Using Images to Bring Your Book to Life

Transcript:

Many of our authors like to include their own artwork, illustrations, or photographs on their covers or interiors. This is a great way to make your book more appealing to readers, but there are very specific requirements an image must meet in order to be published. In this video, we will help you determine which kind of pictures to send and which ones are not likely printable. First, let’s talk about where we can place images.

Images for Your Cover

We can design a cover for your book. But, if you have specific pictures you would like to use, we can accept one or two of your own images as long as they meet the size and resolution requirements we’ll discuss later in this video. You are also welcome to browse reputable stock photography website for images. Please contact your representative for more details on how to access these sites.

Images for Your Book’s Interior

We can accept images such as photographs, drawings, art work, screen shots, charts, or any other graphic that can be inserted into your text. There are an allotted number of images in each of our publishing packages, and every image that you would like to include beyond the allotted number will incur an additional fee. See our Fee Schedule or contact a representative to learn more about the number of allotted images in your package and the corresponding rates.

Permission to Use

You must have legal permission to use any images you submit. Xlibris reserves the right to refuse to process graphic images that seem to come from copyrighted sources unless written permission from the copyright holder is included. It is usually safe to use your own art work or personal photographs. But a photograph taken by a photography studio or a professional photographer will require the studio’s or photographer’s permission even if you paid for the photograph to be taken. In addition, most images on the internet or in newspapers and magazines are copyrighted and will require written permission to reproduce.

You’ll want to make sure your images appear in your book as crisp and clear as possible. To keep your book’s production smoothly, you’ll also want to send them in a way that’s easiest for us to understand and work with.

Accepted Image File Formats

We prefer to receive your images as TIF files. TIF is an acronym for Tagged Image File Format. We like this format because it provides the highest quality image possible. By submitting your images as TIF files, you will see cleaner, crisper definition in all of the images you send both on the cover and in your book. We can also accept JPEG and GIF files, but image quality may be diminished.

Check the Size & Resolution of Your Images

An image is only as good as its resolution relative to its size. Size and resolution together determine the quality of the image and how it will look in your final book. Problems with image size and resolution are the number one reason for production delays. We have a video tutorial available, How to Check Image Size and Resolution, that explains how you can check your images to make sure they will meet our printer’s requirements. First, let’s talk about resolution and then we’ll talk about how it relates to size.

The Minimum Resolution is 300 PPI/DPI

You can think of resolution as the crispness or the quality of focus in your image. Obviously, we want the best possible resolution. Resolution is measured in PPI or Pixels Per Inch. You may also see it measured in DPI, or Dots Per Inch. They both mean roughly the same thing and can be used interchangeably. Images for your book should be no less than 300 PPI or DPI. Anything less than 300 will not print with accurate clarity and may appear fuzzy or jagged in the final book.

Minimum Size Requirements

As we mentioned earlier, an image’s resolution is directly related to its size. We recommend that your images be no less than 6 inches wide for landscape-oriented images or 6 inches tall for portrait-oriented images. If you send a smaller image, we may be limited as to where we can place the image and how large it will be in the final book.

Full-Bleed (Full Page) Images Have Additional Requirements

Full Bleed Images are images that fill a page or a cover extending all the way to the edges. If you want an image to be Full Bleed, you’ll need it to be slightly bigger than the page or the cover itself. To determine the size your Full Bleed image should be, add 1/8 of an inch to the page or cover’s top, bottom, and outside edge. For example, if you were publishing a 6 by 9 book, a Full Bleed image will need to be submitted at 6.125 by 9.25 inches. Keep in mind that the outer 1/8 inch of a Full Bleed image will be cropped at the printer so be sure there is no vital information near the edges.

In general, the bigger your picture the better. We can always make an image smaller without sacrificing its quality but we cannot enlarge an image without decreasing its resolution. You can learn how to check your images and make sure they meet the minimum requirements by watching our video tutorial on How to Check Image Size and Resolution. If you’re publishing a color book, we also strongly recommend you watch Color Books: Guidelines and Design Options to learn more information unique to color publishing.

Image Manipulation

Xlibris offers image manipulation services to alter the images you submit according to your requirements. We can retouch, repair, colorize, create silhouettes, and create text or artistic background effects. Each service has an allotted number of images that we can manipulate and every image beyond the allotted number has an additional charge.

Color Modes: RGB and CMYK

Xlibris offers image manipulation services to alter the images you submit according to your requirements. We can retouch, repair, colorize, create silhouettes, and create text or artistic background effects. Each service has an allotted number of images that we can manipulate and every image beyond the allotted number has an additional charge.

RGB stands for Red/Green/Blue, the primary colors of light. This is the color space used by image scanners, digital cameras, computer monitors, and all other devices that involve light emitted from a source.

CMYK stands for Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black, the primary colors of pigment. CMYK is the predominant color space used in the publishing industry where colors are not backed by light.

Your Book’s Colors Will Be Printed in CMYK

Xlibris offers image manipulation services to alter the images you submit according to your requirements. We can retouch, repair, colorize, create silhouettes, and create text or artistic background effects. Each service has an allotted number of images that we can manipulate and every image beyond the allotted number has an additional charge.

Any color images that appear on your cover or inside a color book must be CMYK. It is best if you convert your images to CMYK yourself so you can see yourself how the images will look before you send them to us. Otherwise, we will perform a standard color mode conversion on your images to make them CMYK printer compliant. The difference between RGB and CMYK usually isn’t noticeable in photographs but you may notice a slight color variation in a rich background color or in colors that approximate a neon effect. These vibrant RGB colors won't look bad when converted to CMYK but they will look different, usually a little more subdued.

Once you’re ready to submit your images, you’ll also want to help us understand where they go. Here is a preferred way of communicating image placement.

Name Your Image Files Chronologically

First, we recommend renaming your image files in chronological order as they should appear throughout your book. This tells us very quickly how many pictures there are and what order they go in. It may also help us recognize if we may be missing an image.

Type Placement Instructions into the Manuscript

Then, we suggest you type your image placement instructions in the manuscript itself exactly where you’d like your image to go. We ask that you keep your image placement instructions between paragraphs, not in the middle of a paragraph. The instructions should stand apart from your main text for easy recognition. We recommend making the placement instructions bigger, bolder, and red.

In production, we will simply replace these easy to spot instructions with the images that should go there. Please be sure that the instructions refer to the images by their exact file name or we may not understand your image placement instructions.

Image Captions

If you are publishing a color book or if your book contains special formatting concerns such as footnotes, tables, columns of text, or an index, we recommend watching our subject specific videos on these topics before submitting your materials. Otherwise, if you’re ready to submit your materials, watch our video, Submitting Your Materials: What Happens Next?

In production, we will simply replace these easy to spot instructions with the images that should go there. Please be sure that the instructions refer to the images by their exact file name or we may not understand your image placement instructions.

If you have any additional questions or concerns for your book, you are always welcome to contact us at 0800-644-6988 . Thank you again for choosing Xlibris as your publisher. We look forward to getting started on your book.