Hard Cover Layout

A few things to keep in mind when building your hardcover:

• The cover bleed is .625″ (5/8), much bigger than the interior pages
• The recommended margin is .5″ (1/2) between the safe area and the bleed area and also marks the hinge.
• The front and back covers will be .25″ (1/4) bigger than your page size (If the book is 8.5×11, the cover will be 8.75×11.25). This area includes the Safe and Unsafe Areas
• The safe zone for the cover is .75″ (3/4) smaller than the page size (If the book is 8.5×11, the safe area of the cover is 7.75×10.25)
• Feel free to place anything on the spine you wish, it will print just fine
• There is a hinge. It allows the hardcover to open and close without ripping the casewrap (printed cover) and it is part of the front & back covers on each side of the spine.

High Speed Hardcover Case Making Machine (chinaprintech.com)

Basic Layout for Hard Covers:

Multifunctional Automatic Hardcover Case Making Machine (chinaprintech.com)

Centering the Front and Back Covers

Bleed the background across the

entire cover including the .625″

bleed and .5″ unsafe area.

Center all the text and other objects from

the inside of the unsafe area

Automatic Hardcover Case Turner (chinaprintech.com)

HX60R Automatic Hardcover Case Corner Rounding Machine (chinaprintech.com)

HX500CR Semi Auto Hardcover Book Case Corner Rounding Machine (chinaprintech.com)

The Finished Hard Cover

It’s very easy to get “lost” in all this design jargon about bleeds and safe zones so let’s take a minute to visualize what your file will look like when it’s a finished cover.

Cover file with bleeds, unsafe area, and the spine

The finished book. Notice the bleed is wrapped around to the inside of the cover and the hinge is part of the cover