Print files built to exact specifications
A printer works to fractions of an inch. We prepare interior and cover PDFs with the right trim, bleed, gutter, fonts and image resolution, so your proof copy arrives looking as intended.
- Free initial consultation
- Clear written quote
Readers never notice a correct gutter margin, but they always notice a wrong one.
The technical side of a printed book
Print files fail for unglamorous reasons: a font not embedded, an image saved at screen resolution, text creeping into the gutter, or artwork that stops short of the bleed. Any of these can lead a printer to reject the file or, worse, to a finished book with muddy photos and words vanishing into the spine.
We set up the document from the start at your chosen trim size, with inside margins that widen as the page count grows, and bleed only where images reach the page edge. Before export, every file goes through a preflight check, and the spine is calculated from your printer's paper and the final page count.
Designed for the reader’s eye
Every genre has its own visual language. We design within it, so the right readers recognize your book at a glance.
Original cover designs from our studio
What you gain with print-ready formatting
A printer works to fractions of an inch. We prepare interior and cover PDFs with the right trim, bleed, gutter, fonts and image resolution, so your proof copy arrives looking as intended.
Trim, bleed and safe zones
Pages are sized to your exact trim, with bleed added for any image or color that runs off the edge and text held within a safe zone away from the cut.
Gutter sized to page count
Thicker books curve more toward the spine, so inside margins grow with the page count, keeping every line readable without the reader having to force the binding open.
Fonts and images handled
All fonts are embedded and every image is checked for effective resolution at printed size, typically around 300 dpi, with color handled to suit your printer and paper.
Spine width calculated
We work out the spine from your final page count and the paper stock your printer specifies, then supply the measurement to your cover designer or build the cover file ourselves.
Everything in the brief
The exact scope is confirmed in writing before work begins, so you always know what you are paying for.
- Authors ordering a print run or print-on-demand edition
- Writers whose files have been rejected by a printer
- Illustrated books with full-bleed images or color pages
- Document setup at your chosen trim size
- Bleed and safe margins where required
- Gutter margins adjusted for page count
- Embedded fonts and flattened transparency
- Image resolution and color checks
- Spine width calculation from printer specifications
- Preflight report before files are released
- Interior and cover PDFs exported to printer settings
Four clear steps
- 1
Confirm specifications
We agree on trim size, paper, binding and printer or platform, since each one affects margins, bleed and spine width.
- 2
Document setup
The interior is built on a correctly sized document, with margins, bleed and gutter in place from the very first page.
- 3
Preflight checks
We check fonts, image resolution, color, page count and bleed, and fix anything that could cause a rejection or a poor print.
- 4
Export and proof
PDFs are exported with the settings your printer recommends, and we review the printed or digital proof with you before you approve.
Bleed is extra image area, often about an eighth of an inch, that extends past the trim line so no white sliver appears after cutting. A text-only interior usually needs none. Covers, and any page where images or color reach the edge, do.
Most ask for a print-standard PDF, often a PDF/X variant, with all fonts embedded, no security settings, images at sufficient resolution and pages at trim size plus any bleed. Exact requirements vary by printer, so we follow the specification sheet for yours.
It is the page count multiplied by the thickness of the chosen paper per page, which differs between white, cream and color stock. Printers publish these figures or provide a cover template, and we recalculate whenever the page count changes.
Usually, yes. Send us the rejection message along with your source files. Most rejections come down to missing fonts, low-resolution images, incorrect page size or missing bleed, and we work through each issue before exporting and preflighting the file again.
The price depends on page count, the number of images, whether bleed runs throughout, and whether you need both interior and cover files. Repairing an existing file is quoted differently from building one from scratch, and we confirm the timeline alongside the quote.
Let’s talk about your book
Share a few details and we will reply with practical next steps for print-ready formatting, and a written quote if you would like one.
- No obligation and no pressure
- We aim to reply to every enquiry within one business day.
- Your details stay private
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Tell us where your book is today. We will read your sample and recommend a clear, honest next step, with no obligation.