go on sale in about two months and that they would be an ideal way to commemorate weddings, holidays, birthdays and parties.

Royle also said the company wanted to move into the action sports market to capture experiences like bungy jumping and skydiving.

Holbrook said his role would be to help technically integrate the videos into the photobook, so they could be ready within an hour of the event finishing.

Royle told ProPrint that the hybrid photobook breakthrough came after seven years of development, including the invention of a more efficient manufacturing process unveiled last year.

[Related: More news about photobooks]

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