How should I prepare my cover for printing?

To obtain a professional cover perfectly adjusted to your book, it's important to prepare it with the correct measurements, bleeds, colors and spine thickness.
Below we explain how you should send it to guarantee a clean result and high quality in HD toner.

1. The cover must have 3 mm bleeds all around

All covers —even if they don't have backgrounds to the edge— must include:

➤ 3 mm of bleed on each side

This avoids:

• Unwanted white borders
• Errors due to minimum cut variations
• Misalignment in high-volume printing

📌 If your cover measures 15 × 23 cm, the file should be measured like this:
15.6 × 23.6 cm (including bleeds)

2. How to prepare the file?

Your cover must be sent in:

✔️ PDF ready for printing

✔️ 300 dpi resolution

✔️ Colors in CMYK

✔️ EXACT final size

✔️ Embedded fonts

This format guarantees that your cover will be printed with faithful colors, correct borders and no font errors.

3. How to prepare the complete cover (front cover + spine + back cover)?

This is the most professional presentation.

Your file must include:

| Back Cover |   Spine   | Front Cover |

All in a single PDF, with bleeds included.

4. How to calculate my book's spine?

The spine thickness depends on:

• Total number of pages
• Paper type
• Grammage
• Margin for hot-melt glue

We use this simplified formula:

Spine (mm) ≈ (Pages × paper thickness) + 0.5 mm

Examples of approximate thickness per page:

• White bond: 0.05 mm
• Cultural bond: 0.055 mm
• Matte coated 130 g: 0.06 mm
• Glossy coated 150 g: 0.07 mm

📌 To see complete examples and practical table, check:
👉 Article #21: