Printing Terminology to Know Before Getting Your First Quote

If you are new to publishing chances are you will not be familiar with the printing lingo. There are many things to consider before contacting a printer for a quote. Here is just a few things you will need to consider.

Binding

• Perfect bound- this type of binding is what most of us would call a paperback or soft cover book. The pages are held together by strong flexible glue. 
• Saddle stitch- is a method of securing the pages by using staples down the folded edge.  This is most appropriate for booklets, and catalogs.  
• Hard bound- or hardcover has a rigid covers and is stitched in the spine.

Paper

• Interior paper- The paper size will change the thickness of your book. Most books are 50# to 80#. Unless you are familiar with paper it will be hard to know what you need. You can often get samples of paper sizes from the printer. This is particularly helpful if you are doing a color insert. If you are inserting color photos you may want a gloss paper.  

If you want black and white text you will ask for 1/1 (one color)  

• Cover paper- If you are doing a perfect bound book the cover will be thicker than the inside pages. You can choose several different finishes for your cover.  

• Embossing (creating raised areas)
• Debossing (creating sunken areas)
• Laminating- this is done with a plastic film that is affixed to the cover with heat. This provides protection to the cover to prevent scratching.  (The inside of the book generally is not laminated.)

Signature 

A book signature is a section of sheets of printed paper folded in half. The page count will need to be divisible by 8 or 16. The page count includes the front and back of each page (even pages that are not numbered). You do not include the cover in the page count.

Trim size  

This is the size of the finished book. If you are doing your own interior design be aware that the manuscript will need to have the pages the exact size that you want the pages in the book to be

Spine

The spine of the cover is usually printed with the title of the book, authors name and the publishers initials or logo. The subtitle is generally left off of the spine

Please share other printing terms that are not listed here.