## **How to prepare your book for print**

In spite of the whole industry being aware of the term “**Prepress**”, we can still see some discrepancies in understanding the meaning of this phrase. So, before we go any further, let me start this article by explaining where this name derives from and what it refers to. 

## **Prepress – what does it mean?**

“Prepress” is used in the printing industry to refer to all printers’ activities after they receive an order to print a book (or any other artwork such as a brochure, business card, or magazine) but before the actual job begins. The extended definition of this term describes every process that happens before printing and finishing the book. It includes book design, typesetting services, preflight, proofing, imposition and transfer to the final output device. 

Many publishing houses or self-publishers decide to outsource or order publishing services related to typesetting, cover and graphic design and other prepress activities to a professional publishing services supplier or a freelance designer. 

Modern prepress professionals usually divide their duties into the following stages:

## **Layout design and typesetting**

Our prepress adventure begins with a completed manuscript received in a word processor program such as Microsoft Word. At this stage, what you as a publishing house or an author usually want is to have your text be neat and well-structured. Book formatting is very important – if your document has a clear structure, it is easier for designers or typesetters to understand your intention. It can also save a lot of time on any future corrections! 

Designing a book always begins with becoming acquainted with book's genre. Academic and non-fiction books differ in structure from fictional books and therefore require a different approach. While creating a layout, the designer has to make a lot of decisions regarding various graphic elements; the font type and size, leading, page margins, and more. Cohesion and consistency is always a designer's ultimate goal. 

When the layout is approved by the editor or author, typesetting can begin. 

**Book typesetting** is the art of arranging text on book pages to provide greater readability. A typesetter chooses the spacing between words and letters, chapter styles, how large section breaks are, and what size the subheadings are and combines these choices with graphic elements such as illustrations, pictures, ornaments, lines, frames, and background colour.

At this stage, all necessary image adjustments are done. Graphics can be adapted to the CMYK colour model, and contrast and brightness are adjusted. 

## **Preflight and sending files to the printing house**

Working on the final appearance of the book includes a few rounds of corrections, for both language and typesetting. After the files are approved by the editor, they need to be validated in a process called preflight. When preparing the final PDF, it is crucial to follow the printing house requirements that describes the way a document should be prepared in order to be printed. Every professional prepress company checks their files thoroughly before sending them to print. It improves the final acceptance process and guarantees that your job doesn't fall out of the queue because of the additional corrections needed.

## **Proofing and imposition**

Proofing is a very important stage that requires close cooperation between a printing house and publisher, book designer or professional publishing services supplier. What happens at this stage depends on the printing company since creating proofs is their responsibility. There are several types of proof you can accept. Nowadays, the most popular are soft proofs, where a technically checked production file is displayed onscreen for your evaluation. You can also consider ordering a hardcopy proof – a physical sample copy of your book, especially useful with expensive productions like photo albums or coffee table books where colour reproduction is key.

Most books require setting pages and fitting them to the printed sheet in a stage called imposition. Its main purpose is to make sure that the pages are in the correct order and to make best use of a printed sheet while minimizing paper waste. 


## **Ready to print**
Before we are ready to print, all printed sheets have to be ripped. This means they are converted to a raster image (bitmap) using raster image processor software. Productions printed in offset technology are now ready to be transferred to printing plates using CTP imaging technology. In digital printing, the data is transmitted directly to the printing machine.

The steps described above may vary in duration. Every stage of the prepress process depends on whether the previous work was done correctly. Many tasks are now automated, making the book preparation and printing process shorter in a way that was unimaginable just a few years ago. Publishing and designing a book has never been so easy and accessible to everyone. Cooperating with professionals will make your book stand out from other average publications. 

I hope you find this article usefull.






In spite of the whole industry being aware of the term “Prepress”, we can still see some discrepancies in understanding the meaning of this phrase. So, before we go any further, let me start this article by explaining where this name derives from and what it refers to. 

Prepress: How to prepare your book for print

MS Word is a very popular program for text editing, but it misses some key features to prepare files for print. That's why it shouldn't be used for design and layout pages. **The main problem with this software is that it simply does not hold formatting on different devices.** It means that layout can differ when being opened on another device. It can change fonts, graphics placement and content may freely move between pages. That's why you shouldn't be attached to the appearance of the document. 

Focus on creating content, find a professional and/or colleague that can read your text and try to pick up as many grammatical and logical errors as possible. It is always cheaper to make corrections to your manuscript in Word than to correct a text that has already been placed on the page by the typesetter.

## Working with professionals
Professional prepress studio uses software like Adobe InDesign to create a print-ready book file with beautiful types. It is our job and responsibility to meet your demands regarding book layout with taking into account typographic rules at the same time.

There are several advantages of well-prepared manuscript in Word. **If structure of your document is clear, it makes it a lot easier for designer to work with layout of your book.** It can also save a lot of time and money during corrections. Experienced designer can deduce a lot of information exclusively from the structure of the document.

