How to Print Your Books
How to upload your files
If you are creating a staple bound or wiro bound book, please provide the print file as a single PDF containing all pages in order (outside front cover, inside front cover, 3, 4, 5, etc, inside back cover, outside back cover) as single pages, not spreads.
If you are creating a perfect bound or hardback book, you will need to upload 2 print file PDFs. A Cover file containing your front cover design, spine and back cover design as a single spread. And a separate Inner file containing all pages in order as single pages.
The maximum file upload is 2GB. Please contact our team if your file size is larger and we'll help you get your file into the workflow.
Please ensure that all fonts are embedded in your PDF file.
Colour
For best results, we recommend creating your artwork in CMYK Colour with 300dpi image resolution. Please be aware that uploaded RGB files will be converted to CMYK by our system, which may change some colours.
Black text should be set up with 100% black only to achieve the clearest printed text. If you are printing in greyscale, please set your artwork to greyscale prior to upload.
Cover
For saddle stitched and wiro bound books, your cover consists of four pages in your print file PDF in order with the other pages (outside front cover, inside front cover, 3, 4, 5, etc, inside back cover, outside back cover).
Perfect bound books require a Cover file PDF of 2 spreads (Outer cover and Inner cover with spine). Case bound books require a Cover file PDF which must include an outer spread of your front cover, spine with 5mm hinges either side and back cover design, all surrounded by a 20mm bleed area.
If you choose to laminate your cover, only the outer spread will be laminated.
Bleed
For all books, we ask for a 3mm bleed on each page and a 3mm quiet area inside of the edges of your page designs. Please refrain from adding important content to this area. We also recommend increasing the quiet area on the binding edge of your inner pages depending on the binding type. 5mm for perfect bound, 8mm for hardback and 12mm for wiro bound.
Binding
We have 4 binding options available for books, including saddle stitched or stapled, perfect bound, wiro bound and hardback. Please keep in mind that binding options may depend on the number of pages in your book. With too few pages, you may be limited to saddle stitched, whereas too many pages might require perfect bound.
Spine for Perfect Bound & Hardback
If you choose perfect bound or hardback for your book, you will need to include a spine in your cover design. Our online ordering system will calculate the spine width when you add pages to your order. You can also see the spine width at the bottom of the file upload screen. We do not ask for a separate Spine file. Please include your spine design in a spread as part of your Cover file.
Hardback Book Covers
The cover for a hardback book differs from the covers for our other products. Rather than four pages making up the cover, a hardcover book has a front cover, spine, and back cover.
The cover artwork needs to be created to include hinges either side of the spine and enough extra coverage to wrap around the case.
Lamination
We recommend laminating your hardback book covers to avoid cracking when the cover is drawn onto the case.
Hardcover Bleed
To print the cover for your hardback books, we need a large bleed area so that your cover design wraps around the top of the inside cover area. Please add a 20mm bleed area to the edges of your cover design with the expectation that this will wrap around to the other side of the hardcover.
Hardcover Spine
Our online ordering system will calculate the spine width when you add pages to your order, so you will know how large it is. We ask for a 20mm bleed area on the top and bottom of the spine and 5mm bleed area ‘hinges’ added either side.
Do not upload a separate spine file. Please upload a single cover design file with your front cover, spine and back cover in a single spread.
Total Hardcover Width with Bleed
20mm bleed + front cover width + 5mm hinge + spine width + 5mm hinge + back cover width + 20mm bleed
And don’t forget the 20mm bleed across the top and bottom.
Hardcover Quiet Area
For the hardcover of your book, we also recommend leaving a “quiet area” or margin of 8mm around the edge.
Endpapers
Endpapers are used to affix the cover of the book to the inner. You can choose different types of end-papers. If you require printed end-papers, please contact our customer services team and they will be happy to advise how these can be added.
Completing your order
Please ensure that you upload artwork in the correct size and with the correct number of pages before ordering. You can add pages in multiples of 4, but if you do not have enough content to fill them all, you must add blank pages.
Please thoroughly check your proof before completing your order.
