Cover Diagrams:
Hardcover Diagram – PUR Glued
Books that have PUR glued hardcovers have an adhesive that is pushed against the binding edge of the book block first in one direction, then the other, thereby fanning or separating the edges of the sheets. Boards are then attached to the book blocks which creates a hardcover. These boards are covered with leather, cloth or a printed cover. Sign in or create an account now to download an interactive PDF version of this Hardcover – PUR Glued diagram.
Overview & Layout
1-2-3 Hardcover Setup (Using InDesign)
Create a new document in Indesign. As you see above.
This cover setup example is based on a 5.5" x 8.5" cover with 128 pages of 80# gloss paper. Spine depth was calculated by the hardcover diagram.
A The overall width of your book including the spine. In this example, .75" + 5.313" + .375" + .493" + .375" + 5.313" + .75" = 13.368".
B This should ALWAYS be just 1 page UNLESS you have an inside printed cover, then change to 2 pages. See top of page for additional guidance.
C Changing value to two columns effectively sets up your front and back cover area.
D Column gutter is the same as the spine depth as determined by the cover diagram.
E The margins will mark the wrap area. Keep all critical type, logos, graphics, barcode etc. a minimum of 1/8" inside these margins. Note that margins will not mark on either side of spine, just outer edges. If you want a consistent margin around all four sides of your front and back cover, pull out guides from the rulers.
F Standard bleed is .125". If your cover has a background color or image you want to extend to the very edge of your book, you must extend past the trim line to the bleed. Slight paper shifting is common in printers, so this ensures full coverage even if there is shifting.
Here is an example of best practices when designing a cover for your book.
Set Hinge Guides (Hardcover)
The Cover Diagram is an excellent resource to get you started on your cover layout, and essential in order to determine the depth of your spine. It provides you all the information you need to set up your cover in InDesign. The document setup window in InDesign allows you to get just about everything setup for you to start designing, but you still have to manually set your hinge guides so you know exactly where to position content like your title, barcode author name etc.
This quick tutorial will show you exactly how to do that.
Start by making sure you have “Snap to Guides” on. From top menu go to View/Grids & Guides/Snap to Guides. If there is not a checkmark beside it scroll to that item to turn on. Next, go to the top left corner of your document workspace (A). Click and keep pressing down on mouse, do not release. Drag to the corner of top margin and left edge of spine (B) and release.
Notice that the X and Y coordinates have now reset to where you released the mouse (C). Next, Click and drag anywhere on the left vertical ruler and drag out a guide. Release anywhere on layout. As long as you have not clicked on anything, the guide will still be selected. If it has been accidentally deslected, it will be a lighter blue color. If this happens, just click and drag over the guide anywhere to select it again. Next, go to your Properties tab, and in the X coordinate field, type “-.375 in.” and hit return (D).
Repeat steps one and two only this time drag your coordinate reset and drop on the right edge of spine. Again, pull out a guide from the ruler, and with guide still “live”, go once again to your properties tab and this time type “.375 in.” (no negative). You will now have two guides placed precisely .375” away from either side of spine.
Now that your hinge guides are set, reset your X and Y coordinates. Go back to the top left corner and simply double click in the box (E). Lastly, Lock your guides to prevent them from accidentally moving. Click and drag over both, then go up to the top menu go to View/Grids & Guides/Lock Guides.
Well done! You are now ready to start laying out your cover.
Note: if the minimum spine is under .1236 inches use Hardcover Diagram (Sewn).
Sign in or create an account now to download an interactive PDF version of this Hardcover (PUR Glued) diagram.