BUILD•YOUR•BOOK

Basic Book Design

Type & Typography

Parts of a Book

From Ms to Book

Walton Mendelson
One-Off Press
Prescott, AZ
2009
 Copyright © 2009 Walton Mendelson
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
You have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to
access, read and print the text of this e-book for personal use only.
No part of this book may be stored, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means
except for your own personal use
without the express written permission of One-Off Press:
[email protected]

For book design, art, and more: www.12on14.com

Downloading, saving, or opening this document signifies your understanding and assent to these terms.
 Basic Book Design
This guide is aimed at the self-publishing author who is using print-on-demand printers such as
CreateSpace, Lulu, etc. Your design task is easier than it would be with lithographic book publish-
ers—who build books in signatures of 16, 32, or 64 pages, and who might accommodate the design
process by adding a sheet consisting of 4 pages—because you can add or subtract two pages at a
time. Here is how to start.

Software

I assume you are are not going to learn a new, desk top publishing application like Scribus (free),
let alone, buy Adobe’s InDesign, to make one book. If you have Word or Open Office, Word Per-
fect or Works, you can convert your manuscript into a book. Every application is different, but the
concepts are the same. Desktop publishing software creates pages with more typographical control
than a word processor, and easily export to PDF, but you need to consider the learning curve. For
the purposes of this guide, it doesn’t matter what application you are using.

Readability, Aesthetics, Size and Cost

Throughout the design process, your overarching concern is a balancing act, which too often
involve things that are mutually exclusive. You want your book to be
• easily readable with minimal eye fatigue;
• aesthetically pleasing and appropriate for your book.
To simplify this, you want larger type and good size and practical margins—if the inside margin is
too small, it is hard to read as the lines disappear into the gutter. Working against this is:
• the bigger the book, the more it costs.
Assume that your manuscript is 60,000 words, and you are going to design a 6" X 9" book:
Type Margins Words Lines Total Cost @
Inner Outer Top Bottom /Page /Page Pages .012/pg.
Courier (ms.)
12/24* 1.25" 1.00" 1.00" 1.50" 184 23 326
Times New Roman
14/16 0.75" 1.00" 1.00" 1.25" 239 30 251 $3.12
12/14 0.75" 1.00" 1.00" 1.25" 317 35 190 $2.28
11/12 0.75" 1.00" 1.00" 1.25" 393 40 153 $1.84
10/12 0.75" 1.00" 1.00" 1.25" 442 41 136 $1.63
10/12 0.50" 0.50" 0.625 0.625" 584 47 102 $1.22
* The first number is the type size and the second number is the leading. Therefore 12/14 (read “12 on 14”) means 12 point type with 2 point leading.
Getting Started
Most books are set in serif fonts, which are easier to read. Display and sans serif fonts are typi-
cally reserved for headings, titles, etc. The actual number of pages listed above will vary depending
on how much dialogue you have, the style of chapter openings, etc.

3
Courier 12/24, 184 words/page Times 14/16, 239 words/page Times 12/14, 317 words/page
on 8½" x 11" paper

Times 11/12, 393 words/page Times 10/12, 442 words/page Times 10/12, 584 words/page

With these trade-offs in mind, you will begin to work out a design and determine the size of
your book. The next few steps don’t necessarily occur in any particular sequence, and may be done
concurrently: 1) look at other books; 2) create a design file for playing with type and margins (the
ideal design); 3) create a working file into which you will insert your manuscript.
There is no perfect, one-size fits all, book design layout. The look of the page should reflect the
subject matter and be aimed at your ideal audience. The next section of this PDF introduces some
basic typographic concepts.

4
 Look at books you like. There is no better way to see how things work than to look at how other
people have solved their design problems. Pick one you like as a model. Note: Many print-on-
demand printers have minimum margins. Particularly, inner margins that 1) must be adhered to;
and 2) are considerably larger than most books.
Create a design file to the trim size of your book, I’ve used 6" x 9" in these examples. Measure
the margins of the model book, and set them in this document. Then count the number of lines on
a typical page;
Lines per page vary because most designers try to avoid widows—the last line of a paragraph that
starts a new page—and at the same time keeping each page of a spread the same length. This is done
by adjusting the letter and word spacing—to add a line or remove a line of type—but sometimes
that leads to other widows. This is puzzle solving: every change effects what is downstream, and
you often find a page that needs going back and forth until it fits. A last resort is to remove or add
a line or two to facing pages.
this will be your guide to matching the type specification of your model (designers use a type gage,
which is placed over a block of type). Paste in 500-600 nonsense words,
Commonly called Lorem ipsum, this is miscellaneous Latin words that give a word length distri-
bution similar to English text. Unlike using the actual text of your manuscript, which can be dis-
tracting, Lorem ipsum lets the designer concentrate on the appearance of the text. You can get any
length Lorem ipsum free from www.lipsum.com.
which you can then adjust, to get the same number of lines. If you only have a few fonts, like the
ones that come with Window, you might want to look on line for type. Adobe, Linotype, Mono-
type, to name three, make spectacular and full type fonts; although they can be expensive, most
companies have specials. There are also thousands of very good free-ware fonts. These can be as
good as the top end fonts, but usually they do not come as full families (Roman, italic, in semibold,
bold etc.).
When you get a block you like, add headers and chapter openings. After you’ve tweaked them to
what you like, you have a good place to start your book.
Of course you could meld this step into the next one, but having this step doesn’t add much time
and makes design easier.
Create a working file. Create a file that is set to what you think you want: trim and margins.
Mark the first six or so pages for the front matter, for example: “[Half Title],” “[Facing Title Blank],”
“Title],” “[Copyright],” “[Dedication].” “[Facing Chapter Blank],” and whatever additional pages
your particular book will have. Each of these pages could include a page break. Insert your manu-
script. Select all of your text and apply a type face, size, and leading. If you have worked out the
chapter openings, apply the formatting.
You now know, give or take a few pages, the length of your book. If you want it shorter or longer,
you can change the font, adjust the type size and leading, adjust the margins.
For a nice looking book:
• Go through your book looking for widows (a line ending a paragraph at the top of a page—I left
a widow at the top of this page—and remove them). Remove them by compressing or expand-
ing type a little bit to add or remove lines.
• Look for and correct rivers: a streak, river, of white space running down through several lines
of type. Adjust the word spacing.
• Make sure all type/spacing effects are identical: e.g. chapter headings, block quotes, etc.
• Chapter endings that are only a line or two should be avoided.

5
 Check List
Margins: Top: ______, Bottom ______, Outer _____, Inner _____

Title of Chapter: Spacing above_____, spacing to text _____, Type ____________, size ____
Initial: drop cap _____, stick-up _____
First phrase: letter spaced caps_____, small caps _____
Running titles: Verso (left) content_____________________ , type _________, size ____
Recto (right) content____________________, type _________, size ____

Folios: Front matter:_________________________________________________

Text:
Back matter:

Main Text: Type face__________, size ____, leading ____, paragraph indent____

Secondary text: Type face __________, size ____, leading ____, indent ____

Lists: number _____, indent ____, misc ____

Tables: _________________________________________________________________

Poems: Title: type _________, size ____, alignment _______________

Poem: type ________, size ____, leading ____, alignment/indent_________

Footnotes: Symbols ___________________________________________________

Type size:_____, leading _____
Endnotes: type size _____, leading _____, indent___________

Glossary

Bibliography

Legends & Captions

Index

6
Type & Typography

A B C DE F GHI
ZYXW

MLKJ
A
rt is the elegant display
of the structure of things. We can only
speak of art in poetic terms, when lan-
guage is art. It is experience—a moment of com-
munion. How easy to strip it bare with a few care-
less words. Like words cast in anger, they ripple
against what we love forever. The mystery of a
thing is often quite simple. — Otto Roeper

V U TSR Q P O N

7
 Type and Typography
Faced with the veritable demise of handset type, Hermann Zapf, the creator of Aldus,
Optima, and Palatino, was asked what the craftsman-typesetter would do. Zapf said the
he would keep a composing rule and type, and at lunch he would set a beautiful line of
type.
Setting type is a craft. However, with your computer you have the ability to exceed what
most computer and photo typesetters could do in the 1980’s. Can you typeset a book in
Word, for example, and save it as a PDF? Yes, but with some trouble: Word, and similar
word processing programs can do the near miraculous, but Word has a habit of re-pag-
inating and large documents can vary considerable. Once you convert your file to PDF
format it is stable—although sometimes you might have to do this several times before it
is right—and most printers can print from PDFs.
Programs like InDesign offer virtually unlimited control over type, but Word, for ex-
ample, gives you the ability to set professional looking pages—to expand or contract letter
and word spacing (Format> Font>Character Spacing), drop caps (Format>Drop Cap),
and paragraph formatting, mirrored page margins (Page Setup>Margins), etc.

