Marketing Ideas
Publish THIS Please
A guide to publishing Manuals, Booklets, Books, Directories, Handbooks, Training Material, Reports, Workbooks, Plan Books, Presentations (any project that you want to stay together in a certain order)
The Layout
As you can imagine, unless you do it every day and have professional layout and design tools at your disposal, the process of preparing a publication for print can be daunting. Consistent margins, pagination, inserting illustrations or photos, designing covers, and then preparing a digital file that accurately reflects your painstaking layout are part of the process.
Detailed layout suggestions are beyond the scope of this article (perhaps a future article) but I do have one note of caution regarding Microsoft Word. Although we often print from Word, you must be aware that Word documents reformat when opened on a different computer. What we print may be different than the layout on your computer.
Printing Decisions
If you’ve got a manual or booklet project to be printed, you’ll have a few decisions to make:
- How do you want it bound?
- What kind of paper should you use?
- What size?
- How many pages?
- What are my margins?
We’ll help you come to grips with these decisions. If you have more questions, please don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call (662-680-4332) one of our experts.
Bind It
When you a need a project professionally bound, you’ll have to decide exactly what kind of binding you need. Take a look at some of our most common binding options and their best uses.
Saddle Stitched (staples on the spine)
Saddle stitching is the printing term for stapling (usually 2) on the fold, and is one of the least expensive ways to bind a publication.
Saddle stitching works well for publications that are 80 pages (depending on paper) and under. As page counts go up, books get thicker, the staples don’t hold as well and the books get too stiff.One of the drawbacks to saddle stitching is that books don’t lay flat.
If your book is to be saddle stitched, page counts have to be in 4 page increments or you’ll have blank pages.
Plasticoil
Plasticoil is plastic spiral binding that is one of our favorite options. It gives you a sophisticated look, is available in many colors, books lay flat, it’s durable and relatively inexpensive. We have bound materials up to 2” thick with good results. This is also a very flexible option for
binding in tabs, pocket folders, CD/DVD’s, posters, inserts, and other materials.
Wire Binding
Wire binding has similar characteristics to Plasticoil and is an attractive binding option.
Hidden Wire Binding
Hidden wire binding is more expensive but very classy. It lies flat and is very durable like standard wire binding, but it has a wrap around cover that covers the wire and allows for text on the spine. It makes a nice presentation on a bookshelf.
Corner Staple
One staple generally in the top left corner. A budget option for materials that don’t require a “finished” look. This is particularly useful for a few pages printed on the front side of the paper.
Perfect Binding
Pages are glued on the spine and the cover wraps around the binding edge, like a paperback book. Generally used for thicker books (100 or more pages).
Binders
For projects that require updating, adding or removing material, binders are a good option. The spine and front of the binders can be customized with inserts and binder pockets can be used for CD’s and other items.
However, if you’re light on storage space, binders are bulky and difficult to store.
To minimize page tear out, consider heavier papers and reinforced holes.
Other Binding Methods
In our opinion, GBC and tape binding are not particularly attractive and project a dated image so, although we can produce them, we don’t recommend them.
Paper Weight
A good place to start is intended use. If your project is a throw away intended for one time use, lighter weight (20# bond / 50# offset) papers may be fine. Alternatively, heavy use will require heavier papers, minimum 24# bond / 60# offset for the text and minimum 65# cover for the cover. Laminated covers are a good option for very heavy use.
Gloss vs Uncoated
What is your intended audience or market? Gloss will project an upscale look whereas uncoated can be very nice but generally more utilitarian. Are materials professionally designed? If so, you might want the graphics to “pop” on coated paper. If not, uncoated paper might be the
better option. Color graphics and photos will look better on coated papers. Due to cost considerations, most projects are printed on uncoated paper text with a gloss cover.
As a general rule you’ll want to stick to white (possibly off white) paper.
Size Matters
Common page sizes for booklets are 8 1/2 x 11 or 5 1/2 x 8 1/2. These are generally the most economical sizes because they conform to standard paper sizes and standard production methods.
If you expect your booklet to be carried in a shirt or jeans pocket or purse a practical size might be 4”x 8 1/2” or 3 1/2” x 5 1/2”. Thicker books (more than 100 pages) tend to be stiff in smaller sizes.
Page Counts
Page counts can be a source of miscommunication between you and your printer so it is important to have a common understanding. In printing, pages are counted the same way you would count pages in a book. Of course, paper has two sides so each sheet (or leaf) of paper counts as two pages.
The cover is usually counted separately so a booklet that has 64 pages (32 sheets of paper) and a cover on heavier paper is described as 64 pages + cover. If the cover paper is the same as the inside text it is “self-cover” so the book above would be described as 68 pages self-cover.
Keep It Inside the Lines
A note about margins
As a general rule margins on the binding edge are greater than margins on the other edges. Don’t forget to allow extra space on the binding edge for hole punching and plasticoil or wire binding.