{"id":547,"date":"2014-05-01T21:13:34","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T21:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/?p=547"},"modified":"2021-08-25T03:00:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-25T03:00:44","slug":"book-design-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/book-design-for-beginners\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Design for Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\nIn\n this age of PDF\u2019s and e-books you would think the demand for physical \nbooks and booklets will have died. In fact, from what I have seen, the \ndemand is as strong or stronger than what it was when I first working at\n Copy Express. From talking to clients who have printed books with us \nI\u2019ve learnt that they have even more impact with their customers in this\n day in age. &nbsp;This physical item is more tangible and has a physical \ncost to make so makes the customer feel more important as the business \nhas invested money in them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many reasons to use books  or booklets in your marketing toolkit &#8211; we talk about education-based  marketing in our article \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/getting-your-prospects-to-beg-for-you-to-sell\/\">Getting your prospects to beg for you to sell<\/a>\u2019  \u00a0but here I want to talk about how to best investment on printing books  by giving you a few simple tips on how to setup your book or booklet  design and which format you should choose..<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#ff9900\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Picking the right format for the job<br><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There  are lot of different binding options when it comes to making book and  booklets. The number of pages, how it will be used, the type of  contents, expected usable life, thesis and many other factors come into  picking the right book format long before you worry about on how you are  going to lay it out on a page. I would recommend you read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/book-terms-for-the-non-bibliofile\/\">\u2018Book terms for the non bibliofile<\/a>\u2019 \u00a0to get a better understanding of the book types types I will be talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#fffb0c\" class=\"has-inline-color\">How many pages are you printing?<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For  up to 80 logical pages the Saddle Stapled is the more effective  solution and works really well for booklets (this translates to 20  sheets of paper with 4 logical pages per sheet) as the entire process  can be automated by our printers. Edge Stapled books can be up to 200  logical pages in size and can easily mix colour and black only pages  making them great for lower volume runs. For over 200 logical pages then it\u2019s a Comb or Ringbinder or Lever Arch Folder. \u00a0Perfect (or glue)  binding is also viable from about 150 logical pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#39c208\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Short or long term use?<br><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If\n it is a short term use then stick to the lower cost Saddle \/ Edge \nStapled formats as the most economical solution. If you want a bit more \nclass then use the Wrapped Cover Edge Staple for the paperback look. For\n the longer life books we recommend using Wire \/ Plastic Comb instead as\n they are harder wearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#00c2ff\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Constant use or occasional?<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Edge  bound books tend to hold together better than center bound or ring  binder style books as the stress of being opened and closed will put  wear on the binding points. Plastic combs can stretch open a little  under constant use but with the correct size coil it\u2019s never a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#ff0a0e\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Will it be sitting on a shelf?<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Then\n you will need a book that has a printed spine for ease of reading, so \ngo for the Wrapped Cover Edge Stapled or Wire Comb books, or at a pinch \nthe Plastic Comb with a sticker on the spine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#ff9900\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Contains complex diagrams or plans?<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>These\n often need be on larger sheets of paper that are folded down to fit \ninside the book when not in use. This requirement best suits Wire \/ \nPlastic Comb binding or Ring \/ Lever Arch Folders as you can mix any \nmedia during the binding process more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#fffb0c\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Is it a reference or product guide?<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Reference\n or product guides are not read from cover to cover but are searched for\n sections of information. Wire \/ Plastic Comb or Ring \/ Lever Arch \nFolders are the best bet for this sort of work as you can mix in tab \ncards and colour coded paper to make easy to search through sections. \nThese type of products often get updated sections as product information\n changes so with Plastic Comb or Ring \/ Lever Arch Folders you can have \nprinted the updated sections to send to clients instead of the whole \nbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#39c208\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Formatting your document for binding<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Setting up documents for binding is very simple process and if you follow these simple steps you can do quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#00c2ff\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Centre Stapled books are counted in lots of 4<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If\n you have 9 pages of content in a center stapled book you will be paying\n for 12 simply because each sheet hold 4 pages, and you are paying the \nsame whether you have 1 or 4 pages on that sheet. &nbsp;So think about how \nyou can fill them with something even if it\u2019s a section for notes as you\n will be paying for them anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#ff0a0e\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Use sections and page breaks<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Unless\n you need to print the document as single sided pages, (which is often \ndone on training manuals to give people space for note taking) you \nshould be assuming your book size will be double-sided. Most common \nlayouts will start all new sections on the right hand page of the book \nwhen you open it up and lay it flat. Make use of page breaks and section\n breaks to put the new section on the right hand page of the spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\">Set up your margins for reading order<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#ff9900\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Allowing for creep<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Creep is an issue that centre stapled booklets have when you get to higher page counts (read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/book-terms-for-the-non-bibliofile\/\">Book terms for the non bibliofile<\/a>\u00a0for  more information.) To allow for this problem make sure that you have  set your your inner and outer margins to at least 1cm. This will give a  visually consistent look for the margins as our print systems compensate  for the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#fffb0c\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Allowing for unreadable areas in edge binding<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Edge,\n stapled or comb-bound books will leave part of the page covered to the \nbinding process making it unreadable. As a general rule of thumb if you \nallow a inner margin (in addition to your desired margin) of at least \n1.5cm. &nbsp;This will give the appearance of a consistent margin (for \nexample, if your outer margin is 1.5cm then your inner margin should be 3\n cm as the first 1.5cm will be taken up with the bind).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#39c208\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Set your headers and footers to black only<br><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If\n you want to mix black only with full colour pages to reduce production \ncosts, make sure that your headers and footers are black only otherwise \nthe change in look from a black only to a full colour page will be \njarring to a reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#00c2ff\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Think about moving all colour images to one section<\/span><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s\n a simple trick but effective one. If you have the flexibility to do so \nthen why not move colour images to a single section or at a single \nlocation within a section so that the rest of the pages could black only\n printing which can save you dollars on a bigger books or larger runs. \n&nbsp;Having said that, we usually can manage some pages being black, and \nsome colour (without having to charge you for colour on every page) but \nbecause of the way that staple-bound books are printed this can become \ndifficult (as the colour pages need to be on facing pages to avoid cost \nescalation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#ff0a0e\" class=\"has-inline-color\">You don\u2019t need to create the printing pages for us<br><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The\n rule for sending work for us to print is design it as you you want the \nfinished product to look and let us worry about how to get it there. \nThis is especially important for books and booklets as our printings \nhave specialist software that will automatically lay the books out in \nthe most readable format allowing for every issue that could arise for \nthe binding style that you want to use. &nbsp;As a rule, we prefer the PDF to\n be laid out as A4 pages in logical sequence &#8211; we will lay it up for \nfacing pages at no charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Got stuck on how to do all of this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t worry if this confusing and you can\u2019t seem to set things up  right, you can just call on us. At Copy Express we are more than happy  to consult on how to best set up your booklets. In fact if you call us  in at the beginning stage we can help you configure the design before  you go though the effort of creating the book or booklet so you get  every dollars worth of value from them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this age of PDF\u2019s and e-books you would think the demand for physical books and booklets will have died. In fact, from what I have seen, the demand is as strong or stronger than what it was when I first working at Copy Express. From talking to clients who have printed books with us &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/book-design-for-beginners\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Book Design for Beginners&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1540,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions\/1540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}