You have to remember just a few basic rules when formatting your text.

## Basic rules for preparing your manuscript
You have to keep in mind that all visual alignment will take place once your text is ready to typeset. It means that you don't have to worry about common typesetting mistakes such as widows and orphans or visually marking of a new paragraph by using infinite number of spaces. However, there are few rules that once followed, can be a great help for the typesetter.

## Marking of a new paragraph
One of the most important things to do in your manuscript is correct way of marking a new paragraph. In my work as a typesetter, I have seen many different and completely nonintuitive solutions. But fortunately the correct way of starting a new paragraph is also the fastest one! The only thing you need to do is simply insert 'paragraph break', that is press the Enter key on your keyboard! 

![paragraph_correct way.png](https://space-strapi.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com/hab-cms/ee8b2c7aa89358df5144716586eca306.png "Marking new paragraph with paragraph break")

Paragraph breaks are often mistaken with 'line break' (Shift + Enter on your keyboard). Although in Word it doesn't make any difference in the appearance of the document, it has a completely different function and should not be used as a transition to a new paragraph.

![paragraph_no_correct way.png](https://space-strapi.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com/hab-cms/972ae64c14c113d2e3787fca565ab8f8.png "Line breaks and spaces should not be used to make a blank line between paragraphs.")

## Heading hierarchy
If your book includes chapter headings, it is very important to clearly mark the structure of your document. The main title of chapter should be easily distinguishable from the rest of the text. Larger font size with bold is to be expected. You can also use paragraph styles in your document. Word has already a whole range of built-in styles you can use for your headings. Once you decided to use styles in your manuscript, remember to use them **consequently** throughout your document.

![headings.png](https://space-strapi.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com/hab-cms/e8f627133b52339aaf0220a28b73fab8.png "Using built-in styles for heading hierarchy.")

## One thread
Keeping everything that you want to include in your book in one 'thread' in text editor can be very useful for typesetter. Using separate frames and anchoring them all over the place in your document can lead to many different problems with your text when importing your .doc file to Adobe InDesign. Such anchors simply don't hold when you place file in the typesetting software. It takes a lot of preparation time to compare Word original with what you have in your document. Instead of spending your time trying to format your text and putting frames in the correct place in your document, **you can mark such paragraphs with comment to the typesetter.**

## Comments and additional remarks
If you have any additional demands about how your content should be formatted, you can always write comments directly in the manuscript. Sometimes you want your text **to be highlighted or aligned differently** (for example poetry) and writing all this comments only in your order's description can be confusing or easily overlooked by designer. 

A pretty smart way to point out all such additional remarks is typing them directly in your WORD manuscript and marking them in such a manner that they can be distinguished from body text of your book. One of the most popular ways of doing it, is putting symbols in front of comment, such as number sign (#) or slash (/) and mark additional text with different color, for example red or highlighted yellow.

![comment.png](https://space-strapi.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com/hab-cms/ff042f2d3ec0bd15010d0e32e50a6779.png "This is how your comment can look like.")

## Ready for the next step
To summarize, you have to remember that keeping formatting of your document simple and neat is actually the best way to prepare your manuscript for typesetting. MS Word allows you to use different features and change document's layout, but it also makes it more difficult to import text to Adobe InDesign. If you already have a specific vision of how your book should look like, **it is always a better idea to write down all your ideas and send them to the designer, than try to implement them by yourself in MS Word document.**

In the next article, we will give you some tips how to deal with additional content that you may want to include in your book, such as **frames, graphics, tables or index**.


MS Word is a very popular program for text editing, but it misses some key features to prepare files for print. That's why it shouldn't be used for design and layout pages. 

How to prepare your text before typesetting (part 1)

Most of you will probably agree that the **book cover** is an essential part of any novel, publication or even textbook. The cover not only protects books from damage and helps contain the pages but also carries vital information regarding the title, the author and more. However, the face of your book is not only of practical importance. A **well-designed book cover** can play the role of an ambassador or spokesperson for your book and work as advertisement as well.



## What is a well-designed book cover?

The most important aspect to keep in mind when **designing a book cover** is to ensure that it reflects your book’s content coherently. A well-thought-out design should reflect the subject matter, the literary genre and the target audience. Professional design can even communicate the feelings that will arise for the reader during the reading experience. Remember – just a few seconds decide whether the cover will pique a reader’s interest or not. Your objective is love at first sight!

## Define your audience
![Ola blog 1.jpg](https://assets.haveabook.eu/uploads/Ola_blog_1_348ff2e5a4.jpg)

An important consideration when **designing the book cover** is the conscious choice of visuals to convey the right message. The combination of the composition, colors, typography should provide some insights at first glance. A sport publication designed for young people would have a different **book cover design** than one for seniors. This is why it is so crucial to define your target audience during the design stage.

