How to Prepare a Book for Press With InDesign

This tutorial will offer you some advice on how to use Scribus to create
print-ready files for our print program. Books can be prepped for Black-and-
White, Standard Heavyweight Color and Premium color. Whether you are
preparing files for standard Heavyweight color or premium color, the prepa-
ration is nearly identical. The only exception is noted below when you get
your cover template from the Lightning Source website be sure to specify
standard heavyweight or premium color. If you want to prepare a book in
both color formats, be sure to download two different cover templates and
prepare two different color cover files (premium color paper stock is thicker
thus the spine of the book is wider).
The Tutorial is Broken up into Sections:
1. How to Format a Black-and-White (B&W) Book Interior for
Press With InDesign
2. Export Your InDesign File as a B&W Print-Ready PDF Interior
What do I Need?
This tutorial will have you use Adobe InDesign to create your
content and cover and prepare them as a print-ready PDF.
The screenshots shown in the tutorial use Adobe InDesign CS4 and
CS5. If you are using different versions of the software, some of the in-
structions and screenshots will be slightly different, but you should be able
to find the right feature in your software version.
How do I Get This Software?
Adobe InDesign is available from Adobe at www.adobe.com. Adobe does
have educational discounts on their software if you are able to take advan-
tage of them:
https://store1.adobe.com/cfusion/store/html/index.cfm?store=OLS-EDU&
event=displayCatalog&catalogOID=2071995

3. How to Format a Color Book Interior for Press with InDesign Or get it as part of the Creative Cloud and pay a monthly fee.

4. Export Your InDesign File as a Color Print-Ready PDF Interior http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/designstandard.html

5. How to Create Your Softcover or Hardcover File in InDesign
6. How to Create Your Print-Ready PDF Cover
7. Tips and Things to Remember
8. What Do I Do next?
9. I Need More Help!
Books going into the print program need two PDF files, the cover file
and the interior (or Book Block) file.

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 1. How to Format a B&W Book Interior for Press With InDesign

This is a basic step-by-step to help take you through all of the

stages to laying out a B&W book block in InDesign.
For your convenience, we have created a few template files for
different standard book sizes to make your layout work easier. You can
find these templates on the Print Templates and Tutorials of the Publisher
Knowledge Base, under Title Management/ Book Printing.
Lets start with the master pages. When you open the template, click
the Pages tool on the right and double-click the Master Page at the top of
the box. Anything you place on the Master Page, including guidelines, will
appear on all the pages of your book (guidelines will not appear in the print
PDF). If you have background art that is intended to appear on every page
of the book, place it here and make sure it is lined up properly with the page
edge and does not reach the bleed lines (see below).

The template has page numbers at the bottom of the page in the correct
placement. You can edit the font and size of the page numbers on this page.

What are all these lines?

The red outer lines mark the bleed box. This is used for color books
only and will be addressed in the color formatting section.

The black line is the page edge. Art can be lined up with this but should
not go past it in B&W books.

The teal line between the page edge and margin line is your safe area.
Anything inside this area should not be affected when pages are cut.

The pink and purple boxes are the margin lines. Text stays in this area.

The inner teal line is the gutter allowance and is used for color books
only and will be addressed in the color formatting section.

The space in the center with the black line is called the gutter and is the
inside spine edge of the book. Art can be lined up with this but should
not go past it in B&W books.

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 3. How to Format a Color Book Interior for Press with InDesign
For your convenience we have created a few template files for different
standard book sizes to make your layout work easier. You can find these
templates on the Print Templates and Tutorials of the Publisher Knowledge
Base, under Title Management/ Book Printing.
Lets start with the master pages. When you open the template, click the
Pages tool on the right and double-click the Master Page at the top of the
box. Anything you place on the Master Page, including guidelines, will ap-
pear on all of the pages of your book (guidelines will not appear in the print
PDF). If you have background art that is intended to appear on every page
of the book, place it here and make sure it is lined up properly with the bleed
lines (see below).

The template has page numbers at the bottom of the page in the correct
placement. You can edit the font and size of the page numbers on this page.

What are all these lines?

