General File Set-Up

General Layout

 

Your book cover design is hugely important but ensure you give as much of your attention to your book's inner pages. An attractive book cover may help sell your book but the interior book design is an important part of the reader’s enjoyment of your book. Book layouts are definitely not limited to 'one design fits all'. We have designed a number of book templates to help you get started and all the templates can be adjusted to suit your requirements.

 

Paper Stocks

 

Chosing the right paper weight and finish is critical for your book. Please consider the following examples: If your book is over 300 pages, paper size A5 or smaller cannot be printed on thick paper as it would be difficult to open the book read. It would not be advisable to print a short children's story book on 100gsm uncoated papers as the book would not be durable and long lasting.

 

Finish

 

Do you want a softback, a hardback with dust jacket, or a casebound with the foil printed directly on the cover? Please note, hardback and casebound books are higher in cost to manufacture.

 

Margins

 

Even though they are technically blank space, margins are perhaps the most important part of a book layout. A book page has three margins (outside, top, bottom) and a gutter. Each of these margins is important in it's own right, for example, outside margins give room for the reader’s thumbs when they hold the book and the inside margin is where the pages of the book are glued. Incorrectly spaced margins will make a book feel off-balance which can be frustrating for the reader.

 

A Common Mistake! One of the most common mistakes when desiging the page layout is not leaving enough spacing or printing the text too close to the gutter (binding edge). Make sure your margins are surficiant and balanced.

 

Fonts

 

There are 1000s of fonts that can be found online but choosing one that is easy to ready and at the correct size can be difficult. The most widely used typefaces for book body text include Baskerville, Bembo, Garamond, Janson, Palatino, and Times Roman.

 

Graphics and Images

 

If your book has photographs and/or illustrations, please ensure their DPI (dots per inch) is of a high resolution. The layout must be designed to fit images, photos and illustrations around your text so the page is balanced.