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 The Art of Paper Engineering
by Robert Sabuda
I'm often asked exactly what the term paper engineer means. I now know it is just a fancy way of describing someone who makes pop-up books!
My love of pop-up, or movable books as they are traditionally called, began at a young age. I had developed
a fear of dentists and discovered one of these unique books in the waiting room of a new dentist's office. My anxiety immediately disappeared and I soon began to make pop-ups for my friends and family. I had no
idea at the time how important they would become later in my creative life.
For all the amazement and "Wow" that pop-ups offer, there is usually very little understanding of how
difficult it is to make those paper forms come to life. When I'm illustrating a picture book I have complete freedom in imagining what the artwork will look like. There are no limitations. But a pop-up book is
completely different. Because the paper forms will move across time and space in the book, they must obey the laws of physics (of which I have not an ounce of knowledge!). Unlike origami, which is finished in
its three-dimensional, static state, a pop-up must not only become three-dimensional by turning a page, it must CLOSE back down again safely. It's not so difficult to get the pop-up to pop up; the hard part is
getting it to pop SHUT, over and over again!
I begin the creation of a pop-up by first visualizing it (which usually happens in the shower or when I'm at
the gym) in my head. Forms open and close and whirl around in my mind. Once I have decided on a specific pop that I would like to try, I go to my studio and begin to sketch, but not with pencil and paper.
Using scissors, card stock and tape, I begin to sketch 3-dimensionally by making a very simple pop-up. There's no point in drawing a two-dimensional sketch of what I think would make a great pop-up, only to
discover later that's its impossible in 3D. The pop-up sketches are very small, rough, and completely lacking in detail. At this point I'm only concerned with creating a mechanism that works. Does it pop open
and then shut safely? Is the pop-up exciting? Is it strong enough to be reproduced in hundreds of thousands of books? All these questions must be answered before I can proceed.
After completing the small 3D sketches I create more finished versions of the pop-ups using white card
stock with pencil sketches on it to indicate art. Each pop-up piece is carefully drawn on a piece of tracing paper to keep track of it. All the pages with the pop-ups on them are glued together to create what is called
a "white dummy" (since all of the pages are essentially white). This dummy is sent to the publisher for comments and approval.
If the publisher likes the dummy, the pieces of tracing paper with the pops drawn on them are scanned into
a computer. A software program is used to redraw all of the tissue paper scans of the pop-up pieces. These digital line drawings are called "die lines." The die lines will be used later by the manufacturer.
Since there is now an exact record for all the shapes of the pop-up pieces the final art for the book can be
made. This artwork is created exactly the same way that it would be for a picture book except that all the art must be made in small individual pieces. Sometimes over 300 separate pieces of art need to be made.
The art and the die lines are now sent to the manufacturer to create dies, which will cut out all the pop-up pieces. All the pieces will then be glued and assembled, by hand, in South America or Asia to create the
finished pop-up book! •
A factory worker scraping out (removing from the sheet) the pop-up pieces from a die-cut pie.
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Counting pop-up pieces after they have been removed from die-cut sheet.
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Gluing the pop-up pieces onto a page.
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Gluing the signatures of a pop-up book.
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Applying glue by silkscreen to the jacket of pop-up book.
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About the Artist:
New York Times bestseller Robert Sabuda is the author, illustrator, and paper engineer of many award-winning books for young readers. Originally from a small town in Michigan, he graduated from New York City's Pratt Institute and is happy he can now afford his own studio located next to a donut shop.
Select Pop-Up Books by Robert Sabuda:
 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (Simon & Schuster)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-Up, by L. Frank Baum (Simon & Schuster)
The Night Before Christmas Pop-Up, by Clement Clarke Moore (Simon & Schuster)
In the Artist's Studio:
Jeff Smith, May 2006
Ann Grifalconi, December 2005
Iza Trapani, August 2005
Robert Sabuda, October 2003
Mark Teague, August 2003
Stephen Alcorn, April 2003
David Wisniewski, November 2002
Paul Zelinsky, August 2002
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