Understanding Book Design in MyPublisher

Overview

MyPublisher gives you the option of creating three sizes of books — Classic Hardcover, Deluxe Hardcover and Paperback PocketBook. To select the type of book you want, first create your book using any of the Book Styles, Cover Styles and Page Layouts offered in MyPublisher. Next, click on Purchase to select your book size, cover color (if applicable) , and quantity.

  Paperback PocketBook Classic Hardcover Deluxe Hardcover
Cover Dimensions 5.75" high ×7.75" wide 8.75" high × 11.25" wide 11.5" high × 15" wide
Book Orientation Landscape Landscape Landscape
Minimum Number of Pages

20 pages (sides)

...printed single-sided (on the front right-hand side of the sheet only) is 20 sheets of paper.

...printed double-sided (on the front and the back of each sheet) is 10 sheets of paper.

Maximum Number of Pages

50 pages (sides) - maximum number of pages printed single-sided
100 pages (sides) - maximum number of pages printed double-sided

...50 pages (sides) printed single-sided (on the front right-hand side of the sheet only) is 50 sheets of paper.

...100 pages (sides) printed double-sided (on the front and the back of each sheet) is 50 sheets of paper.

Paper Dimensions 5.75" high ×7.75" wide 8.75" high × 11.25" wide 11.5" high × 15" wide
Paper Type 115# archival, acid-free, text stock 115# archival, acid-free, cover stock 80# archival, acid-free, heavy-weight, cover stock
Processing Time Orders received by noon EST are processed within approximately 4-6 business days. Shipping time will vary from 2 to 14 business days depending upon the selected shipping method and destination.

 

Book Covers

Classic and Deluxe Hardcover Books

Classic and Deluxe Hardcover books come with a Picture Window linen cover or a Book Jacket. There are various ways of customizing both. It can have a full-bleed photo, a photo with a caption, or a Themed Design.

The Picture Window cover has a self-contained window created by encasing the cover page with a gray archival-quality interior page. The cover image/design you choose for your Cover Page Layout shows within the frameless window.

The Book Jacket cover displays your Cover Page Layout on a high-quality, laminated cover stock that wraps completely around the hardcover casing.

The Photo Finish cover process prints your photos and words directly onto the hardcover book case. These covers are fully-lamenated and scratch and smudge-resistant.

With either a Picture Window, Book Jacket, or Photo Finish, the first page of your book will be the Title Page, or your first page of images if you choose not to have a Title Page, printed on the right-hand side. The cover image you choose for your Cover Page Layout will only appear on the cover.

Paperback PocketBooks

The covers on all MyPublisher Paperback PocketBooks feature a horizontal Printed Cover for viewing the Cover Page Layout.

PocketBook Cover Page Layouts can be either an image with a title caption, a full-bleed image or a Themed Cover Design (see following section).

You can place either a horizontal or a vertical image in the Cover Page Layout. HOWEVER, if you choose a vertical image, it will display on the Printed Cover, Book Jacket, or through the Picture Window with wide white borders on the left and the right sides of the image.

NOTE: We strongly recommend that you do not leave the Cover Page Layout blank. Doing so will result in a blank white page showing in the window or a blank book jacket or printed cover.

 

  Paperback PocketBook Classic Hardcover Deluxe Hardcover

Cover Dimensions

5.75" high × 7.75" wide 8.75" high × 11.25" wide 11.5" high × 15" wide
Cover Style Options Printed Cover

Horizontal Picture Window

Horizontal Book Jacket

Horizontal Picture Window

Horizontal Book Jacket

Printed Cover and Book Jacket Dimensions 5.75" high x 7.75" wide 8.75" high × 11.25" wide 11.5" high × 15" wide
Horizontal Picture Window Dimensions n/a

4" high × 5.5" wide

Full-bleed Image:
Horizontal: 4.125" x 5.5 "

Photo w/ Title caption:
Horizontal: 2.93" × 3.90 "

Vertical: 2.93" × 2.19"

5.5" high × 7.7" wide

Full-bleed Image:
Horizontal: 5.625" x 7.5"

Photo w/ Title caption:
Horizontal: 3.87 " × 5.16 "

Vertical: 3.87" × 2.90"

Picture Window Cover Colors & Materials

Cover Colors are not available for PocketBooks.

PocketBooks have your full-bleed photo or photo and text printed on the cover with a coordinating color on the back.

