Generate Template

The only available extension to create a template right now is Perfect-Bound Cover which modifies the document to create a cover for perfect-bound books using US size and paper weight measurements. This extension will resize the document to include the width, height, spine width, and bleed measurements that are provided to the extensions, so it should be the first operation done before designing.

Ideally, you want to know the PPI of the paper stock you’ll be using. Average caliper size or point size (which is the caliper size times 1000) are just as good. Your printer should be able to tell you any of these measurements. If not, you’ll have to guess. Or find another printer. If you don’t know the PPI, caliper, or point size of the paper your printer is using, but do know the type of paper and its weight, you can estimate PPI or caliper using the charts on the Case Paper ( http://www.casepaper.com/calc_chart_caliper.htm ) or the Micro Format ( http://www.paper-paper.com/weight.html ) site.

For instance, let’s say your printer uses 20# bond paper, a pretty standard paper weight, to print the interior pages of your 200 page book. Most likely, the caliper size of this paper is .004, but again, verify this with your printer before proceeding. Calculate the PPI by diving the number 2 by the caliper size:

2/.004 = 500

The PPI of this paper is 500, which means that, for every 500 pages in your book, the spine will be 1 inch thick.

Now, with the PPI, you can calculate the thickness of the spine, without the allowance for the cover. The size of the spine for the interior pages will be:

200/500 = .4 inches

Next, do the same for the cover. Let’s say your cover is going to be printed on 9pt paper stock. Points to caliper is a really easy conversion — divide the points by 1000 to get .009, then calculate:

2/.009 = 222

Since the cover is four “pages” (outside and inside covers), the additional inches you need to add to the spine will be:

4/222 = .018

So your final spine width in inches for a 200 page book printed on 20# bond with a cover that is printed on 9pt stock is:

(200 / (2/.004)) + (4 / (2/.009)) = .418

.4 + .018 = .418 inches

All this is different in metric.

Let's take an example. You have a 6″x9″ book with 176 pages to be printed on paper with a PPI of 426 and the cover — on 9pt stock. You also need 1/8″ bleeds. Here’s how you would set up the document:

And here is how the final document looks:

You can also use the Live Preview option to see what you get.