And in the case of most printers, a cmyk cyan magenta yellow color profile is preferred over an rgb red green blue one. For printing, the recommended resolution for all images and art files is 300 dpi. High resolution, affordable print covers suitable for printing both soft or hard cover books, manuals and workbooks. Make your photo book cover as unique as the photos it holds. Resolution refers to the actual number of pixels when printed, and is. Images, resolution, and dpi dots per inch author help. For the best results, all images should be sized at 100%, flattened to one layer, and inserted into your manuscript file at a minimum resolution of 300 dpi dots per inch. Fastbind offers printable tacking sheets for laser and high resolution inkjet printing. Please watch the book cover resolution tutorial video below, to find the dpi of an image or graphic that you want to use for your front and back covers. Ive included tips and hints from my own experience that i. How to make your books print cover using microsoft.
The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing or tearing, minimal pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. Sue chastain is a former lifewire writer and a graphics software authority with web design and print publishing credentials. Our new designonly service transforms your book cover into a professionallooking cover that catches eyes and conveys your book s themes. Thankfully, resolution is usually not defined in ebook publishing as it is only the important in printing, but the web standard is 72dpi, so dont go under it. How to choose the right book cover dimensions in 3 simple. A printed image must have a certain resolution or the image will be pixelated and blurry. With attention to both printing quality and long durability in mind, fastbind has engineered the perfect adhesive material to make your custom printed hard covers.
At 150 ppi the image needs to be 874 x 1240 pixels. In this example, the image at print resolution is only 3. Choose from our standard covers or select an upgraded cover to make it extra special. However, the larger the image, the crisper the printed photos will appear. Digital printing is great for short run or on demand printing projects including your book. In this post, i walk you through how to make a print cover for a selfpublished book, using readily available software thats either free or lowcost and doesnt require a graphic designers licence to drive. Whether you are after fiction or nonfiction, our covers are for high impact, to capture your audiences attention and to convert into sales. You can easily check resolution by right clicking the image, selecting properties and then details.
Color photos only print in color if you chose the color ink printing option for your book. We do offer printing on the inside of the book cover, but there are some restrictions, like no ink on the spine and 18 around it. I understand that for normal purposes it is enough to create images at a resolution of 300ppi. Youve done the hard work and created an amazing book. Books covers, custom design and printing, arts on book. This process is a collaboration between author and designer. What are the dimensions of book cover on photoshop. Bleed is not the part of the final cover when the book is ready. This is a soughtafter recognition of excellence in printing given to those who have successfully proven capable of providing the highest quality color book printing from the most modern technology, techniques and process controls available in the graphic arts industry. If youre creating a cover for an ebook, you can share and sell it as many times as you like. File guideline requirements for printing your book.
Keep in mind that printing in color has some inherent differences from black and white printing. Canvas book cover maker makes designing book covers amazingly simple even for nondesigners. When you upload your cover, you can choose to provide your own barcode. Color book printing is a little more difficult in setting up your book files, as you will need to make sure the images you will be using are 300 dpi in resolution. A 4 or 5 megapixel image creates a beautiful, full page print for all photo book sizes.
If youve used paid elements from canvas library you can go ahead with a print run of up to 2000 copies. When it comes to megapixels, more isnt necessarily better. Types of hard cover books short run digital printed hardcover book printing. Using the correct color space and controlling ink density are key factors. The last thing you want to do is get your book printed using fuzzy graphics and photos. This type of hardcover books we print inside pages and cover both on hp indigo press and hotmelt, unsewn perfect binding to the hardcover case. The minimum recommended resolution is 2 megapixels 1600x1200. When creating a print cover, the resolution you choose is almost as important.
Creating covers for print books the cover of a print book has three parts. The image must be engaging and represent your book, of course, but it also must be crisp and clear. Make sure it sells out by creating an awesome cover design. Use high resolution graphics make sure all the images and graphics included in your files are high resolution. Here you see dimensions this can be measured in inches, centimeters or pixels, book cover size width and height and resolution measured in dpi dots per inch. Tips for finding high res book covers just upgraded to a 4k monitor last month so ive become a lot more insistent that my ebooks have the highest quality book cover art i can find i just happened upon a very awesome source i thought id share in case some arent aware of it. Understanding how to adjust your book cover images to your printers specifications will make the difference between a cover that sings and a cover that barks. High resolution images recommended resolution for printing for printing, the recommended resolution for all images and art files is 300 dpi. What is the highest possible print resolution in book. Print the book cover on cover stock paper sized at either 11 x 17 or 12 x 18 inches as described earlier whichever size will comfortably fit your finished book cover layout. All graphics should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi dots per inch.
