TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Perfect-bound manuals From:Laurence Burrows <burrows -at- IBM -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 29 Oct 1998 13:58:14 +1100
Nancy Burns wrote:
--------------snip
...issues to consider for perfect binding covers, such as design
considerations for varying book thicknesses, which affect the spine and
back cover design,...
--------------snip
A good technique is to make your spine and back covers the same color, with
any lettering on the spine running along the spine and positioned closer to
the front cover.
________ Front
|
|____________ Back "tail" exaggerated for illustrative purposes.
This allows your printer / bindery to fold the cover to match the finished
thickness of the book(s) -- as the can vary from one production run to the
next. After binding, the finished book is trimmed, including the oversize
"tail" on the back cover.
Even cheaper -- you can use the same cover for _all_ books by having a
cutout for the title (which is printed on the title page <g>) and generic
identifying text "Blah Corp Software" printed on the spine.
Careful design will allow the same cover to work for books 1/2 inch to 2
inches thick.