8
Type styles and Letter Spacing: The parts of a glyph have names, the most important distinc-
tions are between serif and sans serif, roman and italic. Normal letter spacing is subtly adjusted to
avoid typographical problems, such as widows, orphans, and rivers; open, touching, or expanded
are most often used in display matter.
9
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Regular
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Bold Condensed

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Bold Condensed Italic
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Italic
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Medium
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Medium Italic
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Semibold
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] Semibold Italic

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Bold
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Bold Italic
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

Styles of type: Each family of type (these font examples are all members of Minion Pro), can
have variations ranging from light condensed to extra bold extended. Not all fonts have all pos-
sible characters, and not all families have all possible fonts.

10
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Old Style
Century Old Style
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz rugged, unsymmetric,
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] good readability

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Transitional
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Requiem
Midway between old
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] style and modern

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Modern
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Bodoni
“mechanically perfect,”
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] delicate hairlines

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Square Serif (Egyptian)

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Chaparal
straight serifs and rela-
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] tively even strokes

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Sans Serif

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Arial
no serifs
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Script
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz English Script
resembles script and
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] letters connect

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Cursive
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Alison
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] formal, calligraphic
letters do not connect

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Text
Old London
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz called gothic or old
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] English, or black letter

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Decorative
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Berhnard Fashion
also novelty, a catchall
1234567890 .,/!&%$( )[ ] classification
Classification of Type Faces: There are eight classes of type: old style, transitional, modern,
square serif, sans serif, cursive and scrips, text letters, and decorative types.

11
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Typewriter
Courier
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz monospaced, square
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] serif

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Open or Outline

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Grenoble Outline
can be serif or non serif
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Stylized Sans Serif

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Optima
graceful variations in
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ] the strokes

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Handwriting—printing
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Feltpen
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Handwriting—cursive
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Zephy
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Brush
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Painty paint
1234567890

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Foreign—Greek
Marathon
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Foreign—Arab
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Arab Dances
1234567890 .,/!&%$#( )[ ]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Cartoon
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Smartie Caps
1234567890 .,!( )

Variations: There are too many variations within the major classifications to even touch on the
possibilities, but we are showing some groupings: typewriter, open or outline, stylish variations
on sans serif, handwriting—printed, handwriting—cursive, brush, foreign—Greek, foreign—Ar-
ab, cartoon.
12
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam arcu ipsum, com- Unjustified (flush left,
modo a, posuere at, tristique in, velit. Nam porta magna sit amet magna. Nulla ragged right)
accumsan arcu ac turpis. Pellentesque gravida pede eu purus. Aliquam facilisis
faucibus pede. Ut varius nibh auctor pede. Nullam condimentum diam sed diam.
Class aptent.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam arcu ipsum, com- Unjustified (flush right,
modo a, posuere at, tristique in, velit. Nam porta magna sit amet magna. Nulla ragged left)
accumsan arcu ac turpis. Pellentesque gravida pede eu purus. Aliquam facilisis
faucibus pede. Ut varius nibh auctor pede. Nullam condimentum diam sed diam.
Class aptent.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam arcu ipsum, com- Centered
modo a, posuere at, tristique in, velit. Nam porta magna sit amet magna. Nulla
accumsan arcu ac turpis. Pellentesque gravida pede eu purus. Aliquam facilisis
faucibus pede. Ut varius nibh auctor pede. Nullam condimentum diam sed diam.
Class aptent.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam arcu ipsum, Asymmetrical
commodo a, posuere at, tristique in, velit. Nam porta magna sit amet magna.
Nulla accumsan arcu ac turpis. Pellentesque gravida pede eu purus.
Aliquam facilisis faucibus pede. Ut varius nibh auctor pede.
Nullam condimentum diam sed diam. Class aptent.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam arcu ipsum, com- Justified
modo a, posuere at, tristique in, velit. Nam porta magna sit amet magna. Nulla
accumsan arcu ac turpis. Pellentesque gravida pede eu purus. Aliquam facilisis fau-
cibus pede. Ut varius nibh auctor pede. Nullam condimentum diam sed diam. Class
aptent.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nam arcu ipsum, commodo Justified
a, posuere at, tristique in, velit. Nam porta magna sit amet magna. Nulla accumsan No hyphenation
arcu ac turpis. Pellentesque gravida pede eu purus. Aliquam facilisis faucibus pede.
Ut varius nibh auctor pede. Nullam condimentum diam sed diam. Class aptent.

Margins: Type can be arranged in five ways between the vertical margins: 1) unjustified—flush
left, ragged right; 2) unjustified—flush right, ragged left; 3) centered; 4) asymmetrical; 5) justi-
fied; and 6) justified with no hyphenation.

13
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Proin accumsan facilisis velit.
Praesent vitae arcu. Quisque nec sapien nec leo consequat luctus. Cras tincidunt. Proin
imperdiet. Sed viverra ultricies nisi. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis par-
turient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec non erat. Nam arcu lorem, vestibulum Century
eget, porttitor eget, pharetra quis, nunc. Curabitur a risus nec augue interdum eleif- 10/10
end. Aliquam at risus. Ut at lorem. Aliquam lacinia, augue sed consectetuer venenatis,
ipsum turpis faucibus ipsum, vitae imperdiet turpis lorem in orci. Vivamus a justo sit
amet elit rhoncus porttitor. Suspendisse sed nulla id augue mollis rutrum. Curabitur
risus massa, auctor in, blandit vel, consectetuer ut, sapien. Sed dui enim, commodo et,
hendrerit quis, blandit eu, pede. Ut viverra cursus velit. Curabitur justo justo, tempor
in, ullamcorper at, facilisis nec, erat. Vivamus quis orci a neque pulvinar blandit.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Proin accumsan facilisis velit.
Praesent vitae arcu. Quisque nec sapien nec leo consequat luctus. Cras tincidunt. Proin
imperdiet. Sed viverra ultricies nisi. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis par-
Century
turient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec non erat. Nam arcu lorem, vestibulum
eget, porttitor eget, pharetra quis, nunc. Curabitur a risus nec augue interdum eleif- 10/12
end. Aliquam at risus. Ut at lorem. Aliquam lacinia, augue sed consectetuer venenatis,
ipsum turpis faucibus ipsum, vitae imperdiet turpis lorem in orci. Vivamus a justo sit
amet elit rhoncus porttitor. Suspendisse sed nulla id augue mollis rutrum. Curabitur
risus massa, auctor in, blandit vel, consectetuer ut, sapien. Sed dui enim, commodo et,
hendrerit quis, blandit eu, pede. Ut viverra cursus velit. Curabitur justo justo, tempor
in, ullamcorper at, facilisis nec, erat. Vivamus quis orci a neque pulvinar blandit.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Proin accumsan facilisis velit.
Praesent vitae arcu. Quisque nec sapien nec leo consequat luctus. Cras tincidunt. Proin
imperdiet. Sed viverra ultricies nisi. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis par- Century
turient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec non erat. Nam arcu lorem, vestibulum 10/14
eget, porttitor eget, pharetra quis, nunc. Curabitur a risus nec augue interdum eleif-
end. Aliquam at risus. Ut at lorem. Aliquam lacinia, augue sed consectetuer venenatis,
ipsum turpis faucibus ipsum, vitae imperdiet turpis lorem in orci. Vivamus a justo sit
amet elit rhoncus porttitor. Suspendisse sed nulla id augue mollis rutrum. Curabitur
risus massa, auctor in, blandit vel, consectetuer ut, sapien. Sed dui enim, commodo et,
hendrerit quis, blandit eu, pede. Ut viverra cursus velit. Curabitur justo justo, tempor
in, ullamcorper at, facilisis nec, erat. Vivamus quis orci a neque pulvinar blandit.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Proin accumsan facilisis velit.
Praesent vitae arcu. Quisque nec sapien nec leo consequat luctus. Cras tincidunt. Proin
imperdiet. Sed viverra ultricies nisi. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis par- Centrury
turient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec non erat. Nam arcu lorem, vestibulum
10/16
eget, porttitor eget, pharetra quis, nunc. Curabitur a risus nec augue interdum eleif-
end. Aliquam at risus. Ut at lorem. Aliquam lacinia, augue sed consectetuer venenatis,
ipsum turpis faucibus ipsum, vitae imperdiet turpis lorem in orci. Vivamus a justo sit
amet elit rhoncus porttitor. Suspendisse sed nulla id augue mollis rutrum. Curabitur
risus massa, auctor in, blandit vel, consectetuer ut, sapien. Sed dui enim, commodo et,
hendrerit quis, blandit eu, pede. Ut viverra cursus velit. Curabitur justo justo, tempor
in, ullamcorper at, facilisis nec, erat. Vivamus quis orci a neque pulvinar blandit.