## Less means more

Regardless of the audience or literary genre, I strongly advise keeping your design concept neat and tidy. Don't think just about the quality of your paper here. Many authors are tempted to overuse special graphic effects, gimmicks, or additional elements, believing that this will extend their audience reach. However, this is very risky. An overloaded cover may end up being illegible or may be perceived as chaotic and cluttered. As a result, potential readers will shift their focus to other options. 

Prior to publishing, I advise checking to see how your book cover will be presented in an online store. For that purpose, re-size your image to see how it looks as an icon. You will see that clean, simple design performs much better when resized.

## The book cover as a piece of art
![okladka_historie rodzinne.jpg](https://assets.haveabook.eu/uploads/okladka_historie_rodzinne_e920374fc0.jpg)

Bespoke illustrations may be a great advantage for your book cover. Unfortunately we often come across the belief that only titles designated for children can be illustrated. This couldn’t be more wrong! A professional drawing can greatly enrich your book, give it an artistic touch and make it stand out from its competitors. 

Professional designers often use photographs to create cover layout, and you can too. If they capture well the essence of the book and are compelling, you will have a success. But remember: the photo must be of a good quality. Low-resolution images taken with your mobile phone are often unlikely to do the job. If you do not have the appropriate equipment or skills to take a great picture, try to use stock platforms that offer variety of choices: professional photos, illustrations, textures, patterns, typographic elements, icons, and vector art. However, be aware that stock platforms often offer repetitive, posed photos that can make your book look clichéd and uninteresting, so be discerning with your selections.

## An element of surprise. Fresh ideas for your book cover

Some interesting artistic tricks can also help attracting a reader’s attention. Graphic software offers plenty of options to create something exceptional, abstract, or original. You can mix and match imagery, photos and typography and create collages and other surprising combinations. With your interesting idea, a graphic joke, or clever use of lettering, you can create a one-of-a-kind cover that will attract your audience’s attention and win their admiration. 

## Technical news. Book dimensions?

To make your book cover look outstanding, your designer or printing house may suggest new technical solutions such as an unusual format. Large, richly illustrated picture books with maps or labyrinths have enormous popularity on the book market. However, the choice of the format (big, small, round, square etc.) should be in line with your book’s content, the targeted audience and its practical (or not) use. For example, botany enthusiasts will surely appreciate a pocket-size plants guide, spiral bound with a foil-protected cover that is perfect for a walk in the forest. 

Refined binding should be considered as a huge asset. Printing houses offer today an extremely wide selection of bindings and refinements that can be used. For instance, an album printed in volumes can be placed in an elegant box. Fiction or a wedding planning book will be effectively distinguished by a noble leather binding or fabric. Embossing, cutouts, decorations, spot coating, hot stamping or glossy foil covering some fragments of the cover are just some of the available refinements.

## Good reviews

If you have received any positive reviews or comments on your book, that’s fantastic! If your book was a success at a book fair, that’s brilliant! If you have won any awards, if your book was mentioned on a popular blog or magazine, or if the book sale was a success, leverage all of that information on your book cover. How? If you don't want to invest in a new cover design, consider adding a dust jacket, band or sticker. Adding a band that refers to certain events such as Valentine's Day or Christmas may also help boost sales.

## Promotional materials

**A professionally designed cover** is also the foundation for successful promotional materials. You can use the whole design or elements from it to create various types of marketing collateral such as leaflets, posters, roll-ups or publications on the Internet.
There are many ideas for distinguishing your book cover. Understand the importance of the cover and put some real effort into designing it. Your book will certainly benefit.


Most of you will probably agree that the book cover is an essential part of any novel, publication or even textbook. The cover not only protects books from damage and helps contain the pages but also carries vital information regarding the title, the author and more. However, the face of your book is not only of practical importance.

Your book cover as a marketing tool

## Ebooks seen from developer’s perspective 

We are all familiar with printed books and most of us have an idea of how they are produced. Traditional books accompanied us from early childhood and essentially became a part of our lives. We cherish the moments we spent buying them, opening them, flicking through them to search for the illustrations. The emotions arise when preparing for reading and adjusting the light. We remember the scents and feelings of an old book or a new one. Many details matter. The thickness and the texture of each sheet of paper, the weight of the whole book. It’s part of the unique pleasure of owing a book, displaying it on a shelf or sharing it with a friend.

For several years I’ve been reading ebooks and working as an ebook developer, dealing with complex content. For these reasons I have special thoughts, opinions and feelings towards digital books. **Today I would like to share with you my very own perspective on what ebooks truly are and why they are not the same as their printed versions**. 

Don’t just think of books filled with blocks of text. Think of any book or publication you’ve had in your hands at any time in your life. This can be a novel with illustrations, a textbook with maths or chemical formulas, a medical publication with complex pictures or a cook book.
 
