The graphic design of a book is essential. Many of our writers have problems when designing and laying out their book. For this reason, at Writers of USA, we have decided to write this blog in which we are going to show you the best recommendations to make this task as pleasant as possible. For your information, we have also eBook Writing Services for written blog dedicated exclusively to how to design your book cover with Canvas.
Cover resolution and images used
The resolution of an image basically tells us how sharp the image will look. This is measured with dpi (dots per inch) or in English dots per inch (dpi). From now on we will use the abbreviation dpi, since it is the most generally used.
The dpi number represents the number of pixels in a space of one inch. This figure should be high enough for the printer to print the image with sufficient quality. For example, on our self-publishing platform we ask for a minimum cover resolution of 250 dpi. Just because the image looks good on your computer screen doesn’t mean it will look just as good once printed. Careful. Normally there are not many problems with dpi, but at Writers of USA, we have a motto which is: it is better to be safe than to buy your book with a bad resolution.
How to layout your book
Layout is an important part of self-publishing your book. No advanced knowledge is needed. Just knowing how to handle the basic settings of Word. We strongly recommend that you use the Word templates that we make available to you in the Manuscript step of our publication process, which will be adapted to the size you have chosen and will save you many problems and headaches.
Change the margins
The margins of the manuscript are the white spaces found around the text. These can be changed in two ways:
-Change through the margins option: Word’s standard margins are 2.5 cm, although you can adjust this to your preference. To do this you have to go to the top ‘Layout’ tab and then click on the ‘Margins’ option where we will find the standard Word option selected. Here we can choose other options that Word offers us or customize each margin as we want.
-Change through indentation: Changing the indentation is not as useful for changing the margins of the entire manuscript. Changing the indentation is used to change the margins of a paragraph or selected text, so it is useful to highlight, for example, a quote and adjust its margins individually.
What kind of margin do you need? Well, this depends on the thickness of the book, the thicker it is, the more margin you will need.
Titles and subtitles
- Choose the same font as the basic text for the chapter title but a different size.
- Each chapter should start on a new page.
How to number pages
The numbering layout is very easy to do and Word gives you many options about where to place the number and with what font. You also have to keep in mind that the books are numbered according to whether the page is even (numbering on the left) or if the page is odd (numbering on the right). So, how to number the even pages and the odd pages differently? First you must double click on the Ghostwriters For Hire (for the footer) or top (for the header) of the page. After that, a menu will open at the top where you must click on the ‘different even and odd pages’ option. After that you must go to the ‘Insert’ tab, then ‘page number’ and there you choose the graphic design that you like the most and the position (left, center or right) that you want.
Another fairly common question is how to list the manuscript from the page we want. In this official Microsoft Word guide, you can do it by following all the steps.
CMYK contra PNG y JPG
CMYK refers to the four ink colors used during printing: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Instead, the colors you see on your computer screen are in RGB (red, green and black). So, if you change the colors to CMYK you have to take into account that the colors of your book cover may be different from the paper version. Even so, we recommend CMYK due to its high quality. Let’s see if we have PNG and JPG files which is better to have in CMYK.
The graphic design, when it comes to saving it, can be saved in JPG or PNG for the most part. JPG is the most commonly used format for highly detailed images and is best suited for printing. PNG files are primarily used for logos, icons, images with a lot of text, or when using a transparent background. PNGs are only used on screens so they use the RGB model, and we do not recommend them for printing. Instead, JPG files can be easily converted from RGB to CMYK through free programs. Who is the winner? JPG.
Convert a Word document to PDF
When converting your Word document to PDF, the images may be distorted or change color and may not recognize fonts that are in Word. To do this, first of all, you must review the PDF file carefully once you have uploaded it and before sending it to print, it would not be the first time that in my bestseller an author prints a book without first reviewing the PDF with the consequences that it has. To do this you must open your Word and click on ‘Save as’. After that, select the folder where you want to save the file and then select PDF in the option below the file name. There click on options and select ‘ISO 19005-1 PDF/A’. Hit save and it would be ready.