Leading: Line spacing. Pronounced “ledding.” “10/10 is read “10 on 10.” It comes from the
strips of led inserted between lines of handset type. 10/10 has no leading; 10/12 has 2 points of
lead, etc. Here the same amount of copy, all set in 10 point type, is shown solid (no leading) to 6
points of leading. Readability increases as the expense of how many words would fit on a page.
14
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Proin accumsan facilisis velit.
Praesent vitae arcu. Quisque nec sapien nec leo consequat luctus. Cras tincidunt. Proin
imperdiet. Sed viverra ultricies nisi. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis par- Century
turient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec non erat. Nam arcu lorem, vestibulum 10/12
eget, porttitor eget, pharetra quis, nunc. Curabitur a risus nec augue interdum eleif-
end. Aliquam at risus. Ut at lorem. Aliquam lacinia, augue sed consectetuer venenatis,
ipsum turpis faucibus ipsum, vitae imperdiet turpis lorem in orci. Vivamus a justo sit
amet elit rhoncus porttitor. Suspendisse sed nulla id augue mollis rutrum. Curabitur
risus massa, auctor in, blandit vel, consectetuer ut, sapien. Sed dui enim, commodo et,
hendrerit quis, blandit eu, pede. Ut viverra cursus velit. Curabitur justo justo, tempor
in, ullamcorper at, facilisis nec, erat. Vivamus quis orci a neque pulvinar blandit.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Proin accumsan facilisis velit.
Praesent vitae arcu. Quisque nec sapien nec leo consequat luctus. Cras tincidunt. Proin im-
perdiet. Sed viverra ultricies nisi. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient Book Antiqua
montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec non erat. Nam arcu lorem, vestibulum eget, port- 10/12
titor eget, pharetra quis, nunc. Curabitur a risus nec augue interdum eleifend. Aliquam at
risus. Ut at lorem. Aliquam lacinia, augue sed consectetuer venenatis, ipsum turpis fau-
cibus ipsum, vitae imperdiet turpis lorem in orci. Vivamus a justo sit amet elit rhoncus
porttitor. Suspendisse sed nulla id augue mollis rutrum. Curabitur risus massa, auctor in,
blandit vel, consectetuer ut, sapien. Sed dui enim, commodo et, hendrerit quis, blandit eu,
pede. Ut viverra cursus velit. Curabitur justo justo, tempor in, ullamcorper at, facilisis nec,
erat. Vivamus quis orci a neque pulvinar blandit.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Proin accumsan facilisis velit. Praesent vitae arcu.
Quisque nec sapien nec leo consequat luctus. Cras tincidunt. Proin imperdiet. Sed viverra ultricies nisi. Cum
sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec non erat. Nam arcu Bernard Modern
lorem, vestibulum eget, porttitor eget, pharetra quis, nunc. Curabitur a risus nec augue interdum eleifend. 10/12
Aliquam at risus. Ut at lorem. Aliquam lacinia, augue sed consectetuer venenatis, ipsum turpis faucibus
ipsum, vitae imperdiet turpis lorem in orci. Vivamus a justo sit amet elit rhoncus porttitor. Suspendisse sed
nulla id augue mollis rutrum. Curabitur risus massa, auctor in, blandit vel, consectetuer ut, sapien. Sed dui
enim, commodo et, hendrerit quis, blandit eu, pede. Ut viverra cursus velit. Curabitur justo justo, tempor in,
ullamcorper at, facilisis nec, erat. Vivamus quis orci a neque pulvinar blandit.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Proin accumsan facilisis velit. Praesent vitae
arcu. Quisque nec sapien nec leo consequat luctus. Cras tincidunt. Proin imperdiet. Sed viverra ultricies
nisi. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec non Requiem
erat. Nam arcu lorem, vestibulum eget, porttitor eget, pharetra quis, nunc. Curabitur a risus nec augue in-
10/12
terdum eleifend. Aliquam at risus. Ut at lorem. Aliquam lacinia, augue sed consectetuer venenatis, ipsum
turpis faucibus ipsum, vitae imperdiet turpis lorem in orci. Vivamus a justo sit amet elit rhoncus porttitor.
Suspendisse sed nulla id augue mollis rutrum. Curabitur risus massa, auctor in, blandit vel, consectetuer
ut, sapien. Sed dui enim, commodo et, hendrerit quis, blandit eu, pede. Ut viverra cursus velit. Curabitur
justo justo, tempor in, ullamcorper at, facilisis nec, erat. Vivamus quis orci a neque pulvinar blandit.

Color: The tone or density of a text block on a page. The style of a typeface not only should say
something about what is set with it, but blocks of text are ‘colored” by the choice of type.

15
 Proof Reader’s Marks
Marginal
Mark Explanation Example Corrected
Delete: take out Once upoon a time Once upon a time
Insert: letter or word One upon a time Once upon a time
Italicize Once upon a time Once upon a time
Insert space Once upona time Once upon a time
Close up space Once upo n a time Once upon a time
Insert a comma Once upon a time Once, upon a time
Insert period Once upon a time Once upon a time.
Replace with capital once upon a time Once upon a time
Replace with lowercase ONce upon a time Once upon a time
Replace with roman Once upon a time Once upon a time
Replace with bold Once upon a time Once upon a time
Replace with bold italic Once upon a time Once upon a time
Move to the left Once upon a time Once upon a time
Move to the right Once upon a time Once upon a time
Transpose Once a upon time Once upon a time
Let Stand Once upon a time Once upon a time
Replace with small caps Once upon a time Once upon a time
Run in Once upon Once upon a time
a time
Center Once Once
upon
Move Down Once a time Once upon a time
Move Up Once upon a time Once upon a time
Insert quotation marks Once upon a time “Once upon a time”
Insert a colon Once upon a time Once upon a time:
Insert a semicolon Once upon a time Once upon a time;
Insert an apostrophe Once pon a time Once ’pon a time
Insert a hyphen Once upon a time Once upon a time-
Insert an em dash Once upon a time Once upon a time―

Proofreader’s Marks: These are the most common, but no means all, marks. We have excluded
marks the apply to handset metal type. The marks are impossible to use unless dealing with text
on paper. Tests have shown that comprehension improves when text is read on paper rather than
a monitor—therefore our recommendation is to print things out.
16
 The Parts of a Book
The content of a book can be divided into three sections: 1) front matter,
also calls preliminaries (prelims); 2) the text; 3) the back matter or end mat-
FRONT MATTER
Half title (bastard title) i*
Blank, or: frontispiece, series title, books by the author ii*
Title page iii*
Copyright page iv*
Dedication v*
Blank vi*
Table of Contents v or vii*
Table of Illustrations recto*
List of Tables recto*
Forward recto
Preface recto
Acknowledgments recto
Introduction recto
TEXT
First Test Page; or Second half title or first part title 1
Blank 2
First Text Page 3
BACK MATTER
Apendix recto
Notes recto
Gloassary recto
Bilbliography recto
Index recto
* Typically unnumbered. The page numbers would be non-printing, or blind folios.

