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Book Printing Layout: How to Save Money

by: JoshuaPrizer
Total views: 14 | Word Count: 420

If you're trying to publish your own book and save money on book printing services, you'll definitely want to pay attention to how your book is laid out. Minor adjustments in the layout can result in a reduction in page count that reap large savings on print cost.

For example, most offset printers use 32-page signatures. This means that you will want to keep your page count divisible by 8, 16, or 32. A 130-page book can cost a fair amount more to print than a 128-page book, so it's worth trying to figure out how to get rid of those two extra pages, if at all possible.

So what are some of the tricks to adjust the number of pages? First of all, see if you can adjust your margins slightly. Slight changes probably are not noticeable to most readers, but the price difference will definitely be noticeable to you.

A minor increase or decrease in the leading (line spacing) can have a major effect on the page count. I've had books where I've had to drop a couple pages to save cost, and just adjusting the leading by a small amount - maybe only 0.2 pt. - can get me those two pages.

Note: There are a couple exceptions to the 32-page signature rule. Digital printers don't print with signatures, so page counts only need to be divisible by 2. Also, every once in a while you'll run into a sheetfed printer that uses 12-page signatures. Be sure to always ask your printer if there is a more economical page count that might save you money.

One last area that can save money on the print run is by rethinking the trim size of the book. Too many times I've seen customers insist on a specific print size when adjusting it by 1/4" or 1/2" would save them quite a bit of money. Why is that? Because different trim sizes are set up differently on different presses. A trim size that works well on one press might generate a lot of paper waste on another press. And guess who pays for that extra paper waste - you!

So don't be afraid to ask for help from your printer sales rep. And shop around. See if the trim size you have in mind might work better for a different printing plant. Or see if you can get recommendations from a plant as to what trim sizes work best for them. Minor variations can save a lot of money on your book publishing in the end.

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About the Author

Josh Prizer has worked in the book printing industry for nearly 15 years and is a cheap book printing guru. For a Free 7-Part Mini-Course on how to publish your own book, visit his web site.  

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FollowText.com » Publishing » Book Printing Layout: How to Save Money

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