Sat down with JT and did the final preparation of vol 17. First, because of changes to the TOC, I had to re-create the cover. For next time, here are the steps:

1. Rebuild the volume PDF.
2. Open it in Acrobat.
3. Choose Document / Extract Pages, and extract the TOC pages as separate files.
4. Open the first of these in Illustrator, save it as anew file, then select the "page", then right-click and choose "Release Clipping Mask". Confirm that you can now select only the text, without the "page" area around it.
5. Open the second TOC page (if there are two), and do the same thing. Then select the text on that page, and copy/paste it into the first document. Line it up correctly with the existing text, then group them.
6. Copy/paste the group into the cover PDF, position it, and size it proportionally so it looks like previous volume covers.
7. Now calculate the required spine width, based on previous volumes. In this case we calculated 0.37 inches, so I had to rejig the document appropriately. First I resized the page to 12.37 inches in width, then I resized the blue band, moved the spine guides, and moved the text on the front cover band appropriately. You may need to do other rejigging to make this work correctly.
8. Save the file as AI and as PDF.
9. Create a postscript file (*.ps) using Print, and choosing Adobe Postscript File as the printer. Make sure you've chosen an 11 x 17 page size so that all the marks and bleeds will show up, and make sure they do show up.
10. Open that PS file in Acrobat Distiller, and run the scancan_2 preset to get colour separations. You should get a 2-page document with black and blue separation.
11. Put everything (AI, PDF, PDF of colour separation, PS) on a CD with the original volume PDF, and take it to the print shop.

We're now waiting for a quote on various options with regard to paper size.