If your file does not have bleed, the best results are always going to come from you correcting that in your layout file. If for some reason you are unable to fix your lack of bleed, we may be able to help.
For your cover file, you can simply speak to support to have the book cover templating service added to your order.
For your manuscript, using an automated solution we can mirror the part of the page closest to the trim line to fill in the bleed. This is not a perfect solution, and will not produce results as good as proper bleed in your layout, but will generally be an improvement on a manuscript printed with no bleed. If you would like Bookbaby to correct a lack of bleed in your book files, you will need to speak to support to have one or both of these services added to your order. They will set the order up so that you receive a PDF proof before your order goes to print. Here are the common downsides associated with filling bleed using the mirrored bleed fill on your manuscript, they do not apply to cover templating.
- Since the artwork is being mirrored, anything that would have continued off the edge of the page, is reversed. Lines and shapes that would normally continue on a trajectory, will turn and go the opposite direction. A part of a face that would have continued on is doubled up. How distracting these will be in the final trimmed result is probably not as jarring as the digital proof containing all the bleed. In the final printed piece, you may end up seeing none, or very little of the filled in bleed. Our Help section does not support Lightbox, but you can right click on the samples below and choose "Open image in new Tab" to view them full size.
- No Bleed
- Has Bleed
- Bookbaby Adds Bleed
- No Bleed
- Artwork that does not extend all the way to the trim line and falls just short, will have a white line between where the art stops and restarts again in the bleed. We will do our best to mitigate this issues for you but depending on the amount of pages or complexity of your file it is important that you review the proof we send very carefully before you approve it. No one knows your book better than you after all!
If in reviewing these, you think the results would not be improved over simply proceeding as is without bleed, or you would rather not pay for these services, simply mark “as is” when resubmitting your project and we can move forward without bleed now that you understand what your finished books will look like. If you opt to have Bookbaby add bleed for you, the proof you see will not have the same overlays you saw for bleed and safety when you submitted your project. Instead, you will want to follow the steps here for turning on page boxes.