Creating custom printed booklets is one of the trickier jobs in the printing business. Both the printer and the customer have to plan the details of the booklet to produce high-quality custom booklets. You should be aware of these four issues if you're preparing to have a professional shop take on this type of project.
Page Layout
In booklet printing, page layouts are where the trickiness begins. Booklets are stacks of pages, and a printer folds and staples or saddle stitches the pages together. Spirals and wires are sometimes an option, too, and they're great for two-sided products.
This approach is speedy and avoids more expensive tasks. However, the net effect is the pages at the bottom of the pile are the first and past ones. Everything converges toward the top of the pile with the middle pages right next to each other. This gets even trickier if you're printing pages front and back.
To understand the task, think about the front and back of a 10-page booklet printing project that doesn't print front and back. Pages 1 and 10 are on one sheet, as are pages 2 and 9 and pages 3 and 7. This converges with pages 4 and 5 and the top of the pile, and then the printer creates a crease in the pile and staples the middle.
Size Matters
Custom-sized booklet printing has a basic quirk, too. The sheets will usually be horizontally oriented to get two pages on them. If you want to go to a bigger page, you'll need to increase the sheet size to get the desired result.
Check and recheck your math before sending digital documents to the printer. Also, include a message stating what your preferred final dimensions are so the printer can check them, too.
Binding Is an Option
While people think of binding as a book thing, it's also available for booklets. This is an especially good way to add a cover if the inside pages are only printed on one side of the sheet. Even if you don't want high-end binding, a cheaper option will still provide a cover and make the booklet look nicer.
Layout Software Is Critical
Particularly if you want to print front and back, there's no substitute for laying everything out in a professional layout and design program. You can tell the program what your layout will be, produce the pages in order, and watch the software make the corrections. At that point, all you have to do is proof the layout and verify it's right.
To learn more about Custom Size Booklet Printing, contact a professional near you.