Very few books have all the listed sections. The first page number always odd,
(1), it is always on the right side, and all right-hand pages are odd (they are
called recto); the left-hand pages are all even (they are called verso).

17
 Half Title Page

The half title is the main title. The subtitle and author’s name are omitted.

Exceptions or Variations

Some designers add a page before the half title, blank on the recto, listing the author’s
works on the verso. In this system, the next page, iii, would be the half title.

Page Numbers

From this first page to the blank page before the first text page, which could be the in-
troduction, forward, acknowledgment, etc., these pages are typically not numbered.
These pages are counted, however, when you number, for example, the introduction,
which could start on page vii. Pages without page numbers are said to have blind fo-
lios.

18
 Facing Title Page Title Page

The facing page may be 1) blank; 2) the frontispiece; 3) series title; 4) books by the
author; 5) part of the title page.

The title page gives the full title, name of author, editor, or translator, name of pub-
lishing house, and sometimes the city of publication or where corporate offices are
located, and the year. These pages are rarely numbered, see page 18.
\
Design Considerations

The title and subtitle are usually set in different fonts: therefore no punctuation is
needed to separate the title from the subtitle.

The author’s name should be printed in the form he prefers. Affiliations and degrees
are usually omitted, except “M.D.”

For editors and translators: “Edited by John Doe” and “Translated by John Doe” are
the proper form, not “John Doe, Editor.”

The publisher’s trademark or logo may appear.

Some designers use the facing title page as part of the full title.
19
 Copyright Page Dedication Page

The most important part of the copyright page is the copyright notice, which con-
tains three elements (from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf page 4):
1. The symbol © (the letter C in a circle, or the word “copyright,” or the
abbreviation “Copr.”; and
2. The year of first publication of the work. In the case of compilations or
derivative works incorporating previously published material, the date of
first publication of the compilation or derivative work is sufficient. . . .
3) The name of the owner of the copyright in the work, or an abbrevia-
tion by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alter-
native designation of the owner.
Example: © 2008 John Doe
Following the copyright notice, most publishers put “All rights reserved”: to conform
to the Buenos Aires Convention “a statement of reservation of property rights” must
be included.

In addition to the copyright notice, the page also included: publishing history, pub-
lishers mailing address, ISBN, county where book was manufactured, catalog/author
information, and, original title if different.

These pages are rarely numbered. See page 18.

20
 Facing Contents Page Contents Page

The facing contents page is blank.

The Contents (Table of Contents, List of Illustrations, List of Tables) are each on the
recto (odd numbered) page.

Design Considerations

Like all lists, the Contents can follow a wide variety of formats. Typically sections or
parts are unnumbered. Chapters can be indented. Folios can appear with or without
leaders.

When a book has more than one such list, each is formatted the same way.

These pages are rarely numbered. See page 18 .

21
 Facing Preface Page Preface Page

The facing page is blank. Here, I am showing the first pages that has text as the Pref-
ace. Depending on your book, it could just as easily be the acknowledgment, the
introduction, or the forward.

This is part of the front matter.

The Preface page may or may not have a folio, if it does, it is usually in roman numer-
als.

The same format is used for the forward, preface, acknowledgments (if not part of
the preface), and introduction (if not part of the text). These pages do not need to be
identical to chapter opening pages, but they should be visually related.

Other Front Matter

Many designers put a list of abbreviations, if there is one, in the front matter. If the
list is one page, it is often put on the verso page facing the first page of the text. If it
is longer, it should be treated like the Contents.

The facing preface page is typically unnumbered, see page 18.

22
 Facing Page Half Title/Introduction/Part/Chapter

The facing page is blank. It is unnumbered.

The recto is:

The is the beginning of the Text portion of the book, as distinct from the front and
end matter. It could be the first chapter opening page, see page 24.

It is unnumbered. It could be counted at page 1, with the chapter opening page being
page 3, whether it is blind or not. It could also be counted as page X, starting with the
book’s first page, the half title.

It could be the first page of the Introduction, a part page, the first page of the opening
chapter.

23
 Facing First Text Page First Text Page

In general, this is how the first text page spread should look. The first text page of the
book should be on the recto, with a blank page preceding it.

Variations

The number of options for the first text page are large, but whatever you chose, it be-
comes the model for all other chapter openings, although in traditional book design,
the first chapter opening is the only time it must be on the recto.

The folio is usually not included on the first page.

24
 Text Spread

Typically, running titles (head or foot) may be used to show:

Verso Recto
Author’s name Chapter title
Book title Chapter title
Part or section title Chapter title
Book title Book title
Chapter title Chapter title
Nothing Chapter title
Nothing Nothing
Folio Folio

Both pages of a text spread should have the same number of lines.

Front and back matter often have the section name (e.g. “Preface” or “Index”) in the same style as
the running titles, and on both pages of the spread.

Running titles are omitted on:

• Pages with full illustrations
• Full page-turned tables
• Non-run-in chapter openings

25
 Block Quote Poetry

Block quotes—quoted text that is more than several lines in length, or a smaller quote set off
for emphasis—are indented.

Variations: They may be set in a slightly smaller type size, usually smaller by a point. The lead-
ing can be kept the same size or it too can be made smaller. Sometimes block quotes are pre-
ceded and followed by a blank line.

Poetry is usually set off by some kind of indentation. The design problem is that the text lines
are usually of varying length. Typically:
• Fixed indentation with the title: indented the same as the poem, visually centered over the
poem, or centered on the page.
• Indented based on the position of the longest line centered, with the title indented the same
as the poem, centered over the longest line, or centered on the page.

26
 Facing Appendix Page Appendix

The headings for the back matter are usually based on those of the preface, foreward, and intro-
duction.

Some books use Roman numerals for the folios, usually starting at “i”.

27
 Facing Notes Page Notes

See Appendix, page 25.

For bibliographic entries see:

• A Manual of Style, Chicago: generally accepted as the most authoritative guide
• APA Style
• MHRA Style
• MLA Handbook
Specific academic disciplines may have unique standards.

28
 Facing Glossary Page Glossary

See Appendix, page 25.

There is no preferred style for a brief glossary. Ease of use and clarity should be the guiding con-
cern.

29
 Facing Bibliography Page Bibliography

See Appendix, page 25.

The actual format for bibliographic entries follow a several different formats:
• A Manual of Style, Chicago, generally accepted as the most authoritative guide
• APA Style
• MHRA Style Guide
• MLA Handbook
If you need a bibliography, either follow the guidelines unique to your discipline, or if your work is
more general, most people follow the A Manual of Style, The University of Chicago.

30
 Facing Index Page Index

See Appendix, page 25.

A good index is more than a concordance with page numbers, although this is the easiest to cre-
ate. Distinct from a concordance, there are entries, subentries, and cross-references. A Manual
of Syle, Chicago, is a good reference for indexing. One problem building books in programs like
Word, is that these programs often repaginate large documents. An index that is off by one page
might as well be an index for the a different book. One work around is this:
1. Create your finished book, except the index, and capture it as a PDF.
2. Create your index as a separate document—using the book’s design specifications—based on
the PDF.
3. Convert your index to a PDF
4. Create a new PDF of your book by combining the two PDFs.

31
 From Manuscript to Book
With Your Word Processor
A basic guide to the concepts
for CreateSpace and other
Print-on- demand printers

Although I recommend using a desktop publishing program (Scribus is a free, open

source application, and Serif’s PagePlus SE is also free), I recognized that many peo-
ple do not want to learn a new program. Yes, you can build your book within your
word processor. There are problems, but they are not insurmountable.

In keeping with the previous sections, this section is not intended to show you all the
how to’s you’ll need to build your book. I have tried to address a range of problems
that people have asked about in the CS forums.

