How do I create a spine in InDesign? 2

[kentara]

I have an InDesign document that will be printed as a book. The first page in the document is the front cover and the last page is the back cover. I need to create a spine for this book, however. How do I do this?

I have tried looking for step-by-step instructions on how to create a spine, but have found nothing.
- Do the back cover, spine, and front cover need to be on a three-page-spread together?
- If so, how do I do this? My document currently has the content pages all on two-page spreads and the front cover and back cover each on one-page
- Should I be doing this in a separate InDesign document from the book contents?
- If so, how can I link it all together in a PDF afterward for the printer?

Please help, if you can! Thank you!!

 

[jimoblak]

There are plenty of ways to do this. What does your printer tell you? They are the only folks that can specify the best way to do this.

 

[MarcusStringer]

I would produce the a new document of the cover
dimensions will be: page width+spine width+Page width x Page height.

You then lay out the elements in the same way as you would look at a cover if you layed it out flat on a table. (Back Cover=left hand side then spine in middle, front cover on right hand side)

To get the width of the spine do as Jim said, contact you printer.

Then you can set you spine width correctly.

I would never include covers in the same document as the book, because covers usually get printed on different stocks, which means different presses and plates and inpositions etc.

Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[apepp]

...yeh, treat the cover separately from text, the weight of stock used and the number of pages when bound together dictates how deep the spine will need to be, stacking the used stock together is the only sure fire way how knowing...

...don't forget in perfect bound work, the spine will need a little extra allowance for the glue to sit in, an extra 1mm to 1.5mm or so should suffice...

have fun!
andrew

 

[kandsuk]

All good advice above. I'd say your best bet is to contact the printer. They are there to be helpful. Book covers, IMO, should be treated separately. Ask the printer for appropriate spine width (there's an equation for calculating this yourself, but there's a lot more to it than figuring out the number of pages -- think stock, gsm, type of binding, etc -- so just ask the printer).

Then calculate the overall dimensions:
Height x (back-cover-width + spine-width + front-cover-width) + bleed

Ask your printer what bleed he wants, too. It's usually around 3mm to 6mm and varies on taste alone.

(ignore my "Vendor" status... I clicked the wrong thing when I signed up and can't figure out how to change it!)

 

[kandsuk]

Oh, I forgot to say -- in answer to your original question ("How do I create a spine"), as said above, there are numerous ways, but probably the easiest is to create your new document at the overall specifications (from your printer), then in the "New" dialog box, select 2 columns and set the gutter width to the width of your spine. Then the left column becomes your back page, the right column becomes the front page, and the gutter inbetween becomes your spine.

And remember... Run your spine text from top-to-bottom, not the other way up! Think about it

(ignore my "Vendor" status... I clicked the wrong thing when I signed up and can't figure out how to change it!)

 

[kentara]

Super answers, all of you, thank you so much for the great advice! I've sent my question on spine width off to the printer, so I'll give it all a try after that! Thanks again!!