Phase 1 - Prepare your design and send your preliminary file.

Step 1 - Design Preparation

Why? Focusing on color first will save you time and build confidence in the final outcome.

1. Set your monitor brightness to 50% and use a Mac or calibrated monitor if possible. Then review how and when color control matters.
   
   

   Click on this link for our Introduction to Color
   

Color can get a bit more intense. Most people don't go into this rabbit hole, but you're welcome to by diving into the link below.
Set up your Adobe Color Settings to gain control of your color workflow.

2. If you haven't already designed the book, check out the quick guide below to give yourself a better chance at designing the best book.
   
   

   Insider's Guide to Book Design: What to Know Before You Start
   

Step 2 - Use our book template unless you're already comfortable in InDesign

Feel free to use our InDesign book template. It has some quick tips and is a quick tutorial on how to use InDesign for books. Some general tips when using InDesign that can save you a lot of time and elevate your design when laying out content:

1. use master pages to keep consistent layouts. Think of them like page templates and apply them to different parts of the book
   
2. use character and paragraph styles. They'll allow you to change the look of your book on the fly and will save you countless hours
   
3. use grids to help structure and lay out your content.
   

Download our InDesign Book Template

Step 3 - Use our page flow for the preliminary file

The image below shows the pages pallet in InDesign with notes on how you should build your book. We like this flow so that we can have an understanding of your book with minimal confusion. 

Step 4 - Install our export settings and export your preliminary file

At this point you have a rough idea of what your book will be like. We'd like to see this as soon as possible because it'll save you time and ensure you're on the right track. We'll run your preliminary file through our report so we can let you know what quality issues we're seeing so you can address them before you put too much effort into the book.

1. Review and install our export presets.
   
   

   Recommended PDF Export Settings for Print within InDesign
   
2. Send us your file by sharing your google drive/dropbox/wetransfer link (reminder to give us access so we don't need to ask for permission!)
3. Have embellishments like foil or raised spot gloss? Check out this guide 
   
   

   How to set up Silver, Raised Spot UV, and Digital Foil Files using Spot Colors
   

Phase 2 - Review the file checkup and design your cover with our template

Review the files we share. Here's the breakdown.

File Checkup

An in depth report that shows potential quality issues.

How to use the file check up to improve quality and color. Open in Adobe Acrobat only.

Cover Template

Contains custom templates that are based on the exact page count and paper type you selected. If either of these change, we'll need to send a new template, so you'll want to dial those things in to minimize extra work.

How to set up cover files using Nonstop Templates

Proof File

This shows your whole book (and cover if you included it in the preliminary file). This helps confirm that we're on the same page with the flow of your book. 

It also is critical to show potential challenges that the file checkup can't catch like:

1. artwork that is lost in the hinge of the book. Check the inside front and inside back cover to see if the artwork looks too cut off. You lose about .25" on both sides of the page.
   
2. is any critical part of the artwork in the center of the spine? Things that are particularly strongly discouraged is having faces or text in the spine. It will not look good
   
3. does the flow of the book make sense? do the spreads make sense?
   

For designs that use bright colors that are outside the CMYK spectrum, if you haven't already, use Output Preview to have a better idea of our print limits.

How to use Output Preview to kind-of predict RGB to CMYK limitations

Final Phase 3 - Send us final files

This is mostly a celebratory phase. In phase 2, you've carefully worked on your files to fully maximize quality. This last step is to do one final confirmation. You will be sending us two files:

1. Whole book file. Single page PDF of the whole book like you did in phase 1. 
   
2. Cover Spread file. The file from phase 2.
   

For designs that use bright colors that are outside the CMYK spectrum, if you haven't already, use Output Preview to have a better idea of our print limits.

How to use Output Preview to kind-of predict RGB to CMYK limitations

We'll run the updated file through the system again. 

At times we may have gone back and forth so much during phase 2 that you may want to do a final check for content. Here are some tragedies that can be avoided with one more hard look. These are the following things Nonstop Printing does not check at all and you are expected to do your own diligence:

1. spelling errors
   
2. grammatical errors
   
3. names spelled wrong
   
4. dates incorrect
   
5. page numbers don't align with table of contents or index.
   
6. page numbers incorrect
   
7. ISBN
   
8. Retail price of book
9. styling inconsistencies