There is no significant order to the following sections. There can’t be, where you are
in the process and what you need to know is different from the next person. Browse
for what you need.

Happy designing . . .
32
 CreateSpace

This section is designed to help you prepare your book in CreateSpace (CS) from Word or Ope-
nOffice, convert it to a PDF, and publish it through CS; it is, nonetheless, applicable to anyone trying
to follow CS guidelines and other print-on-demand printers (POD). That said, please consult the sub-
mission guidelines that are applicable to your work—this section can in no way supersede them.
As should be obvious, I do not believe there is a one-size-fits-all set of type and layout specs for
all books, let alone any two books. If this becomes too much, higher a book designer; or, spend the
time doing it yourself. Either way, you’ll experience something magical when you finally hold your
book in your hand.
The previous sections show the design tools you have: the parts of a book, the various elements
of a page, and type. Here we will show how these are applied in practice. Word and OpenOffice are
similar. The biggest differences are in where certain settings and menus are located. For example:
Page Setup, where you set paper, margin, header and footer settings, is located File>Page Setup;
whereas, in OpenOffice, it is located Format>Page. But once you find the menu the process is the
same.
Two additional matters: 1) work with copies of your text and image files. You do not know when
something in a previous file is what you need days or weeks later. 2) While this section is fairly
basic, it is not intended to show to teach how to use Word, for example. If you need more basic in-
formation, look for online tutorials or consult any of the dozens of books on Word

Trim

CreateSpace Trim Sizes and Maximum Page Count, as of October, 2009

Trim Size Color Interior Black & White Interior
Width x Height Maximum Page Count Maximum Page Count
White Paper White Paper Cream Paper
5″ x 8″ 250 828 740
5.06″ x 7.81″ 250 828 740
5.25″ x 8″ 250 828 740
5.5″ x 8.5″ 250 828 740
6″ x 9″ 250 828 740
6.14″ x 9.21″ 250 828 740
6.69″ x 9.61″ 250 828 740
7″ x 10″ 250 828 740
7.44″ x 9.69″ 250 828 740
7.5″ x 9.25″ 250 828 740
8″ x 10″ 250 440 400
8.25″ x 6″ 212 220 200
8.25″ x 8.25″ 212 220 200
Notes: Trim sizes in bold with gray background have downloadable templates.
33
 Minimum page count: 24 pages for all trim sizes, papers type, color, and black & white.

Your trim size will be your paper size, unless you intend to have a bleed, see below.

For these examples, I am using a book that trims to 6" x 9".

Margins

Once you have selected a trim size, you need to set your margins. Here are the CS guidelines:
Inside Margins are by the book’s binding. See the chart below for Inside margin require-
ments.

Inside Margins Chart

Pages Minimum Inside Margin Pages Minimum Inside Margin
Up to 150 .375" total, .1875" each page 401-600 .875" total, .4375" each page
151-400 .75" total, .375" each page 601+ 1" total, .5" each page
Outside margins are the page edges opposite of the finding, and the top and bottom
margins. All live text and images must have an outside margin of at least .25" -- but we
recommend an outside margin of .5"
Bleed If you wish for image to bleed to the edge of your book, ensure that they extend at
least.125" beyond the final trim size for the top, bottom and outer edges and submit your PDF
.25" higher and .125" wider than your select trim size to accommodate the full bleed area.
(Remember that all live elements must be at least .15" away from the trim lines.) Images can-
not bleed across the middle of the book without a small white line in the books’ gutter.

34
 This is how you would apply the guidelines to the 6" x 9" page:

CS does not use graphics terms “bleed” and “live” in the same way as most graphic artists do, fail-
ure to adhere to the following will result in “pausing” your project.

Bleeds
• all images, color or grayscale, must be at least 300 dpi
• there must be at least .125" for the bleed (see right side) on the top, outside, and bottom;
• if you have a bleed on one spread or page, the entire book is treated as a bleed;
• all images must either: 1)stay within the white print area; or 2) bleed off the page—no image
can encroach into the gray “No type” area unless it extends beyond the trim into the full .125"
bleed area;
• images that contain anything that someone might consider a word or letter (CS has ignored
repeated requests to clarify this, so to be safe, you should consider this inviolate regardless of
the language, legibility, or intent), what CS calls a “live element,” may not encroach the gray
“No type” area including a .25" inner margin similar to the inner margin on non-bleed pages
(left above)
See examples below:

35
 If the 6" x 9" book had 601 pages, it would have a 1" gutter (.5" inner margin on each page). This
is how the page would look with the maximum text area:

For the most part, a book like this, is relatively easy to create, submit, and get printed. The top,
bottom, inside, and outside margins can, of course be bigger, but not smaller. For a B&W interior,
there is no limit to how many B&W images you can have. However, even one little color element
will cause the entire book to be considered color, even if the rest prints in grayscale—it is priced as
entirely color.
Here is a full color bleed. Like pages spread above, there is little that is complicated, and it prints
without problem:

36
Note that the image bleeds .125" beyond the trim size, and that excess will be trimmed off. The rea-
son for allowing a minimum of .125" is to accommodate tolerances necessary to permit automatic
trimming. The edges of images are very sensitive. Look at your image with a mask over it, removing
the excess bleed, make sure you can live with the .25" loss. Also, there may be a white strip running
down the middle of the spine.
Having looked at what works, here are some problem spreads with bleeds.

Here, above, even though the book is a bleed, if the image does not extend beyond the trim line,
then it must stay within the .25" no live element border.

37
Because of the types of printing problems faced by CS, CS will reject this image. The ostensible rea-
son is that there are “live elements” (text) within the .25" no live element border. It doesn’t matter if
the “text” is rasterized or ornamental. (This image exaggerates the text problem.)

For this image to be accepted and printed by CS, it must be treated like this:

A final note on margins: although .25" is an absolute number, CS has rejected files that observed
a .26" margin. There is no infallible way of determining what actually is a safe margin. If you are
aware of this, at least you can be prepared if problem arise.
38
 To set margins, you will go to File>Page Setup. This will bring up the same dialogue box click
on the Margins tab:
Most of these settings are fairly obvious. Set the gutter, by
which Word means the inner, to the inner margin you want,
or set it in the Inner window. If you set it in Gutter, inner will
default to a minimum. Rather than trying to decipher this, play
with it, that is, adjust these settings until you get a page that
looks like what you want.
Here, I have set the Multiple pages to Mirror margins (some
word processors say “Odd and even.”). Typically the verso (left)
and recto (right) pages mirror each other’s margins.
Select Apply to>Whole Document. Of course, you might
want to change some of these for some design reason, and you
can change that to Selected Text, This point forward, etc.
Watch the little book spread to see the effect you have se-
lected.
Just a reminder, I am assuming that you are working on either a copy of your manuscript file or
on a new file. You can adjust these settings over and over, and your text file will accordingly: so you
don’t have to worry that you won’t get it right the first time.
Next you’ll want to set the headers or headers and footers. Again, you will go File>Page Setup,
and click the Layout tab:
For most books, the headers differ on the odd, even and first pages. If you are using a model,
look at how its headers are managed. Usually this is relatively easy, until you actually start adjusting
your files. You will use section breaks (Insert>Break>Next Page), to allow you to change the head-
ers from chapter to chapter. If you don’t see a box for the header, go to View>Header and Footer,
and click. By separating each chapter-section with a section break, you can control the content of
the headers from section to section, using the link, or unlink, the header content.

