Design, typesetting and printing
Book design involves typesetting the text and laying it out with all the other page elements in a balanced, clear and aesthetic way. We do this using gold-standard industry InDesign software, which can handle documents of any size, from business cards to display banners, and is suitable for any media, from paper to ceramic and fabric. The books we produce are destined for conventional print and/or print-on-demand (POD).
INTERIOR PAGE DESIGN & FORMATTING
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​​​We work on interior designs that suit both the content and intended readership of each book, factoring in the size of the book/page, the typographical features and white space, the headings structure, running heads and page numbers. Consistency is assured by setting up a bespoke pallette of paragraph and character styles.
Novels are straightforward as they use black ink only and have a simple heading structure. Feature-rich documents, with illustrations, tables, boxes, quotes and multilevel headings, are complex, requiring multiple styles and colour considerations, and it is time consuming to balance the elements on individual pages.
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For all types of document:
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For perfect workflow from Word to InDesign, we add HTML-like 'tags' during editing for different styles and features of the text; these match up with the styles created in InDesign.
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Trims, gutters and bleeds are set according to print-industry standards.
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Any "editorial nasties" that occur (e.g. widows, orphans, bad line breaks, overlong/overshort pages) are fixed during cycles of proofreading and amendment.​
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There is at least one round of author review and feedback of the page (PDF) proofs.
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Front and end matter is created as required (e.g. copyright page, contents, figure lists, author bios, glossaries, appendices, reference lists, indexes). Note that indexes are compiled from the final page proofs.
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For children's illustrated books, we work with authors and artists at an early stage to make sure the narrative aligns with the pictures byi creating a 'story board'; sometimes it is necessary to tweak the text to align better with the image in the space available. ​
COVER DESIGN​​
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We collaborate as closely as required with our clients and author on creative concepts for the cover (images and typography) bearing in mind both the content and the intended audience. We add all other features as required, such as logos, branding, ISBN and/or QR codes and images, descriptive blurb and straplines, pricing details, and publisher and author information.
We produce full-cover wraps for printed documents (front, back and spine). Note that spine widths are only calculated when the final page count and paper weight are known, which involves liaising with the printer.
Throughout the design process, we offer advice on book formats, sizes, paper types, cover materials and binding (e.g. hard or soft back, perfect binding or stapled, matte, gloss or soft-touch cover materials) and are happy to produce non-standard sizes and formats (e.g. A4 size or loose-leaf binders).
​PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL DESIGN & PRINT
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We can provide digital images of the covers in various formats for different purposes, and we can create ​display materials for launches, fairs and festivals, advertising material, social media images, promotional packs for agents and press releases, and author or corporate web copy. Other supporting and branded materials we can provide include advanced information sheets (AIs), business cards, leaflets, posters, display banners, event invitations and a wide range of branded merchandise.
PRINTING AND PUBLICATION
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PDFs created in InDesign can be sent for conventional printing or prepared for digital platforms (e.g. POD and e-books). If you want quick publication, we can simply convert the Word text into e-book by applying the required codes. ​If you choose traditional printing, we will do the 'print-buying' to generate multiple quotes. Then we will liaise with your chosen printer to meet their technical requirements.