Create a book using InDesign for interior pages

Create a book using InDesign for interior pages.

Create a book using InDesign for interior pages, including parent pages and set-ups.

Simplicity is best. Prune words if you are the author. Prune the design if you are the book designer. There is a common tendency to over design. Make it a practice to get away from the design for a few hours or overnight and come back to it with a fresh view. Remove the unnecessary.

Unless stated otherwise, the instructions are for books printing on offset press, in signatures, with Star Print Brokers.

QUICK TIPS

• Create a book. Add a Front Matter document, a Chapter 1 document, and if needed, a Back Matter document.
• Read provider documentation before laying out the book.
• If any page bleeds, have all pages set to bleed. Add 0.125 inch or 3-millimeter to document set-up bleed setting.
• Design a parent page with a basic page layout. Add page numbering and headers or footers as applicable.
• Select typography, creating text and headlines in Paragraph Styles.
• Select CMYK process color palette, not spot color. Use Pantone Color Bridge Coated, or in Photoshop, select color with eyedropper tool from an image already converted to CMYK.
• Images need to be CMYK, at 300 ppi or greater, and at the size they will be when printed or larger. It is best to use TIFs or JPGs. However, JPGs can lose resolution. Do not use PNGs as they are for web pages.
• Work in 2-page spreads, adding a spread, or deleting two adjacent pages. Adjust any page discrepancy at the end of a chapter.
• Self-publishers need to buy an ISBN and EAN Bookland barcode once you know the retail price. Bookstores prefer barcodes with the price. A barcode without a price might not be accepted.
• Do not be married to the design. Synchronize parents to change styles globally.