Design Tips

⇢ Color

⇢ Satisfactory image quality

⇢ Make sure any text in the spine is between the blue guidelines

⇢ Make sure nothing is placed in the divot on the front and back covers

⇢ Check for bleeds on all pages and placement of images and text within blue guidelines

⇢ Check for any image and text placement in the gutter area

Book Bound Book⇢ Delete barcode indication layers on cover file and last inside page file

Book Bound EX⇢ Make sure the images and background colors desired on the front and back cover of the book are placed within the book jacket flap guidelines

Book Bound EXD⇢ Make sure the images and background colors desired on the front and back cover of the book are placed within the book jacket flap guidelines
⇢ Make sure the front and back placement is correct on the designable book case (excase.psd)

Book Bound LX or FLX⇢ Is the presentation box designed (000000.psd)

Zen EX⇢ Make sure the images and background colors desired on the front and back cover of the book are placed within the book jacket flap guidelines

NeoClassic Book⇢ Make sure the front and back placement is correct on the presentation box (sleeve-box.psd):

DVD Presentation Book⇢ Make sure front and back placement is correct on outside cover

The printed cover will fold over the outer blue guidelines onto the board material.

Place text or important parts of an image at least 1/4 inch within the outer blue guidelines. To ensure a full bleed, images and backgrounds must extend past the blue guidelines so they go all the way to the edge of the canvas (beyond the blue guidelines).

The two vertical center blue guidelines represent the spine area. You may place text in this area, or you may leave it blank. To ensure text does not wrap around past the spine and onto the front or back covers, make sure the text is within these two blue guidelines.

To the left and right of the spine guidelines there will be a DIVOT.  Place any text or important parts of an image at least 1/2 inch away from the spine guidelines to avoid them being printed in the divot.

For Book Bound Books: The back cover has a space reserved for the required barcode. A grey or red box is used as the placeholder in your Photoshop file. YOU MUST DELETE THIS LAYER IN PHOTOSHOP® BEFORE SAVING THE FILE. Do not place text or important parts of an image in this area, as it will be covered by the barcode. (Our system will automatically overprint the barcode in the reserved area)

For Soft Cover Books with 30 sides or less, we do not recommend putting text on the spine, as there is limited space.

For the Book Bound EX, the Book Bound EXD, and the Zen Layflat EX, you are able to design the front and back inside dust jacket flaps. These are the right and left outside sections on the cover template 000000.psd.

For the NeoClassic Books: To the left and right of the spine blue guidelines you will see two more vertical blue guidelines. Those blue guidelines represent where the raised portion of the cover starts.

The Zen Layflat, NeoClassic, and DVD Presentation Books will NOT include a barcode.

The outer blue guidelines are the trim lines. Place text or important parts of an image at least 1/4 inch within the outer blue guidelines. To ensure a full bleed off the page, the images and backgrounds must extend past the blue guidelines so they go all the way to the edge of the canvas (beyond the blue guidelines).

The first inside page of the book is a single side.

It falls on the right side of the template. The left side will be left white automatically. The top, bottom, and right blue guidelines are the trim lines.

For Book Bound Books: The left blue guideline is part of the gutter, where the book is bound. All Book Bound Books will lose approximately 1/4 inch per side in the gutter area.

The Zen Layflat, NeoClassic, and DVD Presentation Books will NOT have any gutter loss.

The outer blue guidelines represent the area where the page will be trimmed.

Place text or important parts of an image at least 1/4 inch within the outer blue guidelines.

To ensure a full bleed off the page, the images and backgrounds must extend past the blue guidelines so they go all the way to the edge of the canvas (beyond the blue guidelines).

Gutter for Book Bound Books:
The three vertical blue guidelines in the center represent the gutter, where the book is bound.

All Book Bound Books will lose approximately 1/2 inch total in the gutter area. Do not place text or important parts of an image in this gutter area. It usually looks fine to have parts of an image go through the gutter, as long as it is not important, for example someone's face or text.

For group photos going across the spread, we recommend careful placement, for example positioning the center blue guideline between people.  We do not recommend splitting, stretching, or doubling the images in the gutter, as it is possible to see more into the gutter when the books are opened and laid more flat, and there may be some uneveness between the pages. When splitting, stretching, or double an image in the gutter, we cannot guarantee the image will match up and look natural.

NOTE: Gutter loss varies with book size and number of pages.

Gutter for Zen Layflat, NeoClassic, and DVD Presentation Books:
The Zen Layflat, NeoClassic, and DVD Presentation Books will NOT have any gutter loss, but the Zen Layflat Books will have a slight split between the page spreads, so do not place important parts of an image or text on this vertical blue guideline.

For the NeoClassic 10x10 there is a white 3mm split between page spreads, so do not place important parts of an image or text on this vertical blue guideline.

For the NeoClassic 8x11 there is NO split between page spreads.

There is no split or seam in the DVD Presentation Book.

It falls on the left side of the template. The right side will be left white automatically. The top, bottom, and left blue guidelines are the trim lines.

For Book Bound Books: The right blue guideline is part of the gutter, where the book is bound. All Book Bound books will lose approximately 1/4 inch per side in the gutter area.

The Zen Layflat, NeoClassic, and DVD Presentation Books will NOT have any gutter loss.