Picture Window Linen

Black, Ivory, Taupe, Kiwi, Navy
Poppy, Sage, Smoke, Maroon
+ Seasonal Colors

Picture Window Leather

Black, British Tan

Click here to see colors

Classic Books ordered with a Book Jacket have a black hardcover casing underneath the Book Jacket.

Picture Window Linen

Black, Ivory, Celery, Taupe, Sage

Picture Window Leather

Black, British Tan

Click here to see colors

Deluxe Books ordered with a Book Jacket have a black hardcover casing underneath the Book Jacket.

 

Book Jackets

Our Book Jackets give your PhotoBooks the look and feel of professional bookstore-quality books. Available for both our Classic and Deluxe hardcover books, the Book Jackets print your cover template on a high-gloss, laminated cover stock that resists marking and tearing. The Title you insert for your book on your cover page is also printed on the spine of the Book Jacket. Nothing is printed on the back or inside flaps of the jacket. All casings under the jacket are black linen. There are 10 different Book Jackets layouts available for your photo and text or you can select from one of our 13 Themed Cover Designs (see next section). Each available cover template layout has a coordinating color that is printed on the back of the Book Jacket and on the inside flaps. This default color cannot be changed.

Photo Finish

Our Photo Finish process prints your photos and words directly onto the hardcover book case. You can customize the front cover, spine, and back cover of each book for full creative freedom. Each Photo Finish cover is fully laminated and scratch and smudge-resistant.

Themed Cover Designs

MyPublisher's Themed Cover Designs offer a variety of professionally designed and personalized covers. If you wish, you can now select from one of 13 Themed Cover Designs rather than selecting a Photo and Caption or Full-bleed Photo layout for your cover. These covers express many popular book subjects such as birthdays, travel, anniversaries, babies or weddings plus other decorative designs that can be used for a variety of topics.

To access the Themed Cover Design options:

  • While in Make Book mode, click on the Cover Page of your book.
  • Then click on the Page Layout button from the tool bar under the design mat. All available Typographic Cover options will appear in a pop-up menu.
  • Select a Themed Cover Design you would like to use as your cover. You will then be able to add some personalized text within the pre-determined text boxes in the cover design.

To view all the new Themed Cover Designs in a sample book, click here.

If you choose a Book Jacket or Printed PocketBook cover and use one of the Themed Cover Designs, the back of the book jacket will have a default color that coordinates with the design on the front.

Following are the default colors printed on the backs of Book Jackets and Printed Cover PocketBooks for each of the Themed Cover Designs:

Themed Cover Design Default Print Color for Back of Book Jackets and Printed Covers

Birthday Candles

Tangerine - matches some of the candles
Baby Girl

Pink

Baby Boy
Powder Blue
2006
White

&

Lime Green - matches & sign

Love

Orange - matches Love lettering

Party!
Yellow - matches Party lettering
Bon Voyage
Tan - matches Bon Voyage lettering
Travel 'The World'

Taupe

Gray Daisies

Gray

Yellow Paint
White
Outlined Title Box
White
Curlicues w/ Heart

Red

Book Styles

MyPublisher's software offers many design and layout options to organize your photos and create your customized PhotoBook. The Book Style determines the style of placement of the photos on each page. The Page Type specifies the number of pictures you want to have on each page. The Page Layout is the arrangement on the page for the number of photos you selected for that page. There are dozens of different Page Layouts for each Book Style.

You will have the option to choose your Book Style before you begin creating your book.

When you choose a Book Style for your book, it is applied to your entire book. Multiple styles cannot be used in one book.

The placement of the pictures, captions and/or design elements on the page changes with each Book Style and Page Layout combination. This is displayed in the book image area in the gray design mat. If you change styles or layouts during the design of a book, please be sure to Preview every page of your book before purchasing.

If you decide to change your Book Style, you can simply click on the Book Size and Style button in the center of the design tool bar at the bottom of the screen while in Make Book mode. The Start Book screen displaying all the book sizes and styles will appear. Select your desired style using the drop-down menu.

There are 8 Book Styles to choose from: Just Photos, Modern, Story Teller, Bestseller, Travel, Wedding, Baby Boy and Baby Girl.

1. Just Photos

  • The Just Photos Book Style consists of photos only and should not be used if you are planning on adding captions, footers, or page numbers.
  • The full-bleed option is available for all pages.

2. Modern

  • The Modern Book Style places photos and captions center in a contemporary style.
  • Captions can be included.
  • There are also layouts for just photos available.

