Between the Pages Edu Series: Top tips and common mistakes of setting your book files up for print
We popped by our Friends at BookPrint to see how they make and print books right here in Aotearoa NZ. In this week’s series, David shares with us some of the common mistakes he see’s come through their doors from designers and some handy reminders to keep in mind when setting your book file up for print.
This series is proudly sponsored by Bookprint.
Our very knowledgable friends over at BookPrint share some handy reminders when it comes to making sure your book file is all good to go for print – including some of the most commonly made mistakes they see come through in submitted book files.
In summary:
- Bleed: A key mistake David and the BookPrint team see quite often is people forgetting to set the bleed of their book files beyond the size of the page. The crop marks should also be offset by 3mm to make sure the printers don’t get a nick of the crop mark showing.
- Page Numbers: When it comes to adding in your page numbers, you can have them sit in the bottom corners or in the bottom centre of the page but it’s custom for odd numbers to always be on the righthand side and even numbers to always be on the lefthand side. This ensures pagination is correct.
- Spiral Bound Books: When you’re setting up a book file for a spiral bound book, if you have ‘adjacent pages’ ticked in InDesign it won’t let you make bleed in the middle of the page. So, you need to leave ‘adjacent pages’ unticked to that you can have bleed on the inside edge of your book file.
- Endpapers on hardcover books: Endpapers are used to glue the actual text block into the covers itself and are always on uncoated paper so that the adhesive works really well. Often endpapers are white but you can add some nice pop to your book by adding a design or using a solid colour.
Keen for more book printing tips?
Check out our previous articles and videos in this series:
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