Making Book Design Awesome
Choosing the right book typesetting services is crucial to the success of publication. Typesetting is the process of organizing and formatting text and images to create a print-ready file. A professionally typeset book will have a clean, stylish, and easy-to-read layout that makes a great first impression on readers.
Most people don’t realize that there is more to book design than just choosing a font and slapping some text on a page. In fact, book design is a complex and multi-faceted process that takes into account everything from the size and shape of the pages to the blank spaces between paragraphs.
We will also advise you on the best way to format a book for printing and will ensure that book meets all the necessary industry standards.
Global Digital DTP will have a team of experienced and qualified typesetters who will take the raw manuscript and turn it into a beautiful and eye-catching book.
Book Typesetting Services: What You Must Know
What is a typesetter?
A typesetter is a professional who formats your book’s text and images to create a print-ready file. A typesetter will take your manuscript and images and turn them into a beautifully designed book that is ready for publication.
What is book typesetting?
Book typesetting is the process of organizing and formatting the text on a page so that it is easy to read. This includes choosing the right font, adjusting the spacing between words and lines, and adding sluglines, running heads, and other design elements. A typesetter will also ensure that your pages are of a consistent size and shape, and that they are printed correctly. They will also make sure that your book meets all the necessary industry standards.
How do typeset books?
If you’re ready to get started with typesetting, then the first thing you need to do is find a reputable agency that can meet your needs. Once you’ve found an agency you are happy with, the next step is to send them your manuscript.
Before you do this, you should take the time to format your manuscript correctly. This means ensuring that it is correctly formatted and that all the necessary elements are included. Once you’ve done this, you can then send your manuscript and images to the typesetting.
Once you have submitted your files, the typesetter will begin working on your book. You may be able to request revisions during the typesetting process. Once the typesetter has finished your book, they will send you a print-ready file that you can submit to a printer.
How much does book typesetting cost?
The cost of book typesetting services can vary depending on the provider, the type of book you are publishing and the level of service you need. Basic text formatting can start at around $100, while more complex design work can cost several thousand dollars.
What Services We Offer
Book typesetting services can include everything from basic text formatting to more complex design work. Here are some of the most common typesetting services:
- Basic text formatting: This type of service includes basic text formatting, such as setting margins, choosing font styles and sizes, and adding chapter headers and page numbers, many more.
- Design and layout work: This type of service includes more complex design work, such as creating custom designs, layouts, and book covers.
- Proofreading: We also offer proofreading and copyediting services to ensure that your book is free of errors.
Book Typesetting Prepping
Your illustrations and manuscript are finished. Now you need help pulling it all together and prepping your files for publishing. Our planning service starts with an email or phone call to go over your book publishing strategy. We’ll go over questions like:
- Page details: Based on where you plan to print, your final book design may need to follow specific requirements. Page size and page count are some details that you’ll need to know the way in advance of illustrating.
- Illustration details: We will share the exact page sizes and technical specs for your illustrator to follow. Details like page bleed, margins, and gutter margins are important for your illustrator to know to avoid delays in your project. After your illustrations are complete, we would love to work with you on the final book design.
After our call, we will create a page for you. Whether you have already worked with an editor or you have a rough manuscript, we will help you plan the pages to effectively arrange your text. Authors often forget to include elements like the Title page, Copyright, Preface, Dedication, About the Author and Illustrator, and Activity pages. If you require a specific page count, it is important to plan ALL of these sections in advance.
How We Work at Global Digital DTP
STEP 1: STARTING BOOK TYPESETTING
To start your project, please fill out our interior book design order form. After we receive your form, we’ll send you:
- An email with the remaining questions
- An option to schedule a phone or video call or email to discuss your project
- A 50% deposit invoice to officially start the design process
STEP 2: SAMPLE DESIGNS
We will work in Adobe InDesign to design your book. You’ll receive 2 sample designs of a few pages to choose fonts and overall styling. Based on your feedback, we’ll either revise or continue with the full book. Sample designs typically take 5-7 business days.
STEP 3: BOOK TYPESETTING
After you approve the sample designs, we typeset your book that has creative designs, eye-catching layouts, and well pagination. We compose your book according to international typesetting standards. After that, we send you a PDF proof of the entire book. The full design typically takes 5-10 business days, depending on your book’s length and complexity. You will have a chance to review and request changes.
STEP 4: PROOFREADING
Need a proofreader? We can provide post-layout proofreading at an additional charge. Ask us for a quote. (In these instances, we do not charge design revision costs.)
- You will likely work with a proofreader to catch last minute typos and changes. Our projects include up to 50 change requests (sentence or paragraph). We will send you the changes sheet to ensure that we understand your requests.
- Additional text changes (or design changes that heavily alter the book flow) are available at some fees per hour (pre-quoted and pre-discussed). We won’t charge extra unless the revision work goes way beyond the original scope.
STEP 5: RUN PREFLIGHT
Preflight is the final step in the printing process where the design file is validated for correctness.
- We ensure that the file resolution is 300 DPI or more.
- We ensure that all images are at least 300dpi (to avoid pixelation).
- We ensure that all images are in CMYK (unless otherwise intended).
- We work with CMYK and/or Pantone color swatches for optimal outcomes.
- We use spot colors, metallics, and other special colors if specified when using an offset printing press to handle these special colors.
- We export the entire file as a high-resolution image (300 dpi or higher. Formats supported include .tiff, .jpeg, etc).
- Margins – We ensure that important elements like text stay within the specified margins and don’t come too close to the edge to mitigate the possibility of them getting cut off.
- Bleed – If an artwork goes all the way to the edge of the page, we extend it past the artboard to prevent a white border from appearing when trimmed to size.
- Crop Marks – We provide crop marks to some printers as a guide to where to trim the paper to the finalized size.
STEP 6: FINAL FILE
Once your book typesetting and design are fully approved, we’ll send you the final, print-ready PDF. This file will match your printer’s specifications and will be ready for uploading.
- With the delivery of the final files, we’ll request the 50% remaining payment.
- Would you like to keep the source InDesign files? This option is available for a fee. This fee allows our designers to clean and package the design files for you. (Please note that due to licensing rules, in some instances we cannot share fonts or stock images.)
Benefits of Using Typesetting Services
There are many benefits to using a typesetting service for your next book.
- The most obvious benefit is that it will make your book look more professional. A professionally typeset book will be far more eye-catching than one that has been put together using a basic word processing program.
- A typesetting service will also save you a lot of time and hassle. Trying to format your book yourself can be a very time-consuming and frustrating process, especially if you are not familiar with the software.
- Another benefit of using a typesetting service is that it will give you peace of mind knowing that your book is in good hands. Typesetting is a complex and technical process, so it is best to leave it to the professionals.
- Finally, using a typesetting service will help you to avoid any potential printing problems. A typesetter will make sure that your pages are of a consistent size and shape and that they are printed correctly. This will help to ensure that your book typesetting service is produced to a high standard.
We Are a Reputable Book Typesetting Agency
If you are looking for a reputable typesetting service, then there are a few things you should look for.
- make sure that the agency you are considering is experienced and qualified. The best way to do this is to ask to see some samples of their work. This is a great way to get an idea of what other people have thought of the agency’s services.
- make sure that the agency you are considering is able to meet all your specific requirements. Every
book typesetting service is different, so you will need to make sure that the typesetting service you use is able to cater to your specific needs.