Print2Demand
P2D Books works with both publishers and self-publishers across the UK to create high quality full colour printed books. We have created a state of the art factory which is complemented by our excellent customer service.
Our new website also includes an innovative online ordering process so you can order your books or booklets as quickly and efficiently as possible.
We’ve invested in the latest digital and litho printing technology which runs alongside our fully equipped craftsman bindery. This allows us to offer both softback and hardback books in long and short runs to an exceptional high standard. Our binding services include saddle stitched, wire-o bound, case bound and perfect binding.
We want to ensure our customers feel comfortable throughout the whole book manufacturing process. Our priority is to ensure your book production runs smoothly. We’ll keep print jargon to a minimum and provide clear advice along the way.
Order black and white or colour books in portrait, landscape or square. Front and back covers can be printed on one or both sides with gloss, matt, or soft touch matt lamination as required. Special finishes including foil blocking and spot UV are also available.
If you would like to know how to get a book printed, please get in touch.
Book Design
When setting out and writing your book, its best to start by setting up the document to the correct size (as required in the finished book).
When using Microsoft Word there are a few things to consider before typing the manuscript. Firstly its very important to set up the page size in the document, to that which you want the finished book to be. This will save a lot of extra work further down the line. Secondly ensure the page margins are correct, we usually say 15mm (1.5cm) to be safe, but that’s not to say you cannot use your own desired margins.
Choosing the right font and font size is important too, the most commonly used font size is 11pt and font Times New Roman. Personally there are so many nice fonts available its worth typing a few sentences on a document and changing them to different fonts and printing them out to see what you think works best for you.
By getting all of this correct before you start, will mean at the end when you save the file to a PDF, it will be print ready and exactly as you want it to be for printing and publishing.
When setting up the cover P2D Books can supply you with a spine width which requires the following information, page count, trim size and paper required. We have various Microsoft Word templates available to download from our website under the helping hand section.
Find our top tips and tricks for book design here.
Types Of Books
Paperback Books
Paperback (Softback) printing is a more cost-effective option than hardcovers, but the type of cover you choose can also be dictated by the purpose of the book. Paperback books are more lightweight and easier to pick up and transport.
P2D Books provides paperback book printing and binding to meet any requirement. Our innovative online ordering system allows you to choose detailed print options and you will then see an instant print quote. From here you can proceed to order your paperback books online.
Cloth, Block and Jacketed Hardback Books
High quality hardback book printing or hardcover books are perfect if you want to produce a highly professional finish. A hardcover is durable enough to be picked up many times.
The perfect choice for corporate documents, limited edition prints and school yearbooks. Our online ordering offers hardback books in a range of sizes, paper types and page counts.
Our innovative online ordering system allows you to choose detailed print options and you will then see an instant print quote. From here you can proceed to order your hardback books online.
PPC Hardback Books
P2D Books provides a hardback book printing service to meet any requirement. Our innovative online ordering system allows you to choose detailed print options and an instant print quote. From here you can proceed to order your book online.
If you are looking for booklet printing or promotional brochure printing then look no further than P2D Books. We supply high quality and cost effective booklet printing for any purpose. With us you can order booklet and brochure printing from small documents through to detailed bound books.
Our innovative online ordering system allows you to choose detailed print options and you will then see an instant print quote. From here you can proceed to order your PPC Hardback books online.
Wire-O Bound Books
Wire-O bound printing is perfect for books, booklets and guides that get regular use or need to be long lasting, ideal for cooking books, instruction manuals or presentations. Wire-O binding is a popular choice for manuals, reports, activity books and presentation documents too. Their design means pages can be completely folded round or double pages can be laid out flat.
P2D Books can supply wire-o bound books to meet any requirement. Our innovative online ordering system allows you to choose detailed print options and you will then see an instant print quote. From here you can proceed to order your wire-o books online.
Colour Options
P2D Books offer books in Colour, mono, or a mix of the two. Some mono printed books may have a group of colour pages within the book in one or two locations called a colour plate section. We print to FOGRA 39 colour standard, and use high quality inkjet technology.
Images supplied at a minimum of 300dpi will achieve the best results. Its always best to supply your file saved as a PDF in CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) the 4 standard colours used in the print process. RGB can also be supplied but the colours are not as bright and vibrant against CMYK.
Our Book Sizes
P2D Books offer many of the UK and US standard books sizes but we do not stop there. We can produce a book to so many sizes that we cannot list them all.
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a page in mm.
Our Book Covers
Softback
Softback cover materials, we usually recommed either 280gsm Single sided board or 300gsm Silk. 280gsm is only coated one side so bulks heavier than 300gsm Silk. 300gsm Silk is usually used when a client wants the cover to be printed on the inside aswell as the outside cover.
PPC (Printed Paper Case) Hardback
Hardback cover materials, we print PPC (printed paper case) covers on 170gsm Silk coated paper. These are then laminated as per your choice, and then adhered to the hard boards of your PPC hardback book order.
Hardback
Hardback cover materials, we print loose dust jacket covers on 170gsm Silk coated paper. These are then laminated as per your choice, and then wrapped as a loose jacket around your hardback book order.
Paper Types
Paper types refers to the finish of the paper, this affects the look of the pages rather than the feel or the weight.
Uncoated (Offset and Bookwove)
- This produces a matt finish. Most books that you read have an uncoated finish.
- Perfect for: novels, poetry books, anthologies, short stories, and biographies
Silk coated
- Paper with a silk finish has a low sheen coating. This improves colours and sharpens images. Silk is somewhere between uncoated and gloss, it provides a high-quality look in a more subtle way than gloss.
- Perfect for: photo books, colour plate sections, posters, leaflets, and brochures.
Gloss coated
- Paper has a higher glossy sheen coating which further enhances colours and sharpness. Personally its too shiny for us and we would always recommend Silk for that reason.
- Perfect for: children’s books, photo books, and recipe books.
Binding Options
Softback or Paperback as its otherwise known. Used for producing novels, reports, manuals, thesis, and many more.
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and held together with glue using a method called perfect binding. This can be strengthened by sewing as well at extra cost.
Stapled Books or Booklets as its otherwise known. Used for producing smaller pagination products below 32 pages.
Stapled Books or Booklets is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and held together with two wire staples through the spine a method called saddle stitching.
Wire-o or Spiral binding as its otherwise known. Used for producing manuals, report and accounts, reports, reference books and many more.
A Wire-o or Spiral book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and held together with a metal ring wire colour coated a binding method called Wire-o binding.
Hardback or Hard Cover, (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers. Can be produced as a PPC (printed paper case cover) where the printed cover is mounted to the rigid grey boards.
The grey boards can also be covered in Wibalin Cloth or some times leather, with a loose dust jacket and gold foil blocking to the spine only or front and spine. Held together with glue using a method called perfect binding. This can be strengthened by sewing as well at extra cost.
