This article tells the fascinating story of how one creative husband over-engineered a tiny, handcrafted book—"The Tiny Book of Great Joys Mala Knjiga Velikih Radosti"—as a heartfelt surprise for his wife. Blending art and technology, he embarked on a multi-disciplinary project that combined AI-generated illustrations from Midjourney (using clever prompts and a style reference for a simple, hand-drawn look) with meticulous manual touch-ups in Gimp and vectorization through Inkscape’s AutoTrace plugin. After perfecting the plotter-ready images with a trusty pen plotter and overcoming challenges in ink smudging by switching papers and using the Rotring Isograph 0.2mm technical pen, he proceeded to design, cut, and bind the book using both 3D printed parts (later swapped for cardboard) and handmade sewing tools, ultimately crafting a deeply personal memento that captured special memories and inside jokes.

Key Points:

• Concept & Motivation: Inspired by online examples and a desire to surprise his wife, the project sprang from personal memories and the need to break a monotonous routine.
• Illustrations with AI: Used Midjourney to generate hand-drawn style images, refining them through iterative prompting (with terms like "vector line art" and "children's coloring book") and manual redrawing.
• Vector Conversion & Plotting: Converted raster images to vectors using Inkscape’s AutoTrace with centerline tracing to maintain a clean, hand-drawn aesthetic, essential for pen plotting.
• Text Integration: Employed the EMS Elfin font from Hershey Text for a playful, single-line handwritten feel, ensuring the text complemented the illustrations.
• Plotting & Technical Challenges: Experimented with different pens and papers—settling on the Rotring Isograph 0.2mm for optimal line precision and archival quality, overcoming obstacles like ink smudging.
• Bookbinding Process: Learned bookbinding from scratch, 3D printed a drilling tool for even sewing holes, and ultimately transitioned to using proper PVA glue for a durable finish.
• Final Outcome & Lessons: Despite minor aesthetic imperfections, the final book successfully delivered a personal and heartfelt surprise, emphasizing the value of patience and iterative learning in creative projects.

Funny Joke: Looks like he “plotted” every move so precisely that even his pen got jealous—it’s now taking a sabbatical to write its own memoir!
Link to Article