You are probably working on a new file and have copied your text in, or you renamed your file
and have begun reformatting it. As you get it looking like a book, you will deal with the question of
39
type size and leading, and you may tweak your margins. At some point you will almost have it: all
the chapters openings look the same, the title page is great, everything is fine, but there is one more
thing to check—widows (and some designers would add orphans).
A widow is a short ending line of a paragraph that begins the following page or column. An or-
phan is either the beginning line of a paragraph at the bottom of a page, or a very short line ending
a paragraph. Of the three, the widow is the most offensive, and it is particularly off-putting when it
is the last page of a chapter. Many people use Word’s widow controls (Format>Paragraph):

You use the Indents and Spacing to set the first line indent (or set it to None for centered or flush
left elements. On the second tab, Line and Page Breaks you can set the Widow/Orphan control un-
der pagination. My experience is that Word is unstable for long books and books with complicated
typographic effects, and the Widow/Orphan control exacerbates that: it want to add a line or two to
a page or remove a line, and it can do this any time. You have more control if you do it yourself—it
just takes more time. The tools you have are: expand or contract letter/word spacing (expand to add
a line, contract to remove a line) or reducing the number of lines on the page (usually on the two
pages of a spread) If you are pleased with Word’s Widow/Orphan control, by all means use. Here
is a widow and I am applying the Widow/Orphan control to the just to the paragraph to show the
effect: normally, if you use the control, it would be applied to all text.

40
 Word automatically adjusted the text so that the a second line was added to the top of the page.
I believe that one of the stability problems with Word is just this: each correction effect everything
downstream and upstream from it.
To remove a widow yourself, look for a paragraph with a last line that is very short or almost full.
Then you can compress or expand the letter/word spacing to add or remove a line.

Under Format>Font>Character Spacing, you can change the letter spacing. Here, reducing the let-
ter spacing of a paragraph removed the short line, and thereby removed the widow.
No patter what method you use, you should go through your book, spread by spread, making
sure it is what you want before you convert it to a PDF. If you turn on auto-corrections, this gives
you one more chance to find typos or grammar problems. When you make the conversion to a
PDF, recheck each spread.

PDF

If you have formatted your book to your satisfaction, save it and double check it. Do your mar-
gins meet the submissions guidelines? Are your images at least 300 dpi? Are your chapter openings
the same? Are there widows? If you are ready, make the conversion.
There are several way available to you, and I will look at five free methods. Word has (it was
available for Word 2003) a PDF add-on; OpenOffice comes with a PDF export feature; pdf995, Pri-
moPDF, and doPDF are free, downloadable PDF printers (they install as printers).
Size Installation Interface Ease of Use 6x9
Word add-on — easy none easy yes
OpenOffice — easy full featured easy yes
DoPDF 1.7 MB easy most features easy yes
pdf995 2.6 MB easy most features medium no
PrimoPDF 7.5 MB easy most features medium no
Scribus* 64MB easy
* Scribus is a free desktop publishing program. It offers stable and reliable PDF conversions. I have added it because
it is a viable, free, way to generate a PDF.
41
 These are subjective results. Some people have had problems where I had none, and some people
have no problem where I have had problems. That said, these are my observations:
• Check your PDF. It should look like you expect.
• The conversion should go easily, if there are problems, before giving up, try a different application.
• A number of people in CS forums have complained about the 6X9 trim size and PDF, therefore I
used it as a test: this suggests that the non-standard sizes (“custom size”) may be problematic.
• OpenOffice gives the most controls (very similar to the full InDesign dialogue boxes), was easy
to use, and was reliable. Files created in Word can be opened and saved in OpenOffice. My ex-
perience and based on posted comments, OpenOffice preserves all formatting.
• The Word PDF add-on had no controls. This may not be a problem, but you have no way of
knowing what setting it uses for image compression, embedding fonts, etc.
• DoPDF, pdf995, and PrimoPDF act as printers: that is to make the conversion you start out as
if you are going to print the file. In the File>Print>Printer Name window, you select whichever
one you installed as your printer. (You do not print to file.) Then you go through the properties
and advanced settings.
Acrobat Pro and Distiller are professional level applications. Not only do they cost more than many
alternative programs, but I am not sure they necessarily do a better job. However, Acrobat has a
preflight feature that examines the files and will look for selected problems. Being able to preflight
a file is a great feature; but it is not vital.
If you can or as applicable check these settings:
• Embed all fonts
• Deselect “Subset embedded fonts”
• Compression and Downsampling:
• JPEG Maximum quality
• Downsample for color and grayscale images above 320dpi to 305 (elsewhere CS says that
images should be at least 300 dpi)
• Set compatibility to acrobat 5.0 (PDF 1.4)
• Color management: select Leave Color Unchanged
• Bleeds and Compression: Use document bleed settings

Type

Most free fonts do not come in full families: Roman, italic, semibold Roman, semibold italic,
bold Roman, etc. Word will let you create an optical bold, italic, bold italic. These are not true fonts
and you may have serious problems printing. Yes, you can make a PDF and it will look like you
want, but the type effects are not embedded fonts, and CS might reject the file.
To avoid these problems, if you are going to use italics and bold, make sure they are separate
fonts. Some true italics, bold, etc., are actually listed in your fonts window as separate fonts (e.g.
Requiem Italic, Requiem Roman); or some (e.g. Adobe’s Minion) have only one listing, Minion, but
but do have a true italic, bold etc.
One way to tell is to look in your fonts folder (Windows>Fonts). Each font should have a separate
icon. If you double click on it you’ll get a type sheet with the name of the font, the basic set of letters
and numbers. You can print this a build your own type book. What you will not see are the com-
plete set of glyphs for that font. For this, the easiest thing is to look at the Character Map (Start>All
Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Character Map, as long as you have this send a copy of the
42
icon to your desktop), or in Word, Insert>Symbol.
Another way to determine if you have a true italic, is to look at the letters like “a,” which usually
are different between Roman and italic: e.g. “a” versus “a”; whereas “a” versus “a” is indicative of the
sort of artificial italicization that Word does if there is not italic font.

Cover

CS provides a cover maker, but to have full control over your cover, you can make your own.
First you need to know the guidelines:

You can build your cover in a wide variety of programs, including OpenOffice or Gimp. Although
Gimp does not save as PDF, you can create a cover page in OpenOffice, and save it from there as a
PDF.
The key to understanding making your cover is that you must work within the physical guide-
lines. All covers are printed in color, whether they are color or black and white.

Copyright

The best source for information on copyright matters is the Copyright Office, http://www. copy-
right.gov/.
• Your work is automatically copyrighted, but unregistered, at the time it was created: publica-
tion and registration are not required.
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• Registration established the actual date of registration; it does not necessarily prove authorship,
but it provides additional damages in an infringement case if won.
• Use of copyright notice is no longer required under U.S. law.
• It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by copyright law to the owner of the
copyright: these rights are enumerated in the law.
• If you include notice, it should contain the symbol © or the word “copyright,” or the abbrevia-
tion “copr,” the year of publication or the year the work was completed, and the name of the
owner, if it was not a work for hire, that is your name. For example: © 2009 John Doe.
• The keyboard shortcut for the copyright symbol is hold down <ALT> and 0169, release
<ALT>
• A lot of registration can be done electronically; look for the large “e” on the copyright web
site.
• A collection of stories may be copyrighted as a single work.
• Sending your work to yourself registered mail is not the poor man’s registration, it is no regis-
tration at all.
• Fair use is intended to permit commentary, parody, news reporting, education and research.
Quoting a small amount in a novel is not fair use. If, however, the work is in public domain,
then there is no problem quoting it.
• Although derivative work is recognized, you must have permission or the work must be in
public domain.
• The term of a copyright, after which the work enters public domain, varies, see http://www.
copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm for a simple easy to read table, of general
concern as of January 2009 in the US: a work published before 1923 is in public domain; unpub-
lished works either created before 1889 or for authors who died before 1939.

ISBN

The International Standard Book Number is administered in the US by R.R. Bowker, http://
www.bowker.com. Their site(s) are a bit daunting, so when you find what you want bookmark the
page.
CS requires an ISBN, which identifies the book title, author, and publisher. You can buy your
own or get one from CS. If from CS, then CS is the publisher. If you want to be John Doe Publisher
to the Stars, you need to buy your own ISBN.
The ISBN appears on your book’s back cover inside a white rectangle, with a bar code. Bowker
will make a bar code for you for a fee, but there are free services on line.
If you have the option, you want the barcode as a TFF, JPG, PNG, GIF, or BMP file. If the bar-
code is on transparency, you will need to provide a white box for it in your back cover.

