Easily Submit Your Book for Printing

How to Submit Your Book for Printing

It's easy to submit your book for printing thanks to our years of experience and technology-driven systems -- they make it easy for you or your book designer to submit your content online. Once you do, you'll access our range of printing and binding options.

Our book printing file submission guidelines below give you all the information you need to format and submit files successfully. Submitting files based on our specifications avoids delays and format correction expenses.

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Submit your book for printing by following Acutrack's file submission guidelines for book cover and inside page format.

Submitting Your Book’s Cover

Outer cover design: format as a single-page integrated spread .pdf file including the back cover, spine, and front cover.

Calculate the spine width using our online tool: refer to Acutrack's Templates to automatically calculate the spine width for perfect bound (paperback) and case bound (hardcover) by selecting a paper type and entering the page count.

No spine is required if you're printing your book as coil bound (spiral), wire-o, or saddle stitched.

Barcode/ISBN: We require a bar code on the back cover if you would like to take advantage of our Acutrack book order fulfillment service. You can purchase an ISBN (from Bowker for U.S. authors) if you plan to place your book in retail distribution. If not, we can provide a 2mm data matrix barcode.

General File Submission Guidelines

√ All files must be in Adobe .pdf format

√ Submit two separate files

√ File #1: the book cover

√ File #2: inside pages

Formatting the Inside Pages

Please set up your inside pages as below to ensure your book formatting is clear and easy to read.

Bleed: A 0.125" (1/8th inch) bleed is required on all four sides so that text or images that bleed to the edge aren't cut off in print.

Margins: We recommend a one-inch margin -- the white space between the content and the edge of the page. The margin size is your choice, but one inch makes for a better reading experience.

Gutter: The gutter is extra margin space added to the center of your spread where the left and right pages meet. It prevents content from seeping into the crease; 0.5 inches is the standard for books.

Colors: All colors need to be in CMYK format. If the text is in black color, please convert it to pure black (only K has value, CMY=0) before saving your file.

Read How To Get Started

Pro Tip: Optimize Your Images for Printing

When adding graphics to your book, ensure they are optimized for printing.

Images used in print need a 300dpi resolution, so they are crisp and clear.

Submit Your Book for Printing Directly to Us

You can count on us to affordably print your book to the highest quality standards when you follow the submission procedure on this page. You can submit the cover and inside files online, and our team will carefully review them to ensure they are ready to go.

Our goal is simple: to help you access affordable book printing of the highest quality. We'll help you impress your target readers or customers and allow you to sell effectively in every retail channel – online and brick-and-mortar stores.

If you'd like to access our technology-driven book fulfillment service, we'll pack and ship your online orders with quick turnarounds and economically priced shipping.

Click here to learn more about our printing guidelines.

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How to Submit Your Book for Printing

Submitting Your Book’s Cover

General File Submission Guidelines

Formatting the Inside Pages

Pro Tip: Optimize Your Images for Printing

Submit Your Book for Printing Directly to Us

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