The things people ask before their first print run.

Four for a paperback, five for a hardcover — a hardcover needs the extra copy because of how the cases are made. The estimator quotes up to five hundred, and there is no obligation to order the number you priced.

Below about twenty-five copies the per-copy price rises sharply — not because of the paper, but because prepress and press setup cost the same whether we print four books or five hundred. That fixed cost has fewer copies to spread across.

Setup is a fixed cost. Once the file is imposed and the press is running, each additional copy costs only its paper, ink and binding.

Put the same specification into the estimator at different quantities and it shows you the effect directly, rather than asking you to take our word for it.

It is close, but it is an estimate. It covers printing, binding and a standard cover at the run length you chose.

It does not include foiling or other finishing, non-standard trim sizes or stock, or delivery. Send us the specification and we will confirm a firm price.

It depends on the run length, the binding and how busy the presses are, so we confirm a date with your quote rather than publishing one.

Hardcover work takes longer than paperback — case binding has more stages, and the cases need time to set.

The estimator prices 4 trim sizes — 5.5 × 8.5 in, 6 × 9 in, 7.25 × 9.5 in, 8.5 × 11 in — in paperback (perfect bound) and hardcover.

We also do wiro, centre-pin and hardcover with a dust jacket. Those are not in the estimator yet, so ask us and we will price them.

Presses do not print single pages. Sheets are folded into sections, so the text block rounds up to a multiple of eight, and colour pages to a multiple of four.

Entering 250 pages will quote as 256. The extra pages are blank unless you use them, and you are not charged twice for them.

The spine is the bound edge, and its thickness depends on your page count and paper. Your cover artwork has to be built to that measurement or the front panel will not sit square when the book is bound.

The estimator shows the figure as you change pages and paper, because it is the number cover designers ask us for most and it is easier to give it up front.

For most text, 70–80 gsm. Lighter paper makes a thinner, cheaper book; heavier paper feels more substantial and shows less print-through.

Choose 100 gsm art paper when the book has photographs or artwork that needs a smooth, coated surface. It is noticeably thicker, which the spine figure reflects.

A print-ready PDF is best — PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 if your software offers it, with fonts embedded and images at 300 dpi.

Send the text block and the cover as separate files. If you only have a Word document, send it anyway and we will tell you what needs doing.

Bleed is 3 mm of extra artwork past the trim line. When a stack of pages is guillotined the cut can shift by a fraction of a millimetre, and bleed means a shifted cut takes off spare artwork instead of leaving a white sliver at the edge.

You need it on any page where colour or an image runs to the edge. Plain text pages do not need it. Keep text at least 12 mm from the trim edge.

Yes. We check bleed, margins, image resolution, embedded fonts and spine width before the job is scheduled — not after it has printed wrong.

If something will cause trouble on press we tell you and explain the fix.

Yes, and nothing goes on press until you approve it. Proofing is paperless: you review from a browser wherever you are.

Your files sit behind a firewall on machines configured so staff can print your book but cannot copy it.

You keep every right to your work. We are your printer, not your publisher, and we make no claim on what you send us.

Not to print. You need one to sell through retailers and distributors, and each format — paperback, hardcover, ebook — takes its own ISBN.

In India ISBNs are issued free by the Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency for ISBN, under the Ministry of Education. Apply directly; you should not pay anyone for one.

Yes. Approved files are held press-ready, so a reprint does not repeat prepress and a backlist title can go from decision to delivery quickly.