Creating a Soft Cover

Cover Dimensions and Spine Size Calculator can be found here.

Things to keep in mind when building your soft cover:

- The Final Trim size is .125' (1/8) smaller on the width and .25" (1/4) smaller on the height than the selected page size to make the cover flush with the content.

- The bleed is .25" (1/4) around the outer edges.

- The safe zone is also .25" (1/4)

- Text on the spine is available if the spine is 5/16" and larger.

Basic Layout for Soft Cover:

The Finished Soft Cover

It's very easy to get "lost" in all this design jargon about bleeds and safe zones so let's take a minute to visualize what your file will look like when it's a finished cover.

	Cover file with bleeds, safe zones, and your spine
	The finished book. Notice all the bleed has been cut off