Book cover layout and book binding
Book cover layout and book binding.
Book cover layout and book binding — design to bind. The typefaces and overall style of a cover do not have to match a book’s interior pages. Quite often the cover and interior text of a book are designed by different designers.
Self-publishers can create a beautiful cover with only image(s) and type. But, if you have a highly creative idea in mind, hire an illustrator or a high-end designer who specifically designs covers.
Designers book cover fees could be several hundred dollars, a thousand dollars, or more. Beware of $50 covers!
Different considerations for cover and layout
Designing a book cover layout includes different features, depending on the book binding style. In the next post, we will go over the binding styles and how to create the InDesign set-up for each. Here are some of the things we will go over in greater detail in subsequent blog posts.
Book cover layout is more than design
Set-up and placement for a book cover layout including the ISBN and Barcode, and the retail price. We also will look at the spine width and printer’s templates.
Consider how the book will be bound
We have a soft cover InDesign file set-up, and a hardcover with a cover wrap set-up for printing instead of a material. Expanding on the hardcover, we will also look at the hardcover with cover wrap materials.
Soft cover and hardcover can both manufacture as Wire-O bound books. In addition, there is the standard open Wire-O, the semi-concealing Wire-O, and a Wire-O binding that is concealing.
How about a dust jacket set-up? There are the Standard and French fold dust jacket formats to consider.
QUICK TIPS
- Choose the book printer and finalize the written quote including page count, so that specifications are clear.
- Know the dimensions of the book and the binding style. It is helpful to know the final page count and paper thickness for the spine design too. But the spine width can be adjusted later if necessary.
- The front cover of a soft cover book is almost always the same dimensions as the book’s interior page size.
- The front cover of a hardcover book is always larger than the book’s interior page size, because of the boards used for the hard case. The specific size is not identical across printers.
