Bleed is when the printed elements on the page go off the edge of the sheet leaving no blank space between the printed area and the edge of the sheet. In order for this to occur on every copy/sheet of the cover or interior pages, the image or colour should be larger than what is required to compensate for any movement in the printing process. The bleed amount should be no less than .125”.

These are marks that the design program adds to the file to show the printer where the page is expected to be trimmed.

FAQs Archive

Q: What file format should I submit my book interior and cover files in?

Blitzprint uses a PDF workflow, so PDF files are the preferred format.

Q: Am I restricted to certain sizes for my book?

Although most of the books we produce are standard sizes like 5.5” x 8.5” or 6” x 9”, we can print your book at a variety of sizes. Sometimes slight changes in size can make a large difference in the final price. Our Client Support Specialist will be able to guide you in the right direction.

Q: What resolution should my scanned images be?

300 DPI at the finished printed size, or 600 DPI if your image contains text.

Q: What are some common legal terms I may come across?

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) – in all cases you will retain 100% of the IPR for your title when using Blitzprint. You are free at any point to use any other service or printer. The only right we need to be given is the right to reproduce the title, without that we can’t legally print the book. Copyright – Copyright law is a big topic and for any definitive answers you’re best to talk to a good intellectual property lawyer. But, the gist of it is this: copyright is implied at creation. If you write a novel, the copyright is “yours”. The challenge is establishing a timeline of “when” you created the novel because in a copyright case, who came up with it first, will usually win. Title – The title of your book is not subject to copyright and in all likelihood, there are other books out there with the same title. Liable – You are completely liable should your title infringe on someone’s copyright or contain defamatory statements. Product or company names – Using a trademarked name in your novel is generally fine as long as it doesn’t appear to confuse the reader. Saying, “Bob took a sip of Coke” will not be a problem. Saying, “Bob, hopped in his brand new Coca-Cola roadster and drove off” will confuse the brand and might get you in trouble. Contracts – You don’t actually have a contract with us, simply an agreement. Either party can exit at any point without penalty.

Q: What file format should my images be in?

The preferred file format is .tiff. Tiff files use no compression so there is no loss of quality. Or if file format .jpeg uses compression to make the file size smaller but at the same time reduces the image quality. It is okay to send in .jpeg files if .tiff’s are not available, but make sure to use the maximum image quality setting.

Q: What colour space should my images be in?

The preferred colour space is CMYK. The colour space of cameras and scanners is RGB. If you do not have the software to convert these images to CMYK just send them in RGB, our software will still print the images though colours may not be as vibrant.