The red outer lines define the bleed box. Any graphics you want ex-
tended to the edge of the page should reach this line

The black line represents the edge of the page.

The teal guideline is the safe area. Anything inside this line will not be
affected when the pages are cut.

The pink and purple box defines the margin. Text should stay inside this area.

The inner teal guideline defines the gutter allowance area. Anything
that is intended to go to the center of the book should stop at this guide-
line; this is where the pages are glued into the book. The glue does not
adhere well to color ink, so it is very important to keep this area free from
any print items. Gutter allowance is used ONLY in color books.

The space in the center black line is called the gutter and is the inside
spine of the book. This area should remain empty.

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 Adding Text

In the Type pull-down menu select Paragraph Styles.

In the box that pops up, choose New Paragraph Style by

clicking the small arrow on the top right of the box.

4
 Adding Text (cont.)
In the new window, select Basic Character Formats. It is the second
choice down in the options to the left.
This is where you format the basic font for the book. Headers and other
speciality fonts are set up elsewhere and will be addressed next.
Name your style
Select the font size and family.
Remember, this text will be small, so use a font that is easy to read with-
out any bells and whistles. Industry standard for size is 10 to 12 pt, and
leave the leading set to auto.
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Under Indents and Spacing, in the pull-down choose Left Justify.
Under Keep Options, in the pull-down choose Keep With Next 2 Lines.
In keeping with a good publishing convention, avoid leaving a single word
at the end of a paragraph or a single line at the top or bottom of a column
of text, as well as avoiding hyphens between columns of text.
Click OK when you have these options selected and the little window that
is left open can be moved to the right side of the screen to be out of the way.
To format body text, simply select the text to be formatted and click the style
name. InDesign will autoformat the selected text.
 Adding Text (cont.)

Now go back to the font pull-down menu. Select Character Style.

Click the little arrow on the top right of the box and open New Character
Style.

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 Adding Text (cont.)
Select Basic Character Formats. It is the second choice down in the You can repeat this to create different headers.
options to the left.
Header fonts should remain between 24pts to 14pts
Here is where you define your Headers.
Use different sizes and bolded fonts to create a hierarchy.
Name the Style.
Place the box over to the right when you are done and you are ready to
Select the Family, Style, Size etc. start adding text.

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 Adding Text (cont.)

There are two ways to add text to an InDesign file. You can select the text, copy it, and then paste
it into the file you are working on.

If it is more than one columns worth of text, you will have to manually place the text by clicking the
[X] box at the bottom of the text box, then clicking on the next text column with the shift key held down.

If you are adding a lot of text you can go to the File pull-down menu and select Place. Find where
you have your text and select it.

You will see a little text block attached to

your cursor. If you click in a column InDesign
will place the opening of text in that column. If
you have a lot of text to place hold the Shift Key
and InDesign will place all of the text for you.
If you are working on a larger format book and
it is two columns, the text will be placed from
left column to right column and page to page
in order.

Once all of the text is imported you can

format it, move it around, and add art to finalize
the book.

8
 Formatting Text
With the Text tool selected click anywere in the text, then right
click and choose Select All to select all of the text you placed.
The text will be highlighted for the whole book or chapter. Se-
lect the Paragraph Styles menu on the right and select the style
you created. This will format the basic body text.

Italic and bolded formatting can be lost when importing text.

Double-check that you have not lost this information. If you can
see that you have lost this, use the Character Styles menu to
correct the lost formatting.

To make headers, select the text and click the Character

Styles menu on the right. Select the header you want from the
ones you created earlier. Repeat this with the headers until they
are all formatted and your text is done.

9
 Adding Art

To add art or graphics, first make sure nothing is selected by clicking

on the white space outside of the book with the black arrow tool. Go to
the File pull-down menu and select Place (same as with text).

Find the art or graphic you want to place and click Open.

Your cursor will have a thumbnail of the art attached to it. Click where
you want the art to go.

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 Adding Art (cont.)

