This is the part you will send to a printer, so here are the exact figures the export engine uses. Everything is measured in inches and written into the PDF as real page geometry, not scaled afterwards.
Resolution:
The print target is 300 DPI. Each image is placed into a box measured in inches, and the required pixel width is calculated from that box. An 8.5 by 11 inch page therefore needs 2550 by 3300 pixels. Any page image smaller than its target pixel box is upscaled to the exact target before it is placed. Images already at or above the target are used as they are.
Trim size and bleed by book type:
- Coloring book: trim 8.5 by 11 inches, no bleed, so the PDF page is 8.5 by 11 inches.
- Activity book: trim 8.5 by 11 inches, no bleed, so the PDF page is 8.5 by 11 inches.
- Journal or planner: trim 6 by 9 inches, no bleed, so the PDF page is 6 by 9 inches.
- Story book: trim 8.5 by 8.5 inches with 0.125 inch bleed on every side, so the PDF page is 8.75 by 8.75 inches.
Margins:
The outer, top and bottom margins are 0.25 inch measured from the trim edge. When a book has bleed, every margin is offset by the bleed amount, because margins are measured from the trim line and not from the paper edge.
The gutter ladder:
The inside margin on the binding side grows with page count so nothing disappears into the spine:
- Up to 150 pages: 0.375 inch
- 151 to 300 pages: 0.5 inch
- 301 to 500 pages: 0.625 inch
- 501 to 700 pages: 0.75 inch
- 701 pages and above: 0.875 inch
The gutter alternates side by side. Odd numbered interior pages are right hand pages, so their binding margin is on the left. Even numbered pages are left hand pages, so their binding margin is on the right.
Text is real text:
Titles, story lines, journal headings and puzzle instructions are written into the PDF text layer as vectors, never rendered into the artwork. Line art is placed to fit inside the printable area without cropping, and full bleed art is scaled to cover the whole page and clipped at the edges.