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Posted on 16/12/12 1:24:50 PM
chris berry
Overhead Overlord
Posts: 724

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Book cover layout
Hi Folks
Got my first book cover commission. Is there a standard artwork layout for a front cover, spine and back cover?

Cheers
Chris

Posted on 17/12/12 07:03:59 AM
joeysala
Perfect Palmist
Posts: 604

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Re: Book cover layout
No advice - just saying CONGRADULATONS! I'll bet you do a bang-up job!

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Posted on 17/12/12 07:38:49 AM
Steve Caplin
Administrator
Posts: 6987

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Re: Book cover layout
Chris,

A few things to bear in mind:

1. You'll be designing the whole cover as a single flat piece of artwork, so spine width is critical. You need to find out the width from the printer, who will calculate it from the pagination and the paper stock.

2. Remember that the text reads down the spine in most countries (but up the spine in France).

3. Is the book paperback or hardback? If it's a paperback, you only need to allow for bleed (about 3mm/eighth of an inch should do it). If it's hardback, then the cover will have flaps - again, you can get the width from the printer.

4. Remember that the cover is an advertisement for the book, not a work of art. I know you'll already be aware of this through your poster design, but it really is important that people browsing both online and in a bookshop can take the message in at a glance.

5. Allow space for barcode and pricing information on the back cover. Once you've got the ISBN number, it's easy to generate the barcode for free using any of a number of online tools.

That's all I can think of right now. Congratulations, and show us the results!

Posted on 17/12/12 12:50:32 PM
chris berry
Overhead Overlord
Posts: 724

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Re: Book cover layout
joeysala wrote:
No advice - just saying CONGRADULATONS! I'll bet you do a bang-up job!


Thanks Joey
Much appreciated!

Posted on 17/12/12 12:52:25 PM
chris berry
Overhead Overlord
Posts: 724

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Re: Book cover layout
Thanks Steve - will post the finished cover once we're in print!

Posted on 17/12/12 5:27:16 PM
Mark Goodwin
****
Posts: 261

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Re: Book cover layout
I haven't been around for a while due to a lot of mitigating circs! But I would like to also congratulate you Chris, I'm sure this will be the first of many.

Merry Christmas
(and that goes for all members)

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Mark Goodwin

If you do what you have always done, you'll get what you've always got!


Posted on 18/12/12 02:24:38 AM
chris berry
Overhead Overlord
Posts: 724

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Re: Book cover layout
Mark Goodwin wrote:
I haven't been around for a while due to a lot of mitigating circs! But I would like to also congratulate you Chris, I'm sure this will be the first of many.

Merry Christmas
(and that goes for all members)


Thanks for that Mark - and I hope you're right! Merry Christmas to you.

Posted on 21/12/12 10:16:16 AM
David Asch
Tech Support
Posts: 1913

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Re: Book cover layout
Nice one, Chris. Congratulations! I look forward to seeing it.

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