How to upload your files

Please provide 2 print files for your perfect bound novel as PDFs.

1. Cover file must include two spreads. Outer spread must include your front cover design, spine, and back cover design. Inner spread must include your inside front cover design, spine area (for gluing), and inside back cover design, although these can be left blank.
2. Inner file must include all pages in order as single pages, not spreads.

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

The cover of your perfect bound novel is made up of 2 spreads: the front cover, spine, back cover and inside front cover, spine area for gluing, inside back cover. Make sure you plan your covers accordingly.

If you choose to laminate your cover, only the outer spread will be laminated.

Bleed

For all pages in your perfect bound novel, we ask for a 3mm bleed. We also recommend a 3mm quiet area inside of the edges of your page designs. Please do not add any important content to these areas. We also recommend a 5mm quiet area from the binding edge of your inner pages.

Binding

Perfect bound is also known in the trade as PUR, which is an abbreviation of PolyUrethane Reactive adhesives. This is because perfect bound novels have their inner pages glued into a flat spine. Keep in mind that if your novel contains too few pages, you may have to order it with stapled binding instead.

Spine for Perfect Bound

Perfect bound novels have a spine. We’ll calculate the spine width for you and display it in the information section at the bottom of the configurator screen, so you can be sure to create the proper size print file. We do not ask for a separate Spine file. Please include your spine design in a spread as part of your Cover file.

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.