PDF《DIY Formatting and Layout》

DIY Formatting and Layout Guidelines Print-ready means that you give us your book PDFs once they'

re final.

You'

ve written, edited and proofread your book, and you'

ve formatted it to look the way you want. Whether you hire someone to help you or format the book on your own, here are some helpful guidelines. Book Block Formatting Guidelines (with some basic instructions for MS Word) You don'

t have to have complicated design software to write your book - there are many basic word processing programs that you can use to create your document. Some common examples are MS Word, Open Office, and Pages. Regardless of where you start, your final result needs to be a PDF where the page size matches your intended trim size. And remember, we are not responsible for errors in formatting, so check your pdf carefully before sending it for printing. Consistency is key When formatting a text on your own, it'

s important to remember that consistency is key. To that end, you should figure out what you want your pages to look like, and then apply the settings to the whole document for margins, tabs, font &

point size, line spacing, etc. Don'

t WYSIWYG WYSIWYG C What You See Is What You Get C is not a good rule of thumb for document formatting. For example: Do not use the space bar to align your text, use the tab key for any indentations (i.e. the beginning of each paragraph). If you want something centered on the page, highlight the text and click on the center tool. Same goes for aligning anything to any part of the page, whether you want everything left, right or centered, use Word'

s formatting tools instead of the space bar. Do not use the Enter key to create a new page. Instead use the Insert Page Break tool to start a new page. Trim size The trim size is size of your final book after it'

s printed. Described as width by height in inches, a standard size is

6 x

9 . For your book to print properly, you need to make sure that your text document is set to match your trim size. Set your trim size by modifying the paper or page size of your document. In MS Word look under Page Setup or Page Layout, choose Paper Size. Change from the default paper size to whatever trim size you'

ve chosen and Apply to Whole Document. Most paperback book trim sizes range from

5 x

8 to

6 x

9 , with various width by height combinations in between. However, you are not limited to preset trim sizes when printing on our book machine, so you can choose any combination of width and height that suits your taste as long as it falls with the min and max requirements dictated by the materials we use. When establishing your trim size, keep in mind that the appropriate trim size for your book does depend upon the number of pages &

your spine width. If you'

re considering a larger format book, check our maximum trim size guidelines to make sure your intended book size can be printed on our book machine. Margins Your margins are the space between your text and the edge of your printed page. In MS Word under Page Setup or Page Layout, you can set the Top-Bottom-Left-Right Margins to your taste. We recommend a minimum of at least .8 on all sides, and some people have margins of up to an inch wide. Tabs Standard tabs are between .25 to .5 . It'

s a good idea to choose your preferred tab size and apply that setting to your whole document. That way any tabs used throughout will be the same size and the document layout will be visually consistent. In MS Word, under Paragraph, you can modify your Tabs settings. Line spacing Single space is discouraged, as it is difficult to read. Double space is wider than necessary, so 1.15 or 1.5 is suggested. In MS Word, under Paragraph, you can modify the settings for Line Spacing. Fonts &