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Printing Your Book Isn’t Complete Without a Physical Mock-Up

Printing Your Book Isn’t Complete Without a Physical Mock-Up

When it comes time to have your book professionally printed and bound, you will need a physical mock-up.

Most of the book printing process is intangible. Especially with the advent of digital printing techniques, it’s not often you’ll have something you can hold before the first printed copy is finished. That is unless you choose the DIY publishing route. Even so, when it comes time to have your book professionally printed and bound, you will need a physical mock-up.  

What Is It?

Before the full print run begins, a physical mock-up is created. Because it is something you can pick up and look through like a real book, you can determine if it meets your needs. A satisfactory product isn’t enough, here at Advantage Book Binding we strive to exceed our customers’ expectations. With a physical mock-up, you can assess how the book will look, how it will feel, and what it will do before being published for real. To make the mock-up as accurate as possible, it will use the same materials as the finished book. It will also fit the same dimensions that you outlined in the actual project. Whether or not it has any content, whether text or images, also depends on why you ordered the physical mock-up to be made in the first place.

What Does It Do?

Critical elements of the book’s design can be previewed through use of the physical mock-up. These include the following:
  • Text placement
  • Image locations
  • Border placement
  • Margin placement
Also, one deciding factor when choosing whether to have the mock-up printed or unprinted is to see how it changes the design of the book’s cover. Along with the cover design, you can evaluate how the following finishing processes change the look and feel of the book project:
  • Lamination
  • Binding
  • Trimming
  • Folding
You will occasionally hear of the physical mock-up called a dummy or prototype. However, it’s also important to note that not every single project will need such a version created: a special commemorative book celebrating the Trinity Dome might warrant a physical mock-up more than the next hotly-anticipated novel expected to take bookstores by storm.  

Advantage Book Binding can help you create the printed book you’ve always wanted!

Are you interested in having a bound novel?  Are you entering the workforce, interested in a bound portfolio to showcase your work?  Advantage Book Binding offers plenty of services and binding types that are perfect for suiting your needs. We also offer specialty binding options for those of you looking for something extra special. Advantage Book Binding can advise you as to what kind of binding style will work best for your specific project, taking into consideration budget requirements to provide you with the most cost-effective and project-specific solution for you. Please contact us today for more information, and keep up with us on Facebook, Google +, Twitter, and LinkedIn.