The art will most likely not be the size you want it to be and it will be sit- Once you have the art box the
ting on top of text. size you want it you will want to
resize the art to fit in the box.
Select the text with the black arrow tool and change the column length to
accommodate the art. InDesign will automatically reflow the text for you. In the tool box at the top of the
page is a series of boxes to help
Now hold down the shift key and resize the art box with the black ar- you format the art.
row tool.

Click on the box to fit the art pro-

portionally in the box. Repeat this pro-
cess until all art is placed.
.

If you move art or graphics to a

new folder you will need to relink each
one. You can do this by clicking the
broken chain in the Link menu and
thenby finding the file in the window
that pops up.

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 Adding Art (cont.)
Your cursor will have a thumbnail of the art attached to it. Click where Once you have the art box the
you want the art to go. size you want it you will want to
resize the art to fit in the box.
The art will most likely not be the size you want it to be and it will be sit-
ting on top of text. In the tool box at the top of the
page is a series of boxes to help
Select the text with the black arrow tool and change the column length to you format the art.
accommodate the art. InDesign will automatically move the text for you.
Click on the box to fit the art
Now, hold down the shift key and resize the art box with the black ar- proportionally in the box. Repeat
row tool. this process until all art is placed.

If you move art or graphics to a new

folder you will need to relink each
one. You can do this by clicking the
broken chain in the Link menu and
thenby finding the file in the window
that pops up.

12
 2. Export Your InDesign File as a B&W Print-Ready PDF Interior
Once you are ready to export, make sure the book or chapter shows no
errors. On the bottom left of the page is an indicator. If it is red, double-
click it and then click each arrow to find out what the problem is and what
page it is on.

Correct these problems now before exporting.

NOTE: You can now produce B&W books with bleed. To do this follow the
instructions for exporting a color book.

Once your book or chapter is error free, go to the File pull-down menu
and select Export to make a PDF.

13
 2. Export Your InDesign File as a B&W Print-Ready PDF Interior
Name the PDF, choose where to save it then click Save.

In the new window click the Acrobat PDF Preset

pull-down menu and select PDF/X-1a:2001. Check Optimize
for Fast Web View, and click Export. The PDF will be pro-
cessed and saved to the location you indicated.

That is it! You have created your B&W Interior book block
PDF for print!

NOTE: You can now produce B&W books with bleed. To do

this follow the instructions for exporting a color book.

Its a good idea to package your book in order to archive it.

See how to do this on page 33.

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 4. Export Your InDesign file as a Color Print-Ready PDF Interior
Once you are ready to export, make sure the book or chapter
shows no errors. On the bottom left of the page is an indicator. If it
is red, double-click it and then click each arrow to find out what the
problem is and what page it is on.

Correct these problems now before exporting.

Once your book or chapter is error free, go to the File pull-down

menu and select Export to make a PDF.

15
Name the PDF, choose where to save it, then click Save.

In the new window click the Acrobat PDF Preset

pull-down menu and select PDF/X-1a:2001. Check Optimize
for Fast Web View.

The next step is very important, please follow

it carefully.

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 Click the Marks and Bleeds tab on the left. In the section named
Bleed and Slug click the Use Document Bleed Settings
box. Double check the bleeds are set to .125 for all sides
EXCEPT inside which should be set to zero.

Do not check any other boxes or fill out any other informa-
tion on this page.

Then click Export. The PDF will be processed and saved

to the location you indicated.

That is it! You have created your Color Interior book block PDF for print!

Its good idea to package your book in order to archive it. See how to do
this on page 33.

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 5. How to Create Your Hardcover or Softcover File in InDesign
Filling out the Cover Template Page

To get the correct file for your book cover, fill out some details and
Lightning Source will generate a template for you.
Go to: http://www.lightningsource.com/covergenerator.aspx
13-digit ISBN: Enter all zeroes [000-0-00000-000-0]. Do not
enter a real ISBN even if your book has one.
P
 ublisher Reference Number: Optional field for your own
stock code if you use one.
Trim Size: Select your book size.
Interior Color and Paper: Select if your book interior is B&W,
Standard Heavyweight Color, or Premium Color. Since these
are printed on different paper stock, your cover templates
spine width will change depending on your interior content
type, so be sure you are using the correct setting.
B
 inding Type: Case Bound is Hardcover, (we do not offer
Cloth Bound), Perfect Bound is Softcover and Saddle Stitch is
Softcover for very low page count books under 48 pages.
Laminate Type: Select your choice.
Duplex Cover: Select No. We currently dont offer duplex covers.
Page Count: Your final page count, minus 1 (your page
count does not include the cover).
File Type: Select PDF.
Email: Your email address.
Optional Information: Leave them as they are.
Click Submit: The template will be generated and emailed to you..

