Printed endpapers or book endsheets
Printed endpapers or book endsheets.
Printed endpapers or book endsheets, glue to the inside front and back cover of a hard case book.
If they do not print, endpapers will remain the color of the paper. Uncoated stock or Woodfree stock is standard for endpapers, but they can also print on coated stock or specialty paper. There are more ideas on the options gallery at Star Print Brokers.
Endpapers: POD books
POD hardcover books often are not bound in the same way as traditional book printing and binding. The endsheet of a print-on-demand book may be one page wide.
Endpapers: Books printing on press
Professionally bound books printing on press have endpapers that are twice the width of a text page. One or both sides of the endsheet may print, or they may be blank. If blank, no InDesign file or PDF is required.
Endpapers are a fine and relatively inexpensive enhancement. They add an elegant finishing touch to hardcover books. The right color or design can help to make the book unique and especially attractive.
A specialty paper stock, foil stamp, or blind embossing can also add interest and style.
The endpaper layout set-up
Page 1. Glued to inside of front cover (blank)
Page 2. Inside front cover (left page on spread)
Page 3. Facing page (right page on spread)
Page 4. (Pink) page facing the text block
The text block is between the front and back endpapers
(pink and gray in diagram).
Page 5. (Gray) page facing the text block
Page 6. Facing back cover (left page on spread)
Page 7. Inside back cover (right page on spread)
Page 8. Glued to inside of back cover (blank)
Presenting the final PDF in this manner eliminates any source of confusion for the printer regarding pagination of endpapers.
Confused? …
The InDesign set-up often causes confusion. Just remember, the endpaper art should be in a separate file from the interior text. While simple one-color endsheets are easy to designate with just a 4C callout or a PMS code, this is a foolproof way to present the endsheets file no matter how complicated the content might be.
Create an 8-page file like the image above. When making the PDF, add all printer’s marks including trim marks. Also add a 3 mm or 0.125 inch bleed if necessary, and color bars.Lay out the eight pages with page 1 as a right-hand page. The diagram on the opposite page shows the ends before the text in pink. The endpapers after the text are gray in the diagram.
Pages 4 and 5 split so that pages 1, 2, 3, and 4 are in the front of the book. Pages 5, 6, 7, and 8 are in the back of the book.
The InDesign file set-up
Open a new document. Endpapers should not be in the text file.
- Go to File > New > Document.
- Number of Pages: 8. Check Facing Pages box.
- The Width and Height should be the same page dimensions as the book’s text page size.
- Click the bleed and slug down arrow. If the endpapers bleed, set
- Top, Bottom, Inside, and Outside Bleed to 0.125 in or 3 mm. If there is no bleed, set Top, Bottom, Inside, and Outside Bleed to 0 in or 0 mm.
The printer needs PDFs to print from, not InDesign files. Make the PDF for endpapers or text pages using Adobe Acrobat ® with the “Export as” radio button for “Pages” checked. See Chapter 8 Printing on Press.
Also see gusset and pocket endpaper options.