3. Story Teller

  • The Story Teller Book Style allows you to insert one caption per page instead of accommodating captions for each individual picture.
  • The caption boxes comprise approximately 1/3 of the page.
  • There is a border on all four sides of the photos.
  • There are also layouts for just photos available.

4. Bestseller

  • The Bestseller Book Style horizontally centers photos on the page.
  • There is a border on all four sides of the photos.
  • Captions can be included.
  • There are also layouts for just photos available.

5. Travel

  • The Travel Book Style creates the perfect travel album, perfectly complementing photos from your travels and holidays
  • It offers colored backgrounds, titled photos and sophisticated imagery like nautical maps, passport stamps, luggage tags and antiqued diary paper.

6. Wedding

  • The Wedding Book Style evokes the elegance and sophistication of your special day.
  • Classic layouts, muted background colors and refined design elements make the perfect wedding album.

7. Baby Boy

  • The Baby Boy Book Style consists of playful powder blue backgrounds and design elements to show off your favorite photos of your baby boy.
  • Makes the perfect baby book by offering a couple of form options to type in all his birth statistics.

Baby Girl

  • The Baby Girl Book Style consists of playful light pink backgrounds and design elements to show off your favorite> photos of your baby girl.
  • Makes the perfect baby book by offering a couple of form options to type in all her birth statistics.

The Travel, Wedding, Baby Boy and Baby Girl Book Styles have been professionally designed and were created to ensure your photos are the focus of the photo book while capturing the feeling of the theme. Some of the design elements are created to be askew, individual or unique and should not be considered printing errors.

Page Layouts

There are many Page Layout options available within each Book Style. First decide on the number of photos you want on a specific page and choose that option from the Page Type drop-down menu below the design mat. Then click the Page Layout button to see the options available for that number of pictures.

As a rule, horizontal images should be placed into horizontal frames and vertical images should be placed in vertical frames.

Customizing and Adding Pages to Your Book

To change the layout of an existing page:

  • Click on the page that you'd like to change the template of and make sure that it appears in the center design mat.
  • Select the Page Type i.e. 1 Photo, 2 Photos, etc. Then select the desired page layout. Click or drag the desired layout into your book.
  • The page in the center design mat will now take the form of the new layout automatically adding any photos that were on the previous layout.

NOTE: We recommend that you select a layout with the same number of photo frames as the existing layout. If you select a layout with fewer frames than the existing layout, the last photos on the page will be transferred to the next page. Photos on all subsequent pages will be moved one frame to the right. If you select a layout with more frames than the existing layout, the empty photo frames will not be automatically populated. Photos on all subsequent pages will be unaffected.

To add a page:

  • Select the Page Layout button from the design toolbar and click on the layout you would like to add. It will appear in your book on the design mat as a new page at the end of your sequence.
  • To change the sequence the new page appears in, hold the left mouse button down and drag the template to the page sequence until you see a blue line to the left of the picture that comes after the new page. Release the mouse button.

Full-Bleed Layout

With the full-bleed layout, the image is printed to the edge of the page on all sides. Full-bleed horizontal images take up the entire page. There is no white border surrounding the image. Full-bleed vertical images are printed to the edge of the page on the top and bottom but have a wide border on the left and on the right of the photo. The border will be the background color you select.

The Full-Bleed Cover Layout means the cover image takes up the entire Picture Window or Book Jacket.

Captions, Footers and Page Numbers cannot be added to full-bleed pages.

Text-Only Page Layout

The Text-Only Page Layout is the same as the Title Page and can be added as many times as you'd like, anywhere in your page sequence. Photos cannot be inserted in the Text-Only page.

To add a Text-Only Page Layout:
  • Click on Make Book mode from the tool bar under the design mat.
  • Click on the Page Type button and select "Text-Only" from the menu.
  • Then select the desired Text-Only Layout from the Page Layout pop-up. Add this Text-Only Layout to your page sequence by following the "To add a page layout " instructions listed above.

Page Background Colors

MyPublisher offers a choice of three background page colors — white, gray or Black. This option is available in all Book Styles and all Page Layouts. The default Background Page color is white. The Travel, Wedding, Baby Boy and Baby Girl Book Styles have pre-determined background colors that cannot be altered.

To select a Background Color for your page:
  • While in Make Book mode, click on the Page Layout button.
  • Click on the radio button next to the color you would like for the background of the page you are working on. Then select the desired page layout.
  • For each successive page, the background color must be chosen.

