When formatting your own book
Important: you must obtain copyright permission on all photos and artwork used in your book. All of these services are available from St.Clair Publications. Word file of text required when we do formatting. Number of final pages would apply.
Submission requirements
When formatting your own book interior, use the guidelines below. This option is intended for authors and publishers with extensive knowledge in book layout.
Your files will print in the exact manner in which you submit them.
Trim Sizes and Maximum Page Counts
We offer a variety of trim sizes; each has a minimum requirement of 24 pages. Maximum page-counts vary on 9 x 10 trim size and printing option. See chart below:
| B/W Interior | Color Interior | ||
| Paper Color | White | Cream | White Only |
| 5.25 x 8 | 828 | 740 | 250 max |
| 5.5 x 8.5 | 828 | 740 | 250 max |
| 6 x 9 | 828 | 740 | 250 max |
| 7 x 10 | 828 | 740 | 250 max |
| 7 x 10 | 440 | 400 | 250 max |
Creating Your Book
Format your book’s interior to the exact final trim size of your book with one text-page per PDF-page. (One PDF-page per page number.)
Margins
When formatting your interior, there are two types of margins to consider, inside margins and outside margins.
Inside margins
Inside margins are by the book’s binding. See the chart below for inside margin requirements.
| Pages | Minimum Inside Margin |
| Up to 150 | .375” |
| 151 to 400 | .75” |
| 401 to 600 | .875” |
| 600 + | 1” |
Outside Margins
Outside margins are the page edges opposite of the binding, and the top and bottom margins. All live text and images must have an outside margin of at least .25” -- but we recommend an outside margin of .5”
Bleed
If you wish for images to bleed to the edge of your book, ensure that they extend at least .125” beyond the final trim size from the top, bottom and outer edges and submit your PDF .25” higher and .125” wider than your selected trim size to accommodate the full bleed area. (Remember that all live elements must be at least .25” away from the trim lines.)
Images cannot bleed across the middle of the book without a small white line in the book’s gutter.
Images
Any images may be tagged with your choice of Grayscale, CMYK or RGB profiles or left untagged in a generic color space. All images should be sized at 100 %, flattened to one layer and placed in your native document at a resolution of 300 DPI. Embed all fonts and images in your PDF file.
Additional Notes
An additional page with a manufacturing-related barcode is added to the back of all books. Books may also have blank pages at the end. Neither the barcode nor the additional pages may be eliminated.
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