Images

Even if you do not put images in your book, your cover will probably have an image. There are
some terms that need to be defined to make some of this section clearer:
aliasing: a distortion or artifact produced when an image is viewed: a digital file is reconstructed
(interpolated) to be seen on a monitor or printed. When that image differ from the original,
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 it is an alias.. The two most common for forms of aliasing are Moiré patterns and what are
commonly called jaggies.
antialiased: is a technique for reducing or eliminating the effects of aliasing. In most graphics
programs, and for most users, the single biggest aliasing problem is jaggies: antialiasing adds
mid tones between jaggies.

aliased antialiased

aspect ratio: the ratio of the longer dimension to its short dimension.
bitmap: although Photoshop uses “bitmap” to mean a black and white image, i.e. one bit of datum
is either 1 or 0, therefore black or white. Bitmap more generally is used to mean any image
composed of a fixed amount of pixels, whether black and white, or full color (16 million
colors)—as opposed to vector based (also called object oriented)—images. Think, the image
is mapped bit by bit. The size of a bitmap image file is directly proportional to the size of the
image, thus 4” x 4” image is 4 times the size of a 2” x 2” image.
bmp: sometimes called bitmap. This is the native format of MS Paint. Bmp images can be B&W,
grayscale, indexed color, or full color.
canvas: independent of the image size, the canvas or background area of the image can be en-
larged.
CMYK: A color scheme for representing color images using Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black in
a subtractive model. When all four colors are added the resulting color is black. The absence
of all color is white. It is most commonly used in printing. Most good inkjet prints actually
use CMYK, inks.
compression: a process of encoding the information that makes up an image using fewer bits than
an unencoded version. For example, an open 5” x 8” 300dpi image is 10.9 MB, with JPG com-
pression at maximum quality, the files saves at 1.6 MB, 4.3 TFF with LZW compression, and
a 11.2MB for TFF with no compression.
crop: is the reframing of an image, by removing outer parts. It is done to accentuate the subject or
change the aspect ratio. Most graphics programs have a crop tool, although unnecessary for
cropping, often do several additional things: align or rotate, or correct perspective effects.
dpi: dots per inch. This can mean several different things. Most people use it to mean pixels per
inch. Dpi, for example, can mean the number of ink dots per inch that a inkjet printer pro-
duces.
eps: Encapsulated Post Script, a object-based (vector) file format
feather: to feather is to blur or soften an edge. It is an effect applied in addition to the antialiasing
applied by many tools.
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flatten: Images made up of multiple layers appear on your screen as one, homogenous image. Flat-
tening merges the layers into one layer, with everything visible locked into place in that one
layer. Because all the layers have been merged, making adjustments or changes after an image
has been flattened can be difficult.
flop: to reverse an image either horizontally or vertically.
gif: Graphics Interchange Format, this image format compresses files in part by using indexed col-
ors. Gif files can preserve transparency.
handles: certain bounding, rectangular, boxes, see selections, have little squares at the corners and
middles of each side. These squares are handles that can be dragged to transform the box.
image size: the physical dimensions of an image: 2” x 2”, or 600 px x 600 px. See Size vs Resolu-
tion
indexed color: to reduce the file size of images, a color image is remapped to define a unique pal-
ette for that image—think of paint by numbers—where the color data is indexed to the pal-
ette rather than inherent in each pixel. The image, hence the palette, is reduced to a limited
number of colors ranging from 1 or 2, to 256, whereas the image you take with your point and
shoot digital camera can produce 16 millions colors
jaggies: an artifact of aliasing in bitmap images. See antialiasing.
jpg: or JPEG, Joint Photographic Experts Group, is the most efficient and standard compression
format in use. Although it is a lossy system, but it gives the option for how much compres-
sion—therefore how much is lost—prior to saving the file. Once saved, opening and closing
the file is safe, however, opening and resaving loses additional information.
layer: the digital equivalent of acetate cells in cartoon making. Layers can be transparent with im-
ages on them, therefore letting what is below show through.

lossless: a type of compression that does not lose image data to enable smaller file sizes when the
image is saved. PNG and TIFF LZW are lossless.
lossy: a type of compression that loses an amount of image data to enable smaller file sizes when the
image is saved. Jpeg compression is lossy.
marching ants: when a selection is made in a graphics program it is surrounded by a dashed line
that moves along its path.
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mask: a mask can be any selection or painted in or out area that blocks or permits an effect or edit.
Moiré pattern: is an interference pattern. It is commonly associated with line art, scanned halftone
images, and images that contain repeating, linear patterns.
native format: Many applications have a file format that is maximized to take the most advantage
of that application’s features. Graphics programs often permit saving and opening files in
both native and common file formats. Examples are PSD (Photoshop), RIF (Corel Painter),
or DOC (Word).
object: You create objects in drawing programs, which are often called object- oriented; synony-
mous with vector or vector-based. Such objects are defined mathematically. The size of the
definition is independent of its size; thus the size of the image, whether 2” x 2” or 4” x 4”, the
files size is the same. Most common digital type is vector or object-based. Aside from rela-
tively small files sizes, object-oriented shapes are have very smooth edges.
path: a path is a object-oriented outline. Usually paths are converted to selections to enable most
edits.
pdf: Portable Document File, the file format for Adobe Acrobat. It was developed to enable the
capture and transmission of documents (text and images), independent of the operating sys-
tem, hardware, or applications.
png: Portable Network Graphics, developed for the web to provide 16 million colors while preserv-
ing transparency. It uses lossless compression. One problem, however, is that some graphics
applications don’t work well with png files.
POD: print on demand publishing, for example, CreateSpace, Lulu, BookSurge.
ppi: pixels per inch. Most of us use dpi to mean ppi. (Although ppi is correct, I have used dpi
throughout, to avoid confusion with posted guidelines.)
print image: the output devise is a printer. For POD books, the resolution is 300dpi.
raster: a general term for a scan or image pattern made up of dots or pixels.
rasterize: the conversion of on object based image (vector) to a bitmapped image.
resampling: when an image is resampled, each pixel is assessed with the aim of enlarging or reduc-
ing the image; the image file size will change proportionately.
resolution: is the number of pixels per inch. A 1 “x 1” image at 72dpi contains 72 x 72 pixels, or
5184 px total; whereas a 1” x 1” image at 300 dpi contains 300 x 300 pixels, or 90,000 pixels.
Because each pixel contains color information, the 1” x 1” 300dpi image would be a better
image than the 72 dpi version. The question of the “best”
resolution: is somewhat moot in POD publishing, because 300 dpi is the preferred
resolution: See Size versus Resolution
RGB: a color scheme for representing color images using Red, Green, and Blue in an additive
model. When all three colors are added the resulting color is white. The absence of all color
is black. Typically monitor are RGB.
rip: raster image processor is a stage in the printing system where a raster image is produced then
sent to the printer or output device. It is essential for printing vector information or when a
bitmap is of a resolution other than the printer or output device.
screen image: the image you see on your monitor is RGB. It differs from the printed image: 1) it
is transmitted light; 2) it is RGB; 3) the video card optimizes the output, and although it is at
screen resolution, it created the illusion of greater detail and smoother tonal transition than
the image actually has if printed.
selection: an area of an image-layer that has been selected by creating a border around it. Borders
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 can be drawn, created by controllable shapes (square, rectangle, circle, oval, etc.) by color, by
transparency, etc. Whether the selection will be used as a mask, copied, erased, painted, etc.,
can only happen once it has been made—in other words, you have to tell the graphics pro-
gram what is to be edited before you can do anything. The default for most functions is the
entirety of an active layer.
size vs resolution: The size of an image can be changed two ways: 1) resampling on; 2) resampling
off. With resampling on, changing the size of your image will result in resampling: if the reso-
lution stays the same, the software will add or remove pixels to resize the image and the file
size will increase or decrease. However, with resampling off, the files size will stay the same
when the image is resized, and the resolution will increase or decrease proportionately.

