Preparing a black and white book for printing - for beginners

The files for printing the book should be submitted only in PDF format.

The PDF format is the optimal format for carrying any graphic design and publication. Thanks to internal compression and a special structure, PDF has a small file size and ensures that our project will look the same on every computer, which is not standard in the case of other formats.

Before you save your document to PDF

make sure that the rules necessary for the correct printing of the work described below have been followed.

Defining the page of a PDF document

Page area (trimbox): e.g. 297x210 mm
The format of the page we work on must correspond to the format of the book ordered

Margin : 10 - 20 mm
When designing, all important design elements such as text, drawings, etc. should not be closer to the edge of the page than indicated by the margin. For this purpose, it is worth defining a safe margin in the application.

If the inside pages have a printed background that extends to the edge of the page

Page bleed : 2 mm - 3 mm
In the PDF format, known as the bleedbox, it is the background of the page that should protrude beyond the page size by 2-3 mm. The bleed of the page during bookbinding is trimmed, which allows to exclude the occurrence of white edges on the edges of the pages. If there is no bleed in the PDF document containing the printed background, the printing house reserves the right to reduce the book size by a few millimeters in order to avoid white edges.

Book spine

If there is no information printed on the spine and it has the background color of the cover (e.g. white), you do not need to perform any additional steps. Just place the cover pages in the PDF document with the center pages in the correct page order.

If the spine contains text or a color other than the cover , its width should be prepared according to the number of pages. Information on the correct spine width is displayed in the book calculator after all its parameters have been entered.

In this case, only the spine must be provided in a separate PDF document or the entire cover must be assembled according to the cover model taken from our calculator (first and last page with the spine in the middle).


Export / save the finished work to PDF

Each graphic program and text editor have the ability to save / export the project to PDF. When selecting the export / save to PDF option, the option to select advanced settings appears.

In graphic programs, there are usually predefined settings for exporting to PDF, in this case we choose according to availability:

  • PDF / X-4: 2008
  • PDF / X-3: 2002
  • PDF / X-1a: 2001
  • printing quality

The pictures opposite show how to export from popular programs.

Loading of ready-made designs for printing

Loading PDF designs is available only to logged in users. You can only upload the file to a previously saved valuation or to an order already placed. If you don't have any work saved in your account, uploading is not available.

To load a PDF project

  • after placing an order , click the "my orders" button, then find the order in the list of orders and click "upload".
  • before placing the order , during the quote, while being logged in, click "save the quote", enter your own order name and confirm.
    Click "my account"> "saved valuations" in the upper right corner and click "upload" in the list of valuations.

After uploading the PDF

the document should be marked as a set in case a complete document including a cover and center is loaded, or as a cover / center in case two separate documents are loaded. Marking documents is necessary to start the preview creation procedure.

After marking the uploaded files, you will receive an e-mail with a preview link with superimposed lines:

  • red-gray is the cutting area (trimbox) corresponds to the format of the finished product
  • gray-and-white is the bleedbox - the page background must reach here
  • green and white is the recommended margin for text and important objects (artbox)

When the previews are valid

Click the "start production" button under the preview link. The printing house will proceed with the order if it has already been paid.

When previews are invalid

You can delete the loaded file and then reload the corrected project.

Popular mistakes in PDF documents

  • document format different from the format of the ordered product
  • page orientation other than the ordered product
  • poorly defined page fields of a PDF document
  • no bleed
  • the text on the bend
  • text right on the edge of the cut

How to prepare a PDF document for printing from Microsoft Publisher

PDF export from Publisher
We choose export, then create a PDF file.

Export a book to PDF from Microsoft Publisher
Choose the save path and enter your name, then click on OPTIONS.

Export a book to PDF from Microsoft Publisher for printing at a print shop
In the options, set "Commercial press", click OK and then save the document.

The method of preparing a PDF document for printing from Microsoft Word

Book export to PDF from Microsoft Word for printing at a printing house
Before we start exporting, we need to set preferences. To do this, select preferences from the Acrobat menu.

Book export to PDF from Microsoft Word for printing at a printing house
In the PDFMaker settings, select "PDF / X-3: 2002", if it is available, select "printing quality" and press "OK"

Book export to PDF from Microsoft Word for printing at a printing house
Then choose "create PDF file"

Book export to PDF from Microsoft Word for printing at a printing house
We choose the save path and enter the name of the document, then save.

Due to the fact that Microsoft Word does not support the CMYK design mode, we do not recommend this program for composing color works.

The method of preparing a PDF document for printing from the Open Office program

Save a book to PDF from Open Office for printing at a printing houseSave a book to PDF from Open Office for printing at a printing house

PDF page fields

Adobe Acrobat allows you to check that the page fields of a PDF document are defined correctly.

Defining page fields in Adobe Acrobat





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