Photo Captions & Text

Caption boxes are offered in all Book Styles except Just Photos style. Also full-bleed page layouts do not offer caption boxes in any of the Book Styles.

To activate a caption box:

  • Make sure you are in Make Book mode by clicking on it in the tool bar under the design mat.
  • Click on the page that you want to add captions to.
  • Click on the gray outlined caption box that is located near the photo you are adding captions to.
  • The caption box will turn blue to indicate it is active and you can begin typing.

Entering captions

Each caption box has a maximum number of characters allowed within its sides. Type your caption as you would like it to appear. If you enter too many characters into a caption box the text will turn red. A pop up box will notify you that you have entered too much text. You will need to delete words until the text in the caption box turns black again.

Spell Check

MyPublisher has a built-in Spell Check feature. All captions will be automatically checked to help ensure accurate spelling. Any words that are improperly spelled will be underlined in red in the text box on the page. To correct a misspelled word, click on the text box in which the red word appears. Then you can edit the word within the caption editor box. Alternatively, you can right click on the word in the text box to see suggested spellings for the word and choose the desired word from the list. Then click outside the box and you will see how the corrected text will appear on the page. If a red line persists, the problem may not have been corrected or the word is unfamiliar to the Spell Checker.

To change the alignment of the text:
  • You do not need to highlight the text in the Caption Editor to change the alignment of the text.
  • Click on one of the three text alignment selections, left-justify, center or right-justify, located to the left of the font selection box.


Leaving text boxes blank

If you choose not to enter text into the Caption Editor, the area will appear just as blank background space. The text box outline you see on the screen will not be printed.

Cutting and pasting text from another document

We do not recommend that you cut and paste text from a different application. Imported text may not translate properly when processed to our press, even though it appears correctly in the Preview.

If you do cut and paste text, we urge you to re-type the following characters once you have imported them into MyPublisher:
  • Apostrophes
  • Quotation Marks
  • Ellipses
  • Dashes

Overlapping text on the cover page

If you see text overlapping on the cover page:
  • Click on the first text box: the border will turn blue.
  • In the caption-enter area, delete any extra spaces or random characters that may appear or any returns at the end of a line of text.
  • Repeat this process for the second text box on the cover page.
  • Red text means that the error has not been corrected.

Fonts

MyPublisher features 4 custom MyPublisher fonts - MP Palisade, MP Dorset, MP Baxter, MP Peony - plus 9 other fonts including Arial, Courier New, Lucida Sans Unicode, Palatino Linotype, Palatino Linotype Bold, Tahoma, Times New Roman and Verdana.

All fonts are available in all Book Styles with a unique selection of font sizes available depending on the size of the text box and the font itself. Fonts and font treatments (e.g. bold, italics, underline) cannot be mixed within a caption box. Fonts cannot be deleted or added to MyPublisher software.

NOTE: Bold and italic font treatments are not available for every font type.


To change the default font:

  • Click on the selector arrow next to the default font to choose another font you would prefer.
  • You do not need to highlight the text in the Caption Editor to change the font type.
  • You must select the font type for each page you want to change. MyPublisher does not automatically change the font on every page when you change the font on one page. However, the font you select will become the new default font for all subsequent pages you create.

To change the style of the font:

  • Select the B to the right of the font selection box to bold the text.
  • Select the I to the right of the font selection box to italicize the text.
  • Select the U to the right of the font selection box to Underline the text.

Page Numbers and Footers

Adding page numbers
If desired, page numbers can be printed in your book. The page numbers are printed on the lower left-hand corner of left-hand pages and the lower right-hand corner of right-hand pages. If page numbers are selected, every page will be numbered. Page numbers cannot be included in full-bleed layouts.

To turn the page numbering function on and off:
  • While in Make Book mode, click on the Print Options button in the tool bar under the design mat.
  • Click on the radio button next to the Page Numbers option located in the Print Options pop-up.

Adding footers
Footers appear on the bottom of every page in your book. If you are creating your book with double-sided printing, the footers alternate between the lower left-hand corner (even-numbered pages) and the lower right-hand corner (odd-numbered pages) of each page. If footers are selected, the footer will appear on every page of your book. The footer function is available in every Book Style except for Just Photos.

To turn the footer function on and off:

  • While in Make Book mode, click on the Print Options button in the tool bar under the design mat.
  • Click on the radio button next to the Footer option located in the Print Options pop-up.


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