Perfect binding: how paperback spines are made and measured
Perfect binding glues the interior pages into a one-piece wrapped cover at the spine. It is how KDP and IngramSpark paperbacks are made, and it is why spine width is calculated from page count and paper rather than chosen.
1. Spine width equals page count multiplied by the paper's per-page thickness, so the cover cannot be finalized until the interior page count is final
Spine width equals page count multiplied by the paper's per-page thickness, so the cover cannot be finalized until the interior page count is final.
2. Glue, crease, and trim tolerances mean artwork should avoid hard color edges exactly on the folds, and spine text needs clearance on both sides
Glue, crease, and trim tolerances mean artwork should avoid hard color edges exactly on the folds, and spine text needs clearance on both sides.
3. Very thin perfect-bound books cannot carry spine text: KDP requires more than 79 pages, and IngramSpark asks for at least 48
Very thin perfect-bound books cannot carry spine text: KDP requires more than 79 pages, and IngramSpark asks for at least 48.
Perfect binding: how paperback spines are made and measured,perfect binding,Perfect binding glues the interior pages into a one-piece wrapped cover at the spine. It is how KDP and IngramSpark paperbacks are made, and it is why spine width is calculated from page count and paper rather than chosen.,Spine width equals page count multiplied by the paper's per-page thickness, so the cover cannot be finalized until the interior page count is final.,Glue, crease, and trim tolerances mean artwork should avoid hard color edges exactly on the folds, and spine text needs clearance on both sides.,Very thin perfect-bound books cannot carry spine text: KDP requires more than 79 pages, and IngramSpark asks for at least 48.
Templates show the bleed, trim, spine, fold zones, safe area and barcode area at full size. Put the template on a layer under your artwork, then hide it before export.
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Frequently asked questions
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Spine width equals page count multiplied by the paper's per-page thickness, so the cover cannot be finalized until the interior page count is final.
Glue, crease, and trim tolerances mean artwork should avoid hard color edges exactly on the folds, and spine text needs clearance on both sides.
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