Files

Some Basics of Microsoft Word 2010 for Book Typesetting – Inserting Photos

by Blitzprint Inc. Leave a comment

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. While it won’t actually add to your manuscript’s word count, it can add a lot of value, depending on the book, to have some photos or images. Here is how to do it.

1. Click on insert tab, and then select picture.

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2. Select browse, and find your image file. Click the Insert button.

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3. Resize the photo to the correct size on the page. Hold the shift key while doing this, so that the photo doesn’t distort. Only do this to make pictures smaller, not larger. Making them larger will result in pixilation.

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4. Right click on photo and select Wrap Text.

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5. Choose how you want your text to go around your photo. Ie. Square

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6. Right click on the photo and select Insert Caption.

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7. A box will now open up, click ok. Erase the text that it automatically puts in the box, and replace it with your caption. Now you can adjust your font, size, color, etc.

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How Do I Know if My Book is Ready to Print?

by Blitzprint Inc. Leave a comment

Are-You-Ready-to-Print1We require print ready files to go to print with your book. What does that really mean though?

It would mean that your book is exactly how you would want it to be, if it were to be printed right at this moment. So what does that mean? Here’s a checklist.

 The book interior is formatted to the final print size. ie. If your book is 6 x 9, your interior files are currently set to a 6 x 9 size.

 Your margins are what they should be for print. Margins that are too large will look silly, but margins that are too small put your text body at risk of being chopped in the final manufacturing stage. I recommend 0.75” to 1” for top and bottom margins, 0.50” to 0.75” for left and right margins, and 0.25” for mirror margins.

 You have mirror margins set up. Mirror margins are additional space that is added to what would be the inside edge of your page. This helps to keep your margins looking balanced after binding, and prevents any of your text body from getting sucked into the bind gutter.

 Your font size is the size that you want it to be in printing. We usually recommend between a 10 and 11pt.

 The fonts chosen for all aspects of your book are the fonts that you are committed to. We recommend a serif font for the text body, as it is much easier to read once printed, but larger headings like chapter titles and section headings are completely acceptable in a sans serif font.

 All images that are in your book, and on your cover are 300 dpi at the size that they are printing, and any images that also have text on them are 600 dpi at the size that they are printing.

 All images that are meant to print color are set to CMYK, and, images that are meant to print black and white are set to grayscale.

 All page numbers are correct.

 You have checked the table of contents and index for accuracy since any final changes, and you are confident that the numbers listed are all correct.

 You have double checked to make sure that your pages will all fall on the side that you want them to. A general rule of thumb is that odd pages are right hand pages, and even pages are left hand pages. Don’t go by your page numbers showing on the page to determine whether a page is odd or even, go by the page number listed in the program you are working with.

 You are confident that your content is the final draft, and that there are absolutely no other changes to take place.

 You have a cover designed. Your front and back cover are the correct size, and have a 0.125” bleed around all outside edges. You have confirmed your spine size with your printer, and it is the correct size. You have crop marks in place to show the printer where to cut on your cover, and score marks in place for your spine. (If you need help with this, speak with your printer about getting their assistance, or talk to a graphic designer. This will be a cost added service, if you require assistance).

 You have saved your files as PDFs, you have embedded any fonts and links, or you have packaged all fonts and links up for your printer.

 You have seen a final, printed proof. While this isn’t required, I do always recommend it.

These are the general points that you want to be able to check off, to say, “That is it, I am ready to go.” There is a lot to cover, don’t be afraid to talk with your printer to be sure that you are ready to go when it comes time to print.

Back It Up!

by Blitzprint Inc. Leave a comment

I received an email from a client today, and that is what prompted me to write this post. Something terrible happened to them this weekend. While they were away from home, doing a book signing, thieves were ransacking their home. They stole everything, including the family computer. The family computer, which contained all of the photos of their 4 children from birth to current, and her entire book.

While backing up her hard drive would not have likely done her much good, because these people would have likely stolen the external hard drive as well, it made me think. How many times have I heard that saddening story from a client? That something had happened to their computer, and that they had lost all of their files.

We try to keep as much on hand as possible, but sometimes things happen in our system too, and we lose previously printed files. Also, we frequently have the PDF files, because that is what we request for printing, but not the source files that the PDF was created from. You can make very minor changes to a PDF file, but there is no guarantee that it won’t cause huge shifts in your files either. Another thing that I hear is that they had someone design their files for them, and they can’t get into contact with that person. Or, something happened and the designer’s own backups were deleted. So what you can do to be sure that you won’t be sharing this story with me someday down the road?

Back your files up! If someone else created your files for you, ask them for a copy of the source files, as well as any applicable fonts or links. Put all of your files together, in a well labeled folder, and then back it up! Make a disc of your files, put them on a jump drive, and maybe on an external hard drive as well. There really isn’t such a thing as having your files backed up in too many places. Also, be sure that, when you make changes to your files, update them, etc, that you update all of your backups as well. While you are at it, back up all of your important files. What harm is there is doing it?  You can even pay someone to come in and back up your files, and to keep them off site in what is called a cold storage, if you really want to.

The important thing to remember is this. At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to keep your files up to date and backed up as safely as possible. If you experience catastrophic computer failure, the last thing that you want to add to your list of stresses is whether or not you still have all of the files that you need.

As for our wonderful clients who have found themselves in a terrible situation that was out of their hands, please, share their story. Hopefully the thieves who helped themselves to the lives of this family will feel some remorse and return their computer, at the very least. You can view the story here.