Print guide

Printing The Magic Words Inside of Me

One page. Pick one of the three ways and follow it. Questions: fireflyjarbooks@gmail.com.

What you have

Four PDFs came with your email.

1. The screen version. Cover and all pages, for reading on a tablet or phone. Not for printing.
2. The book. 32 single pages in reading order, 8.5 by 11 inches plus a 0.125 inch bleed on every side, fonts embedded, no marks. For online printers and home printing.
3. The cover. Back, spine and front as one wide wrap page with bleed. For print shops and online printers that ask for a separate cover.
4. The print-shop version. The same 32 pages with crop marks. For a print shop.

Look through every page on a screen before you print. If a page is off, reply to the email with the page number and we repaint it once at no charge. Still wrong after that? Tell us and we keep going.

The specs, for anyone who asks

• Finished size: 8.5 by 11 inches (US Letter), portrait
• 32 pages, supplied as single pages in reading order, not as spreads
• The cover comes as a separate wrap file (back, spine, front). If a shop prefers a self-cover booklet, page 1 is the title page and works as the front; both are fine.
• Full bleed: 0.125 inch on all four sides. Trim to the crop marks.
• Full colour, sRGB, 300 dpi, fonts embedded
• Paper for the pages: 100 lb gloss or matte text. If the shop offers a heavier outer sheet, 100 lb cover or 14 pt is plenty.
• Binding: saddle stitch (two staples in the fold; lies flat; cheapest) or perfect bound (glued spine; looks like a bookshop book). Both work at 32 pages.

Way 1: a local print shop. Fastest, often same day

Bring or email the print-shop file. Say this:

"One copy of a 32-page booklet, 8.5 by 11, portrait, full colour, full bleed, trim to the crop marks. 100 lb gloss or matte text, self cover, saddle stitched."

If they ask about a cover: give them the cover file, on 100 lb cover or 14 pt stock. Self cover (no separate cover) is also fine if they prefer.
If they ask for a file without crop marks: give them the other PDF.
If they offer to show you one printed page before binding, say yes. The cream paper tone varies from machine to machine and you want to see it.
If they ask for spreads: no, single pages. They impose it on their side.

Staples, FedEx Office, Office Depot and most independent copy shops do this every day.

Way 2: online. One to two weeks with shipping

Pick a letter-size (8.5 by 11) booklet or magazine, full colour, 32 pages, and upload the file without crop marks.

• Mixam (mixam.com). Booklets, Letter, 32 pages, staple binding, self cover, 100 lb gloss or silk text. One file, no separate cover. The simplest of the three.
• Lulu (lulu.com). Print book, US Letter, premium colour, saddle stitch or paperback. Lulu asks for a separate cover file: upload the cover PDF. If their template wants a different spine width, email fireflyjarbooks@gmail.com and we resize it.
• Blurb (blurb.com). Magazine, 8.5 by 11, Premium, perfect bound, through their PDF to Book upload. Also asks for a separate cover: upload the cover PDF.

Prices change and depend on paper and country, so use their calculators. For Christmas, order the book by December 10 and the print by December 12: most online printers need about a week to print, plus shipping.

Way 3: at home

• Use the file without crop marks.
• In the print dialog pick "Fit to page" or "Scale to fit." Home printers cannot print to the edge, so you get a small white border. The art survives it.
• Paper: the heaviest matte paper your printer will take. 32 lb bright white is the floor. Matte photo paper or 65 lb cardstock looks closest to the real thing.
• Print one side only unless the paper is thick enough that the art does not show through. Test with pages 4 and 5 first.
• Inkjet pages need a few minutes to dry before you stack them.
• Binding: print as a booklet (the "Booklet" option in the print dialog, if your printer does two-sided) and staple through the fold with a long-reach stapler. Or take the loose pages to a copy shop and ask for a comb or coil binding; that is a few minutes and a few dollars.

If it comes out wrong

• A white edge on one side: the shop printed at 100 percent on letter paper and did not trim. Ask them to print on oversize and trim to the crop marks.
• Pages out of order or two on a sheet: they imposed your spreads twice. Give them single pages and let their software do it.
• Art showing through the page: the paper is too thin. Ask for 100 lb text.
• Colours look flat or muddy: ask for gloss instead of uncoated, and for sRGB left as is, not converted.

Send a photo of the problem page to fireflyjarbooks@gmail.com and we will tell you what to ask the shop.