Are you using our PDF Uploader to upload your book for printing? If so, first preview your PDF carefully before you upload it.
Then, if everything looks good, upload your PDF. After the upload completes click Preview Book to review the cover and pages as in the example below.
When previewing, pay extra attention to the following:
- Keep important content such as text and people's heads at least 1/4 inch from the black dashed trim line. (That trim line is only an estimate of where the trimming will occur).
- If your content is too close to the trim line, check the page and cover specifications for Margins/Safe Boundary on our specifications page. Then adjust your original file, upload the new version, and preview it again.
- Make sure your bleed designs reach all the way to the page edge/bleed edge and not just the trim line.
- Keep important content out of the gutter area when designing page spreads (unless ordering a Layflat book).
And it's always a good idea to order and review a single Blurb-printed proof copy of any new book before placing a large order, making it available for sale, or submitting it for an important event or deadline.
Trim line examples
In this upload, the hat is far enough from the dotted trim line. It won't be trimmed off.
Here, the hat's too close to the black trim line. It might be trimmed. (Remember, the black dotted line's just an estimate of where the trimming will happen).
Mind the location of your text, too. The text below is far enough from the dotted trim line. It's not at risk of being trimmed off.
Mind the gutter
Be sure to keep important content out of the gutter, where your two facing pages meet. Although there's no trim guide for this area, any content placed there could be lost in the gutter or slightly misaligned. (However, if you're designing a Layflat book you can disregard this warning. Layflat books use a single sheet for each page spread so there's only a crease down the center).