Answer:

Digital printing is a printing method where digital data is printed directly onto paper. Standard intermediate steps, such as film and printing plate exposure, as well as start-up time for the printing machine, are eliminated with this method. In digital printing, all pages of a book are printed as a single unit; laying out and sorting the pages (“imposition”) is handled ahead of time on the computer. Consequently, alterations or additions to the content of the book can only be done on the original file.

Answer:

Generally speaking, we accept hard copy (printed pages) and digital copy (PostScript or PDF files with embedded fonts and illustrations, as well as graphics files in TIF format, but only for the cover). Word files are not suitable for us as camera-ready copy. What is important is that your document is complete and completely formatted when you submit it to us.

Answer:

If you submit your manuscript as hard copy, you must insert white sheets for any blank pages at the beginning and end of the book and, perhaps, between individual chapters (one sheet per page). If you want a different type area (the way the text is arranged on the book page), be sure to send a sample page along.

Answer:

There are two crucial factors for creating PostScript or PDF files successfully. To make sure that the way they look on your screen is exactly as they will look when they are printed, you should observe the following: we strongly suggest that you use BoD easyPrint (suitable for all standard Windows versions and for Mac OS X to OS X 10.5). This virtual printer driver makes it possible to transfer your book data from your layout or word processing program to BoD via simple mouse click. At BoD the data is then automatically transferred into a printable PDF file. Simply download BoD easyPrint directly from BoD’s website. Another important step is that you embed the fonts, i.e., we suggest that you use fonts which your computer has to begin with. Suitable typefaces are, for instance, Helvetica or Garamond. If you use Word, you then have to check the “True Type” box in the Extras/Options sub-menu before saving the document.

Answer:

Your document is converted into a PDF file with the printer driver of the software Adobe Acrobat (not with PDFWriter). It is called Distiller up to version 5.0 and simply Adobe PDF from version 6.0 on. We recommend that you use our own printer driver BoD easyPrint. This printer driver allows you to transfer your book data to BoD by mouse click from your running application (e.g., directly from your Word document). At BoD it is then automatically converted into a printable PDF file. You can quite easily install BoD easyPrint from your personal online portal myBoD. Our printer driver is suitable for all standard Windows versions and for Max OS X to OS X 10.5.

Answer:

Generally speaking, yes: colour graphics are automatically converted into greyscale images in black-and-white printing. Still, it is absolutely recommended that you already convert the graphics for the camera-ready copy, because this is the only way that the quality of the print can be checked and altered later on. Otherwise it will not be clear where graphic adjustments due to lack of colour contrast might make sense. Strong red shades, for example, turn into dark grey, often losing their original contrast to the adjoining colour surfaces in the process.

Answer:

Our services BoD Professional, BoD Individual, and BoD Premium contain attractive offers for professional cover design – either based on templates or according to your individual requests.

Answer:

Greyscale images (photographs and illustrations with gradations or shadings) must have a resolution of 300 dpi, and line art (strictly black-and-white pictures, such as copper engravings or ink drawings) a resolution of 600 dpi for black-and-white printing. If at all possible, you should select the colour mode RGB for colour illustrations. The quality of digital images does not improve if you merely increase the resolution by using a graphics program. It is the resolution of the original that is decisive. For this reason you should always select a sufficiently high resolution during the scanning process. Please also keep in mind that loss of quality is unavoidable when you enlarge the picture format. An image with 600 dpi can be enlarged to twice the size of the original at most without falling short of the minimum resolution of 300 dpi.