Consider the imposition method

Everyone who designs a book should learn how books are printed first. Knowing what is required at the end of the book production process improves the book's design and makes the whole process run smoother. Imposition is the process of arranging pages so that they will be in consecutive order when folded. The way you organize the pages depends on the page dimensions of the final book, the size of the paper the book will be printed on, and how the book will be folded and bound. The trick is to choose an imposition method that wastes the least amount of time and paper. There are an infinite number of ways to impose a book, but the most common are 1-up-for-1, 2-up-for-1, and 2-up-for-2...

Select the fonts to be used in the book

When designing a book, choose fonts that give your book the right look and feel. To ensure that the book remains the way you designed it in your page layout application, you should have an available copy of each font used in the book. You should also embed the fonts in the PDF file that you generate from the page layout application.

True type fonts are more widespread and some can be downloaded free-of-charge from the internet. You should check with us to find out if we have the fonts you intend to use in your book. If we do not have it, you can copy it onto the disk along with your final book so we can download it temporarily. We discard the fonts after producing the book, so you don't have to worry about licensing issues.

Style of Text and Layout

Type styles (type faces)

A common type style that is easy to read is recommended. Popular typefaces include, Times New Roman and Times. These fonts have serif (feet on the letters) and are easier to read than sanserif fonts (without feet on the letters) because the eye finds it easier to follow the line of text.

Font size

The recommended font size for A5 text is 10, 11 or 12 points and for A4 text 12 or 13 points. The font size in this book is 12.

Spacing between lines

The standard setting for one line space between text in a computer (or a word processor) is the easiest to use but trying other spacing may produce a more professional result.

Spacing between paragraphs

The standard spacing between each paragraph is 2 spaces.

Indenting

Whether the first word of a paragraph is indented (spaced further out from the margin) or not is a personal choice.

Justification

Supplied text is usually justified (all the text except the last line of a paragraph ends the same distance from the margin).