Your book has arrived. You open it up excitedly and marvel at the sturdy pages, crisp printing, and vibrant colors. The interior is aligned perfectly, and every corner of it shines with perfection. Prepress production is what makes all of this possible, but most authors aren't even aware of it.
This little-known, behind-the-scenes process is like having an invisible artisan making sure all i's are dotted, t's are crossed, and formatting is perfect. Here's what you need to know about prepress production in order to have a printed book you'll love from cover to cover.
Start with custom templates
OnPress Book Printing offers custom cover and interior book layout templates that are available to download. These free templates make sure that your artwork and layouts are sized correctly, including the front and back cover, the spine, and page interiors. With these templates, you'll also get margin and bleed guidance, so your images and text don't spill over the page and cause layout errors that could slow down or even halt the production process.
Set trim size, bleed and margins
The interior pages of your book must match your intended trim size and include a 0.125" bleed on all sides. This makes sure that even full-bleed elements go beyond the cut line so that you don't end up with unwanted white borders. Safe margins are also noted on the templates so that your images and text aren't at risk of being cut off.
Match your cover (and dust jacket) to template specs
Your cover, and if applicable, your dust jacket, need to perfectly align with OnPress' custom cover template. This cover template also accounts for spine width and panel layout. With accurate sizing, you sidestep some of the most common printing pitfalls: misaligned artwork, warped spines, or strange trims that take the attention away from your text or message.
Make sure the colors are correct
One of the biggest mistakes that authors make when submitting their book cover or interior design templates is not changing the color mode. You'll want to be absolutely sure that your files are submitted in CMYK color mode and not RGB. Although we at OnPress can convert RGB files, it can sometimes cause unwanted color shifts. We also use true black rather than registration black to prevent the ink from looking oversaturated.
Embed fonts or convert to outlines
Make sure that any fonts you want to use are embedded or converted to outlines. This prevents unwanted font substitution and keeps your typographic choices inside when printing your book.
Use high-resolution images
All of your images, including the cover, interior, and illustrations, need to be embedded at 300 DPI or higher at their final print size. Low-resolution images can look blurry or pixelated, especially in print.
Make sure your PDFs are clean
You'll want to submit a clean, non-annotated PDF. Remove any comments, sticky notes, or Adobe Acrobat marks for a finished, print-ready file.
Take advantage of our prepress file review
We know that the prepress process involves several steps, and not everyone is a print expert. That's why OnPress offers a free prepress review with every order. Our team will carefully check your files for common problems like missing bleeds, color mismatches, or font issues, and then help you correct them before printing begins. This helps you avoid delays and makes sure that each book is printed consistently.
Review the PDF or hard copy proofs before the full run
Once revisions are made, we strongly recommend reviewing a PDF or physical proof of your book. The physical proof lets you go one step further and check out the color trueness, layout, and paper feel firsthand. It can also be extremely helpful in spotting any subtle issues that you might notice before taking the next step and having the full run completed.
Taking your next steps with prepress production
Now that you better understand the prepress production process, it's time to take your next steps. We offer several free guides and helpful articles to guide you. Check out our helpful articles section where we dive into differences in digital printing, paper thickness, binding options, and more. We also cover offset vs. digital printing and other guides for curious minds who want to better understand the book printing process.
So why take the time to understand prepress production steps? The more you know, the more you're able to take book printing from a gamble to a guarantee. We take each of these steps seriously and follow them precisely, and we're happy to guide authors to do the same. From using precise templates and keeping color accurate to handling fonts and embedding high-resolution images, everything we do is designed to help you excel.
Is our process more meticulous than most? Possibly, but within that strict attention to detail comes results you can't get from a cheap, fly-by-night printer. With OnPress Book Printing, you're trusting us with your creative vision and expertise, and we take that very seriously. We aim to print your book and deliver it so that it comes to you exactly the way you intended.
Plus, there's nothing quite like holding the end result of all your research and efforts in your hands, seeing the splash of vibrant colors on the cover, and experiencing how the interior flows smoothly from page to page. This is all the result of a well-run, dedicated prepress process. Go from feeling hopeful anticipation to quiet confidence that your book is being handled by true professionals.
Contact the experts at OnPress Book Printing today to learn more about our prepress process or ask any questions you may have before we start the full production of your book. You'll be glad you took the time to get informed!