For Book Bound Books: The last page has a space reserved for the required barcode. A grey or red box is used as the placeholder in your Photoshop file. YOU MUST DELETE THIS LAYER IN PHOTOSHOP BEFORE SAVING THE FILE. Do not place text or important parts of an image in this area, as it will be covered by the barcode. (Our system will automatically overprint the barcode in the reserved area)

The Zen Layflat, NeoClassic, and DVD Presentation Books will NOT include a barcode.

The Book Bound EX and EXD books, as well as the Zen Layflat EX books, come with a custom designable book jacket that matches the cover of the book. The cover template is used to print both the cover and book jacket. The book jacket includes flaps on the front and back that are fully designable.

The template contains two sets of two vertical guidelines representing the fold lines for the book jacket flaps. To ensure images and/or backgrounds wrap around consistently on the book jacket, it is necessary to extend the images and/or backgrounds to the outside guideline.

The back of the cover and back flap of the Book Bound Books have a space reserved for the required barcode. A grey or red box is used as the placeholder in your Photoshop file. YOU MUST DELETE THIS LAYER IN PHOTOSHOP® BEFORE SAVING THE FILE. Do not place text or important parts of an image in this area, as it will be covered by the barcode. (Our system will automatically overprint the barcode in the reserved area.)

For the Book Bound EXD, you are able to design the front, spine, and back of the book case.

The designable case is the excase.psd template in the set of templates downloaded for this type of book.

When working in this template: the LEFT side is the front of the book case and the RIGHT side is the back of book case. The two center vertical blue guidelines represent the spine.

The back of the case has a space reserved for the required barcode. A grey or red box is used as the placeholder in your Photoshop file. YOU MUST DELETE THIS LAYER IN PHOTOSHOP® BEFORE SAVING THE FILE. Do not place text or important parts of an image in this area, as it will be covered by the barcode. (Our system will automatically overprint the barcode in the reserved area.)

The Book Bound LX and FLX books come in a presentation box that you are able to design the front, spine, and back of.  This is the 000000.psd file in the set of templates downloaded from our website for this particular book.

When working in this template, the RIGHT side is the front of the presentation box and the LEFT side is the back of the presentation box, and the two center vertical blue guidelines represent the spine.

The back of the presentation box has a space reserved for the required barcode. A grey or red box is used as the placeholder in your Photoshop file. YOU MUST DELETE THIS LAYER IN PHOTOSHOP® BEFORE SAVING THE FILE. Do not place text or important parts of an image in this area, as it will be covered by the barcode. (Our system will automatically overprint the barcode in the reserved area.)

The Zen Layflat Impact Books come with a deluxe presentation box that you are able to design the front, spine, and back of.  This is the 000000.jpg file in the set of templates downloaded from our website for this particular book.

When working in this template, the RIGHT side is the front of the presentation box and the LEFT side is the back of the presentation box, and the two center vertical blue guidelines represent the spine.

The Zen Layflat Books will NOT have any gutter loss, but they will have a slight split between the page spreads, so do not place important parts of an image or text on this vertical blue guideline.

The NeoClassic Book comes in a slide-in presentation box that you are able to design the front, spine, and back.  This is the sleeve-box.psd file in the set of templates downloaded from our website for this particular book. 

When working in this template, the LEFT side is the front of the presentation box and the RIGHT side is the back of the presentation box, and the two center vertical guidelines represent the spine.

The printed cover on a NeoClassic Book is slightly raised, and will fold around the outer blue guidelines onto the board material.

Place text or important parts of an image at least 1/4 inch within the outer blue guidelines (fold lines).

To ensure a full bleed, images and backgrounds must extend past the blue guidelines so they go all the way to the edge of the canvas.

The two inner most vertical center blue guidelines represent the spine area. You may place text in this area, or you may leave it blank. To ensure text does not start to wrap around past the spine and onto the front or back covers, make sure the text is within these two blue guidelines.

Attention: To the left and right of the spine blue guidelines you will see two more vertical blue guidelines. Those guidelines represent where the raised portion of the cover starts.

For the 10x10: there is a white 3mm split between page spreads.
For the 8x11: there is NO split between page spreads.

There are 2 designable covers for the DVD Presentation Book; the outside cover as well as the cover of the book itself.

The outside cover is outside-cover.psd in the set of templates downloaded from our website for this particular book.

When working in this template, the RIGHT side is the front of the cover and the LEFT side is the back of the cover, and the two center vertical blue guidelines represent the spine.

The additional lines next to the spine represent the DIVOT. Do not place any text or important parts within these guidelines to avoid them being printed in the divot.

The book cover is 000000.jpg in the set of templates downloaded from our website for this particular book.

When working in this template, the RIGHT side is the front of the cover and the LEFT side is the back of the cover, and the two center vertical blue guidelines represent the spine.

Place text or important parts of an image at least 1/4 inch within the outer blue guidelines. To ensure a full bleed, images and backgrounds must extend past the blue guidelines so they go all the way to the edge of the canvas (beyond the blue guidelines).

The two vertical center blue guidelines represent the spine area. You may place text in this area, or you may leave it blank. To ensure text does not wrap around past the spine and onto the front or back covers, make sure the text is within these two blue guidelines.