## What a printed book is, everyone knows… 

From the very informative point of view a traditional book usually includes these elements: an (attractive) cover, the author’s name (there may be a note about him or her), a brief introduction. When you look at the functional side of it, other aspects are also involved – for example:
-	**the size of the book**  - it should fit in your bookshelf or a briefcase
-	**an easily accessible table of contents** – so you can grasp the book‘s structure and content at first glance
-	**numbered pages** – to help you find your place when you put the book down and start reading again
-	**legible graphics** – colourful or black and white
-	**legible text** – typical font size and typeface
-   **the dust jacket**  – the flaps may be used as a bookmark.

However, when trying to evaluate the functional side, some disadvantages appear: 
-	**lack of, or less, portability**. Even one big book is uncomfortable to carry around, let alone more space to keep it on the shelf, or the floor if you prefer 
-	**eye-strain if the typesize is too small**. In poor lighting, it’s difficult to read, especially when you get older 
-	**more engaging buying process**
-	**hard to find the vital quote** especially when you don’t remember in which book to look
![A person holding a paper book and ebook.jpg](https://assets.haveabook.eu/uploads/A_person_holding_a_paper_book_and_ebook_6a67275ba1.jpg)

## My love for electronic books

The turning point for me to lean towards ebooks was when I started focusing on my personal development. For me, this meant reading lots of technical and educational books. It required efficient search for information – possibility from different sources – comparing or even copying them. New tech devices (my phone, computer, tablet) gave me quick access to all my assets from anywhere. They also helped me to manage my time better. Widely understood accessibility was a key here. 

**Today I can consume any book in many different ways. I can read it or listen to it. I can enlarge its text or change its colour. I can display the text in the way that best suits my needs.** 

So, you can too. You can start the interaction with an ebook via a device and its interface such as a screen, headphones, braille reader and so on.

## How does an ebook work?

To make the ebook work, all its elements MUST be well-organised. In fact an electronic publication together with an application (in this case an e-reader) is a form of database. **Each file of an ebook**, no matter what format it’s in, **is** nothing more than **the well-structured data of an original book**: text, graphics, tables, footnotes, endnotes etc. The relationships between these elements plays an equal role to the data organisation. 

**Imagine a printed book being cut into single elements: paragraphs, graphics, tables, page numbers, chapters etc. Then imagine that each of these elements were conjoined (paired together) in such a way that it was possible to assign them to specific groups of elements. Together, they form a hierarchical structure that makes up the publication or the book.**

For example: a graphic in the book refers to a certain paragraph. The paragraph is the smallest logical element of the book (this could be a single thought or someone’s statement). These elements belong to the chapter, and the chapter belongs to the book. Another example: each field in a table is an element of a row; rows together with the headers make up a table that belongs to the text etc. Each part of the publication has an assigned function (title page, chapter, editorial page etc.), thanks to which we know their order, we can jump over them using the dynamic table of contents, and freely search them. We do not have to flip through the entire publication every time, but we can jump straight to the selected page or excerpt.
![Diagram_popr-01.jpg](https://assets.haveabook.eu/uploads/Diagram_popr_01_bfaa7feae2.jpg)

In addition, a book file includes so-called graphics rules. In professional language these rules are called CSSs (cascading style sheets). **CSSs describe how elements are to be displayed on screen, paper or in other media.** In general, the content presented in an ebook is virtual and in fact does not have any layout. **E-readers usually build up their own layout, which is not attractive nor functional. But CSSs can modify this and present the content the way we want – in most cases, up to 100% of the original book.**
In other words an e-reader (the app) based on these rules (CSSs) understands how to present the content on the screen. Thanks to this, it can display pages in different sizes, proportions or colours.

The quality of preparation of both elements determines the functionality of ebooks and the quality of their operation in various applications and on various devices.

## What should we expect from an ebook?

Simply put, an ebook should:
-	work on our e-reader (device plus application). This can be one of many tablets, phones or a computer application. There are thousands of combinations of devices and applications to choose from.
-	provide access to the entire library from the user's devices
-	be displayed optimally for your needs (font size etc.)
-	allow easy navigation, searching, copying, remembering opened pages etc.

## Ebooks and printed books are produced completely differently

Despite ebooks and printed books having the same content and appearing similar, the two forms are prepared in completely different ways. The conversion process is complex and requires a creative approach. Rarely does a book prepared for printing have a carefully designed logical structure because the paper form doesn't require it as much as the electronic one.

When we start an ebook conversion, building the data structure required in an electronic publication is often not an easy task. So getting a good ebook based on a book designed for print is a challenge. We deal with this every day, but more on that soon. 

This article was created based on the original story written by our colleague Tom.



Why do ebooks' developers perceive ebooks in a different way than publishers or readers?

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