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 Breaking Down the Cover Template
What are all of these colors? Regardless of what type of cover you are producing, the guides will look the same, just in different
proportions, and the book data will appear in different places depending on what format it is.

P ink Boxes show the Safe Area. No text, logos, borders, boxes, or barcodes should extend outside this area. Each part (back
cover, spine, and front cover) has a safe area.
Blue Boxes show the Bleed Area. Any background color (white for example), pattern, gradient or image that you wish to extend to
the edge of your cover should extend to, but not past, the Blue Box.
White Space shows the Template Area. None of your cover elements should be in this area. Please do not alter any of the
information in this area.
Black horizontal and
vertical lines are the
Trim and Fold Marks.
This is where your
spine will fold and
your book will be cut
after it is bound with
the interior pages.
The Barcode inside
the barcode box
on the back cover
should be deleted 1.75 wide by 1 inches tall.
or covered. Lightning
Source will place
your barcode for you.
If you do not remove
the sample one here,
your cover will be
rejected. If you would Sample Cover Template
like to designate
where the barcode
should be placed,
use a white box for
placement, sized to
1.75 wide by 1
inches tall.
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 Open your InDesign file, and remove the barcode here
by selecting it and pressing the delete key. remember while
working on your cover to save often.

To add art, first make sure the art space for the front
cover is selected to place front cover art, the spine to
place the spine art, or the back cover space to place the
back cover art by clicking on the box with the x on either
the front cover space, spine space, or back cover space
of the book with the black arrow tool. Then go to the
File pull-down menu and select Place.

Find the art you want to place

and click Open.

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 The art will import directly into the correct place, but may
not be the correct size. If it is too small or looks cut off,
dont worry.

In the tool box at the top of the page is a series of boxes

to help you format the art.

With the art selected, click the symbol that rescales the content
proportionately.

Repeat this process until all of the cover art is placed.

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 To add text to the cover, select the Type Tool from the menu on the
left (it is a capital T), click and drag it to make a text box. Type what you
need into the box and then use the Character menu to the right to adjust
the font, size, etc. (If you do not see the window you can open it under
Windows the pull-down window at the top, select Type&Tables, then
Character)

Be careful where you place your text. Make sure it is easy to read. If
you are losing text in the background you can change the color or put a
stroke on the text (usually white or black) to help make the text more vis-
ible.

To put a stroke on the text double-click the text with the Text Tool and
open the Stroke menu to the right. A range of .5 to 1 is acceptable.

Then open the Swatches (if you dont see it click the Windows pull-
down at the top of the page and select it). Click the hollow T then choose
white or black for the stroke color.

22
 To add text on the spine, create the text the same way you did for the
cover, but keep it small enough to fit on the spine.

In the tool box at the top of the page there are a

series of tools that will turn the text for you.

Select the spine text with the black arrow tool. then
click the symbol that turns the text clockwise 90 degrees.

Add all the art and the text you want to have on the cover.

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 6. How to Create your Print-Ready PDF Cover
Once you are ready to export, make sure the cover shows no
errors. On the bottom left of the page is an indicator. If it is red
double-click it and then click each arrow to find out what the prob-
lem is and what page it is on.

Correct these problems now before exporting.

Once your book or chapter is error free, go to the File pull-down

menu and select Export to make a PDF.

24
 Name the PDF, choose where to save it, click Save.

In the window that opens in the pull-down menu for

Adobe PDF Presets, choose PDF/X-1a:2001. Check
Optimize for Fast Web View and click Export. The PDF
will be processed and saved to the location you indicated.

Thats it! You have created your cover PDF file!

