Color Graphic Novel Guide

So You’re WorkiNG oN a Full Color GraphiC Novel?

Great! This guide is designed to help you prepare your print-ready PDF for submission. If you have any

questions about these instructions, please be sure to contact your Check-In Coordinator.

1. Book SizeS

We offer two sizes for color books: 8 ½ x 8 ½ and 8 ½ x 11 inches. Our

8 ½ x 11 inch size is only offered as a portrait-oriented book. This

means that the book will be bound on the longer, 11-inch side. We

do not offer the option for landscape-oriented books.

2. paGe CouNt & Book BiNdiNG

All of our books are softcover with perfect binding and can contain as few as 24 pages, and as many as

100 pages.

perfect Binding – This type of binding is the traditional style in which the pages are glued along the

edge. It requires that we leave 1/8 inch of blank gutter space on the inside edge of all pages, as the glue

will not stick well to ink. This will also ensure that none of your illustrations will be lost in the gutter of

your book.

Our printer requires that we end all books on a blank, left-facing page and that the page count be divisible

by two. It is possible that as many as two blank pages will need to be added to the end of your book to

meet our printing requirements.

3. Book priCiNG

The prices for our books are based on page count. The price of color books is higher than the price of

black and white books because it is more expensive to print them; therefore, the more pages your color

book has, the higher your book’s retail price will be.

8.5x

8.5

8.5x

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deSiGN aSpeCtS to CoNSider

The following five aspects will help you during the design of your book.

1. Full Bleed imaGeS aNd Bleed SpaCe

If you would like your images to extend all the way to the edges

of your pages, these are called “full-bleed” images. In order for

us to print “full-bleed” images, they must extend ¼ of an inch

beyond where the printer will trim the page. This ¼ inch of

space around the outer edge of your book is known as “bleed

space”. Having it there ensures that when your book is trimmed,

the image will go all the way to the edge of the page.

On the outside edge of your interior proof, there will be a thin grey line to indicate the trim lines.

Anything that appears outside of that grey line will be trimmed off at the printer. If your images have

vital information close to the edges, we advise that you do not make them full-bleed, as slight shifting

may occur during trimming.

All images that are not full-bleed need to be kept at least ¾ of an inch away from the edge of the page.

Bleed Space (1/8 inch for interior pages)

please see the examples below for a better understanding of trim lines and bleed space.

Before printer trimming

even numbered pages odd numbered pages

after printer trimming

even numbered pages odd numbered pages

2. imaGe Size aNd reSolutioN

An important thing to pay attention to when formatting the images in your book is resolution. For the

best quality printing, we require that all images be at least 300 Dots Per Inch (DPI). If you wish to include

full-bleed images, they must be at least the following size to account for bleed space:

8.5 x 8.5 book size – 8.625 x 8.75 inches

8.5 x 11 book size – 8.625 x 11.25 inches

3. Color SpaCe: rGB vS. CmYk

Most images that are created on a computer, scanned, or

are taken with a digital camera will automatically be in the

color space known as RGB. This stands for Red/Green/Blue

and involves colors that have light emitting from behind

them in the way that computer screens or cameras do.

Since books cannot be printed with a backlight, images

cannot be printed in RGB. However, we can convert them

to CMYK, which is the color space that we do print in.

CMYK stands for Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black and is the predominant color space used in the printing

industry. Since these colors are not backed by light, your images may appear slightly less vibrant once

we have converted them to CMYK. Usually, the change is not noticeable in photographs, but it can make

a difference in illustrations with vibrant or deep colors. For this reason, it is best if you can convert your

images to CMYK before sending them in so you know what they will look like. If you are not able to do

this, your book designer will do it for you once your project is in design.

rGB CmYk

rGB: red + Green + Blue

(primary colors of light)

CmYk: Cyan + magenta + Yellow + Black

(primary colors of pigment)

4. Color SaturatioN limitS

Each of these four colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) print in a separate layer which saturates the

page with toner. Different layers may have more toner than others. The amount of toner present in each

layer is represented by a percentage ranging from 0% - 100%. This percentage is the tonal saturation.

