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Document Services
Document Services
Creating electronic files for print extends beyond any creative ability and can quickly become a technical minefield. Without the correct set up for the required print and finishing processes, a supplied file can incur significant alteration costs and need time consuming re-working to get it to the point that it is ready to print.
Begin with a clear understanding of the requirements for your document and plan ahead to provide the correct set up.
Printers refer to pages as the total sides of each sheet of paper. This is known as pp - printed pages. Print documents work in multiples of 4 pages, ie front and back of a sheet to produce 4 pages once folded. For a final document to be physically printed it must be created with a page count divisible by 4. As an example, if an additional single page is required to a 16 page project, the final document will need to be 20 pages total, not 17 printed pages.
The printed page size for your final document is not the same as the actual required page size for printing, if your document has bleed. Bleed is the term used to describe any printed object that is intended to run to the edge of the page. To achieve this effect the document must be set up on a larger sheet featuring at least 3mm of bleed, which is then trimmed back to the final page size. Without this bleed area included the only option available to the printer is to scale up the entire page to create bleed, which will often adversely effect the intended page design and possibly cut specific content that was too close to the edge.
Always check your initial document page size and choose the correct format. If producing pages within Microsoft Word or other non-layout specific software, be aware of the default page size (usually US Letter) which can be incorrect for the standard page sizes used in Australia. Word is not able to set up a document with bleed, so you will need to either set your content with the ability to scale the entire page, or produce a design without any objects near the page edge.
Professional layout software (QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign) will allow the creation of any page size for your document and provide a pasteboard area that facilitates bleed for the document.
Crop (or trim) marks are guides indicating the final page size, which sits within the full printed area of a document featuring bleed. These marks are used to guillotine the printed page back to the final finished size. Crop marks are required on a document, otherwise additional set up costs will likely be incurred. If using software not specifically created for page layout, you will need to manually add these marks on an oversized page.
For a typical A4 finished document size a minimum of 10mm clear space is required from the edge of the page. However, a good page format will generally require 20-25mm of space, which creates a better visual balance by reducing the crammed effect of totally filling the page. Using white space for both required margins and layout harmony is a good start to achieving a strong design.
Allow at least 15mm on any binding edge so that page items dont disappear into the spine of the book, or are affected if hole punching is required. Remember that the binding edge alternates between each page ie, left and right.
When saddle stitched (stapled) pages in a multi-paged document are folded, the centre pages protrude further than the outer pages and are effectively narrower in width. This is known as creep and could affect any content close to the spine or to the outer edge, which will be guillotined to create the finished document. To avoid any potential problems use sizable page margins, as described above.
(Image for creep <CREEP.jpg>)
For any perfect bound document featuring a flat spine, a wraparound cover with width added for the spine is required as a separate document. The spine width is determined by the number of pages and the weight of the stock they are printed on. For example, a document of 80 pages on a standard 100gsm stock would require a 5mm spine. It is best to plan the spine art as a continuation of either the front or back cover, which then allows the ability to place any join correctly on an edge. For a spine featuring text that is desired to be centrally located, these items must be placed exactly central on the correct spine width, otherwise alignment issues will arise.