We dont know whats inside your book, but youre searching out hardcover book printing because you want those contents bound with a hard cover. Understanding print resolution for graphics in books. A book that has been read but is in good condition. If you leave images or text on this part of the cover, the barcode will cover them during printing, so dont leave anything important there. How to determine if the files you are using will be suitable for print production. But suppose, for the sake of this question, i wanted to print my art at the highest possible resolution that common art book printing allows.
This is the resolution thats needed for highquality printing. However, the weak link in digital printing is the cover. It begins when you contact me and express interest. You do not have to use pressbooks to create your book covers you can source those separatelybut you can use our book cover generator to produce both your ebook or pdf covers. My art is digital, and i want to create it with the option to print it at any common unknown printer. Print books on demand is an in store printing service that allows you to make a physical print book of a hardtofind book, a public domain title or your own selfpublished book. We recommend at least 34 of an inch on the bound side for perfect bound books.
Kdp print and ingramspark recommend a resolution of 300 dots per square inch dpi for your cover. Includes descriptions of popular aspect ratios and recommended resolutions for creating your own book cover. The dirty little secret about digital book printing is that covers printed on digital presses look great, but are prone to a host of problems in finishing. Book covers for ebooks and printondemand pressbooks. Fastbind printable supplies for making hard covers. When planning to add photos to your book, make sure you have files with enough resolution to print at the size you want in the finished product. Each print distributor has its own requirements for printing. If youre looking to create a cover for a print book, you simply need to.
The offset press cannot accurately reproduce resolutions above 300, so it is the. Canvas free book cover maker is ridiculously easy to use even for the novice or notsotechsavvy writer. These best practices for creating book covers will ensure your ebook. The inside printed pages including blank pages should be created to the finished trim size of the book and saved as one complete pdf file containing all inside. Very minimal damage to the cover including scuff marks, but no holes or tears. To change the resolution to 300 ppi, uncheck the resample box to lock the width, height, and resolution, then change the resolution to 300 ppi, like this. How to choose the right book cover dimensions in 3 simple steps. Thankfully, resolution is usually not defined in ebook publishing as it is only the important in printing, but the web standard is 72dpi, so dont go. But if youre dealing with images in print books or on merchandise.
Detailed information on book printing services advanced. How to design a book cover for print and free template. Books covers, custom design and printing, arts on book cover, custom made ebay skip to main content. Print and ebook covers, a matter of resolution explains that there is 17 times more data in a print cover than in an ebook cover. Complete guide to book cover sizes why do they matter. The dust jacket for hard covers may not be included.
Tips for finding high res book covers mobileread forums. Even if youre only planning to sell your book in electronic form kindle, nook, etc, i would strongly advise you to build a highresolution, print. We are one of the very few printers that print hardcover books in new york city offering 24hour rush turnaround. Anything less will produce poor, fuzzy or pixilated results. The covers for saddlestitched and perfect bound books should have bleed around them. Save your book cover as a pdf to print it in stunning high resolution.
Both kdp print and ingramspark suggest a resolution of 300 dots per square inch dpi for your cover design. Design book covers with canvas free book cover maker. Find out what book cover dimensions you should be using when designing a jacket for print and ebook. We design and print your custom book covers covers can be on hard or soft paper. For photo books it is also the optimum resolution but a somewhat lower pixel count 250 dpi is acceptable for great looking photographs. Book printing service online qty 252000 by lightning press.
You can order them in standard or large format sizes. Youve come to the right place we have a lot of cover options for you to consider. The offset press cannot accurately reproduce resolutions above 300, so it is the industry standard. Creating covers for print books help with publishing. Easy pdf file guidelines for book printing by lightning press. Name the file as book cover, set the width to 360mm, the height to 240mm, the resolution to 300dpi and be sure to have the color mode set to cmyk color and click ok. Ill send you a quick questionnaire via email that will help me become acquainted with your book s content, characters, genre and any personal preferences you may have. Print and ebook covers, a matter of resolution the book designer. Lightning press prints great books and is a g7 master qualified book printer servicing publishers and selfpublishing. It is highly recommended that you have your book cover printed at a professional copy. Without adequate printing margins, some of your text or graphics may get lost in the gutter of perfect bound books. This is the fifth video in a 5part series that shows you how to make a print book cover using indesign cs6. I created a sample, low resolution book cover design for. While its easy to reduce the size and resolution of your images, its not possible to add detail and data or resolution back into the image once its gone.
When scanning your images and graphics, make sure to use the highest quality setting or at least 300 dpi. This is the required resolution for quality offset printing that will be viewed from a short distance such as books, brochures, magazines, calenders. If youre having a problem and need assistance, please contact us. These three components are printed together as a large rectangle that wraps around the pages to create the finished book.