The percentages of, C+M+Y+K have the potential to equal 400%. To avoid potential drying issues during

printing, our printer requires all images to be kept below 240% tonal saturation. If needed, we will adjust

tonal saturation to be under 240% for you.

C-86% M-97% Y-34% K-29%

Total Tonal Saturation: 246%

C-85% M-89% Y-25% K-29%

Total Tonal Saturation: 228%

5. Color matChiNG

Our printers will do everything possible to ensure that your book’s colors are printed as accurately and

consistently as possible; however, we do allow for a narrow range of color variance between printed

copies of your book. This does not mean that your colors will change – blues will remain blue and reds

will remain red – but you may see slight differences in the color’s brightness or hue. This is nothing to be

concerned about and you may even notice similar differences in other books, greeting cards, or printed

materials at retail stores. Slight variations are a normal part of the printing process.

Creating a print-ready File for a Color Graphic Novel

SpeCial NoteS reGardiNG pdF FileS

Please note that the file you submit will need to meet the printer requirements. Submitting a print-

ready file means that the exact design you submit will be sent to the printer. Since the file is meant to be

“ready for printing,” we will not design your graphic novel. We will add a copyright page and, if necessary,

insert blank pages at the end of the manuscript to meet our printer’s requirements. These are the only

adjustments that will be made to your file by our designers. If you want design elements such as page

numbers, headers, or a table of contents to appear in your book, then these elements will need to be

included in the PDF file that you submit.

Because of the specific file requirements for creating e-books, we cannot guarantee that graphic novels

will meet the requirements of all e-book vendors.

imaGeS iN pdF FileS

Please be sure images meet the following requirements:

• All images need to have a resolution of at least 300 DPI/PPI (Dots Per Inch/Pixels Per Inch). Images

with a resolution of less than 300 DPI may appear distorted and blurry when printed.

• All images must fit within the printer margins of your book.

• If you are using any images or text that you did not create yourself, you will need to obtain written

permission from the copyright holder to include the material in your book.

CreatiNG Your pdF

These instructions were prepared using Microsoft Word 2007 and show a book that is not set up at full bleed.

If you are using a different version of Microsoft Word, some screens may differ from the diagrams. If you

are using another word processing application (such as WordPerfect or OpenOffice) or professional layout

software (such as QuarkXPress), you can refer to your product’s documentation for instructions on adjusting

these settings. If you are using InDesign and would like a template, please ask your Check-In Coordinator.

First, you will need to set the page size and margins in your Word document to match the size of your

final book. To begin, open your manuscript in Word.

1. On the toolbar, go to page layout. Once there, choose margins, and finally, Custom margins.

2. Once the set-up window opens, choose paper, then paper Size and select Custom size. This is where

you will enter the trim size of your book in the Width and height sections.

3. Still in the set-up window, choose margins. At this point you will need to enter the margin

specifications for your trim size by referencing the list below:

page Setup: marginstop Bottom inside outside Gutter.75 .75 .5 .5 .13

4. After your page margins are entered be sure that orientation is set to portrait, and multiple pages

is set to mirror margins.

5. Still in the set-up window, choose Layout. Under Headers and Footers, choose Different odd and

even. This is the last step to set the margins, so you may now choose OK.

revieW Your maNuSCript

Since changing your margins will shift your text, please be sure to look over your entire file. If any tables,

lists, or images are outside of the margins you will need to reposition them.

If everything looks okay, you can now proceed to printing your PDF.

priNt Your pdF

1. Choose your office or File button in the toolbar and select print.

2. In the print window, select adobe pdF.

3. Choose properties, and then default settings.Select an option that contains the prefix pdF/X-1a.

If you do not have this option, choose high Quality print or press Quality.

4. Be sure that rely on system fonts only; do not use document fonts is unchecked.

5. Choose paper Quality, and then Color.

6. Select okay and decide the best place for you to save your PDF file.

BeFore You SuBmit

Before submitting your final file, review your PDF again. To view the PDF as it will appear printed, go to

View, then select Two-up Continuous and Show Cover Page During Two-up. This will ensure that you are

seeing the layout of your book as if you were looking at an open book.

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