25
 When you are all done with the layout and have made the
PDF, it is best to Package the information to archive it. To
do this, select Package from the File pull-down menu.

In the window that opens select Package.

Several windows will open after this. Just click OK through

all of them. This process will collect all of the files and fonts
in one place for you.

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 7. Tips and Things to Remember
Specifications
When preparing your cover remember to add an extra page to the page All Images must be CMYK color format at a 300dpi/ppi resolution.
count! Our printer requires that the final page of a book be completely blank,
Header fonts should remain 24pts to 14pts, Body Fonts 10pts to 12pts.
therefore they add a blank page during premedia setup of your print files.
Our printer needs the final page blank to add an internal production tracking Avoid leaving a single word at the end of a paragraph or a single line at
barcode to that page. This barcode is used to scan the book interior during the top or bottom of a column of text.
book binding to be sure that the correct cover is put on the correct book in-
terior. (This production barcode is unrelated to and should not be confused Embed all fonts (all font families used, including both screen and printer).
with any ISBN or UPC barcodes.)
For covers of books less than 80 pages, do NOT place text on the spine.
Depending on a books interior type (color or B&W) and its size, the
Covers should be produced on a document page, wide enough to en-
final page count of a book must be evenly divisible by 4 or 6. Therefore,
compass the front, spine and back of the book, along with bleed on all
it is best for you to submit book interiors that are one page less than an
sides. Use the template you received via email from the Lightning Source
evenly divisible page count so the printer can add the blank page at the
cover template generator.
end and then print the book at that page count, otherwise the printer may
have to add additional blank pages to the end of the book in order to make Do not add information such as crop marks, web-press comments, etc.
it evenly divisible and printable.
For best results text should be at least 0.25 from trim edges of the book.
The following table summarizes whether a book type and size requires a
page count divisible by 4 or 6. Its best to leave at least .5 between the text and the edge of the spine.

The recommended barcode box size is 1.75 wide by 1 high.

Interior Type Size Divisible By Black elements should NOT be built in Registration black. These ele-
ments should be built out of Rich black. For best results, we recommend
Color Any 4 the CMYK values of 60% Cyan, 40% Magenta, 40% Yellow, and 100%
Black. CMYK total value should NOT exceed 240%.
B&W 6.14 x 9.21 and smaller 6
You can place a barcode box anywhere on your back cover that you pre-
B&W 6.69 x 9.61 and larger 4
fer. Leave the box blank white. Our printer will fill in a production barcode
during prepress.
When using the cover template, specify the final page count with the
blank page added, but when submitting your interior file, make it one page For color books, a quick way to be sure your gutter allowance is correct,
less than that final page count. go to the master page, add a new layer and keep it at the top, make a
white box (no stroke) that is 2/8 wide and as tall as the page plus bleed.
For example, when doing a large, B&W interior book, you might want a It will appear on every page that is assigned to that master page and you
final page count of 120 pages. Use 120 for the page count when using the can be sure your bleed is proper for every page of the book.
cover template generator on Lightning Sources site. When you submit
your book interior PDF file, make it 119.

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 8. What do I do next? 9. I need more help!
Once you have your finished interior PDF file and cover PDF Your publisher service rep is not really an expert on print
file, its time to upload them! layout, so chances are slim that he or she will be able to an-
swer questions not answered in this tutorial. However, p lease
Log into your DriveThru account, and go to your Publisher
Hub on the Publish page. If you have not already set up a title do email us your questions anyway so we can help find an an-
record, go to TITLE MANAGEMENT/Set up a new title to do so. swer if we can and also so that we can improve this tutorial so it
answers more questions for everyone.

If you have any questions or need more information about how You can also find people with professional skills at print lay-
to proceed with filling out this form, you may also find it helpful out and contract them to create your print files. The cost of this
to follow our Book Walkthrough located in the Publisher work depends on how much of the work you do yourself before
Knowledge Base. handing it over for layout.

After a successful upload, you can choose to activate your title We can recommend someone for layout if you would like.
for live sale! How exciting! Please contact Publisher service for details.
Or you can also find freelance layout professionals at sites like
www.upwork.com

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