Each image is 191KB. The smallest is 300dpi, and would print nicely. The largest is 18dpi; and
as bad as it is it here, a print of it would be much worse.
stroke: in graphics, when a line of a given thickness and color is made following the marching ants
of a selection.
styles: are graphic effects—drop shadow, inner glow, emboss, curves, blending modes, etc.—that
can be applied to a selection or image.
tablet: is an input device (similar to a mouse) that allows drawing with a stylus. Unlike drawing
with a mouse, tablets have hundreds of pressure levels that can change the quality of a line is
made: lighter-darker, wider-thinner, etc.
tif: Tagged Image File Format, a file format that can preserve layers and that uses lossless compres-
sion.
transform: in graphics programs the contents of a layer can be selected and transformed: rotated,
scaled, skewed, or distorted.
vector: See object.
white point: because white varies (e.g. orange with incandescent, greenish with fluorescent, blue
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 morning light, warm evening light), although we white as white, your camera and scanner do
not. Setting the white point helps to reduce color casts.

The reason this is the longest section, is that its language and concepts are the most foreign to
the average person who has written a book, but is not a digital artist. There are two types of pro-
grams: drawing and photo-editing—both names are misleading. Drawing programs does more
than drawing; they tend to favor object-oriented art. Photo-editing programs do a lot more than
edit photos, most work with type, have brushes for drawing and painting, etc. For most people,
photo-editing programs are what you need.
There are two aspects to learning these programs: 1) you must learn the concepts and what they
mean in practice; 2) you have to learn where the tools are. Here are my rules:
• Ask: “What do I want to do, and how do I want to get there?” (There ar
• Always work with a copy.
• Do not flatten your work file. Flatten a copy.
• Save your work often.
• Stop every 15 minutes, stretch and blink your eyes.
• If you are going to do much graphics work, use a tablet.
What to use:
Free
OpenOffice has a drawing program that has layers. For images it has a few rudimentary controls,
aside from resizing and cropping, you can adjust the red, green, blue, brightness, contrast,
and the gamma curve.
Gimp is a “full feature” photo-editing program, comparable to Adobe Photoshop. It can do quite
a bit of what Photoshop can do, although it is a little clunky. Experienced Photoshop users
will miss a lot.
Serif PhotoPlus (SE, free, V9 $9.99), offers all that you need for basic photo-editing and
Inkspot is a “full feature” illustration program, comparable to Adobe Illustrator. It’s forte is object-
oriented art.
$70-100
Adobe Photoshop Elements: In an attempt to make it user friendly, it is quite difficult for Photo-
shop users. By selecting certain tasks, related desktops and menus become available. For a
novice, this might simplify things.
Corel PaintShop Pro may be the best of this category, it has the easiest user interface.
Serif PhotoPlus X3 has the advantage that it resembles the other programs in the Serif family.
There are several ways you will images: you can buy an image (stock photos are available from
stock photo houses from free to just a few dollars); you can scan work; and you can shoot things.

Scanning Art

If you have created art work, or have photographs (prints) that you want to use in your book or
cover, the best way to convert them to digital files is to scan them. Depending on the original art,
the actual scanner, and the graphics software used to correct the scans, it is possible to make ac-
ceptable scans for your book.
Most desktop scanners have all sorts of controls to make a scan:
• Sharpen
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• White point
• Color
• Contrast
• Brightness
These are algorithmic programs that the scanner uses to adjust the scan. Which has more resources
available for this, your scanner or your computer? If your scans are perfect for your purposes, you
don’t need to consider the following, but most scans can be improved. If possible, do these things
yourself in a graphics program. You can see how your image looks as your work on it, and you can
print it out to proof it.
Your goal in scanning is to capture as much information as possible. A professional studio will
calibrate their scanners to do as much as can be done well in them at the time they scan, but the are
experts who know how to evaluate the capabilities of their equipment and they have a profit motive
to get as much done well but quickly. When you scan:
• Scan in color: even if you are going to convert your image to grayscale.
• Scan at the highest optical resolution: your scanner will have two maximum resolutions, opti-
cal and interpolated (which uses software to enlarge the image, if you need this, you can do it
better on our computer). Only if memory or patience is a problem, set the resolution to no less
than 300 dpi.
• Do not sharpen.
• Do not apply contrast and brightness settings, or use just the minimum.
• Do not adjust the color.
• Do not crop too close to your image.
• Do not use a straighten feature.
• Adjust the white point in the scanner, if necessary.
• If your scanner permits multiple passes to minimize chatter, consider it.
In your graphics software, as outlined above, make the necessary corrections to a copy of your scan.

Shooting Art

Things were harder in the film only days, and professional photographers used copystands to
make transparencies or copy prints of your work.
The good news is that if cannot scan your work, you can use an relatively inexpensive digital
camera, and with almost any photo editing program you can get an acceptable picture of your
work.
Your goal is to get a distortion free picture of your work, with no glare (reflection or flare) and
reasonable color, contrast, and brightness. The explanation may seem complicated but the pictures
should make things clear. If you understand the principles, you’ll understand what you can get
away with and what you can’t. The advantage you have with a digital camera, is that you can in-
stantly review a thumbnail of your shot and make immediate corrections to your set up.
Your setup will:
· reduce camera shake and in you cannot hold a camera dead still.
· have as much light, without flare or glare, as possible
· enable you to shoot as a slower speed (if your camera permits you to set the ISO, you should
prefer lower settings, for example, 100 will have less grain than 800).
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 This section is about the physical set up to shoot your art. Capture as much information as pos-
sible, and use graphics software to adjust your images: don’t rely on your camera. Keep notes of
what works. Basically:
1) Use a digital camera: so much easier and less expensive than scanning film; and you can in-
stantly see if your setup is working.
2a) Mount your camera on a tripod: keeps your camera steady and in the exact position you need.
Most cameras have a small, threaded hole in the bottom to accommodate a tripod.
2b) If you don’t have a tripod, you may be able to get decent pictures if you understand the prin-
ciples.
3) If possible, use a cable release or timer on your camera: keeps your camera steady when you
click the shutter
4) Make the planes of the art and the camera (the lens and the film/sensor) are vertically and hori-
zontal parallel: reduces distortion.
5) Use two (or four) light sources at 45° to the art: provides even light that doesn’t cause flare.
6) Use a photoediting program to adjust your image, see scanning above.

When you get a setup that works, sketch it out in a notebook with dimensions and any data you
might need. Yes, you’ll remember it tomorrow, but maybe not in six months.

Ideally:

(Looking down)

(Viewed from the side)

The camera lens is centered on the art work, and it is vertically and horizontally parallel to the art
work.

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 Two lights (four if you have two on a side, one at the top and one at the bottom of the work aim
in at the work with about a 45° or less angle.
In case you took life drawing and skipped science: The angle of incidence is equal to the angle
of reflection: so in an ideal world the glare bounces off away from the camera.
Some surfaces (glass or plastic, Ilfochromes/Cibachromes, highly varnished) may still have
some flair. If you still have flair or only have one light, you might try this:

The one light method isn’t perfect, but it reduces the amount of light that could be reflecting up
into the camera: however, more light will fall on the side nearer the light, therefore it will be lighter
and the opposite side of the image will be darker. How much? I can’t say. You’ll see in your photo
editing software. You might be able to use a black to transparent gradient (adjust the opacity way
down) over the image to balance the lighting if it is too noticeable. Polarizing filters can help if
your camera can take filters. Diffuse light can help.
Here’s the down and dirty way (exaggerated):

I have leaned Mylar covered art work against a wall, sat holding a 3MB digital camera with
flash, shot at an angle. There was no flare. But the picture was quite distorted. In Photoshop I
straightened it out. Printed it at about 9” x 12” and it worked okay.
What you cannot do is this:

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 Here the light source will bounce off the work and back into the camera: flare! Remember, this
light source could be a window behind you or an open door.
I prefer to shoot vertically:

There are two lights, equal distant from the center of the art, and aimed down 45°. This is a poor
man’s copy stand. I use a level to adjust the camera so that it is parallel.
Although I have a tripod with a side arm, I have used a Tiltall tripod, which allows the column
to be turned upside down. The camera is mounted between the legs, which straddle the art.
This works great, but it takes up some floor space, and you do have to be careful not to step on
your work.

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