TODAY'S TOPIC: Building Your Book

Our new five-color Ryobi press gives you greater design freedom for your color-critical projects.

Successful book projects, regardless of size or run length, are the result of effective planning and communication. Involve Sentinel Printing as early as possible in the design and planning phase. Very often, we'll be able to provide suggestions that could save you significant time and money. Let's take a look at a few book-building basics to get you started:

Signatures & Trims - In the layout stage, book pages are printed as signatures, or multiple pages set out on a single sheet of paper. The number of pages set on each side of a sheet is determined by the final trim size of your books. Since common trim sizes are designed to fit 8, 12 or 16 pages on each sheet, the page count of your book determines how much paper is used, and often how efficiently the book will be produced.

The format of your book should also be considered; oblong layouts can be less economical to produce, so be sure to let your printer know if your book will be bound in portrait or landscape format.

Paper Considerations - Papers vary by color, weight, brightness, finish and a variety of other factors. There are literally hundreds of papers from which to choose, so consult your printer when selecting papers for both the text pages and cover of your book. Most printers maintain an inventory of "house stocks", or commonly-used paper selections, but the availability of others can fluctuate, so give your printer plenty of time to order the exact paper you require.

Planning tip: If your project is a rerun - even with minor changes - supply your printer with the complete original version of the product during the estimating process. Your printer can use this as a starting point for both an accurate estimate as well as production planning.

Breaking News at Sentinel Printing! You may know us as a high-quality resource for complete book production. Now we have expanded our printing capabilities with the installation of a five-color Ryobi sheetfed press. This press strengthens our high-quality color services, giving you increased design freedom and allowing Sentinel Printing to handle many of your other printing needs. Contact us today to learn more about our exciting new capabilities.