How to Format a Book for Printing in Pakistan

Format a book for printing by fixing the trim size first, then setting margins and a gutter sized to the final page count, arranging the front matter in the order printers expect, and exporting single pages to PDF in CMYK with every font embedded. Those four decisions account for almost every file a printer sends back, and a rejected file costs a first-time author two weeks and a second proof.

Key takeaways

• Choose the trim size before you lay out a single page. A5 and 6 by 9 inches cover most of what is printed here.
• The gutter grows with the page count. A 300 page paperback needs close to a full inch on the spine side or the text vanishes into the binding.
• Printers want single pages, an even page total, CMYK, embedded fonts and 3mm of bleed. Reader spreads and RGB come straight back to you.
• Urdu typesetting is a separate craft with its own software, fonts and binding direction, and it cannot be improvised in a word processor.

Start with the trim size, because every other measurement follows it

Trim size is the finished page dimension after the printed sheet is cut. Book printers in Pakistan quote from a short list: A5 at 5.8 by 8.3 inches, 6 by 9 inches (often listed as A5 US), B5 at 6.9 by 9.8 inches, and A4 at 8.3 by 11.7 inches. A5 is the workhorse for poetry, memoir and short fiction. Novels and biography sit at 6 by 9, which also travels best if the interior is later listed on international platforms.

Fix this before layout begins. Changing it later reflows every page, moves every image and changes the page count, which changes the spine width on a cover you may already have approved.

Margins and the gutter, where most files fail

The gutter is the inner margin along the spine. Perfect binding glues the pages at that edge, so part of it curves away from the reader and is lost. A margin that looks generous on screen can leave the last word of every line buried in the fold.

Size the gutter to the page count rather than to taste:

• Under 100 pages: about 0.625 inches, or 16mm.
• Between 100 and 250 pages: 0.75 inches, or 19mm.
• Between 250 and 400 pages: 0.875 to 1 inch, or 22 to 25mm.

Outer, top and bottom margins of half an inch are the working minimum, and 0.75 inches gives a calmer page. Keep page numbers and running heads at least 0.125 inches inside the trim edge, because cutting varies by a millimetre or two across a run.

Set body text at 10 to 12 point with 1.15 to 1.5 line spacing, a first line indent of about half an inch and no blank line between paragraphs. Lay out only once editing is finished, since one new sentence reflows everything after it, and our guide to the four types of editing sets out the stage to reach first.

Front matter in the order printers and readers expect

Front matter runs in a settled sequence: half title on a right hand page, full title, the copyright page on its reverse, then dedication, epigraph and contents. The main text opens on a right hand page numbered 1, while everything before it takes lower case roman numerals.

The copyright page is the one page with genuine legal work to do. It carries the copyright symbol, the year of first publication, your name as rights holder, an all rights reserved line, the ISBN, the publisher's name and country, and the edition. The ISBN belongs there and on the back cover barcode, and our guide to getting an ISBN in Pakistan covers how one is issued. The copyright line should carry your name rather than the publisher's, because you own the work from the moment you write it, as our guide to book copyright in Pakistan explains.

Back matter is shorter: acknowledgements, an author biography, and a list of other titles.

Typesetting an Urdu manuscript is a different job

Urdu is not a font swap applied to an English layout. InPage remains the standard through most Urdu publishing here because it was built for right-to-left text and for ligature-based Nastaliq rendering, and Jameel Noori Nastaleeq is the face most presses expect. Noto Nastaliq Urdu and Gulzar are open alternatives that survive a Unicode workflow better, which matters if the text will also become an ebook.

Nastaliq stacks words diagonally and reshapes letters according to what sits beside them, so line spacing that looks correct in Latin type will collide in Urdu. Give it more leading than instinct suggests. An Urdu book also opens from the right, which puts the gutter on the opposite side of the page from an English book. Older InPage exports place text as a flattened image rather than live type, which prints acceptably but leaves the file unsearchable and awkward to correct, so ask for a vector PDF with fonts embedded.

What a printer needs in the file

A print-ready interior file varies little between presses:

• Single pages, not reader spreads. The press imposes pages into signatures itself.
• An even page total. Add a blank page if the count comes out odd.
• PDF/X-1a, which enforces CMYK colour, embedded fonts and flattened transparency in one export preset.
• Photographs at 300 dpi at final printed size, and line art considerably higher.
• All fonts embedded. Check under file properties that each one reads as an embedded subset.
• 3mm, or 0.125 inches, of bleed on anything running off the edge of the page.
• Body text set in black alone rather than a mix of four inks, which keeps small type crisp.

The cover is a separate file, and the spine is a calculation

A cover goes to press as one flat file running back cover, spine and front across a single sheet, with bleed on all four outer edges. The spine width cannot be estimated: it comes from the page count and the bulk of the specific paper, so ask the printer for the figure for the exact stock being used. Interior paper here runs between 65 and 110 gsm, with 70 and 80 gsm offset the common choice, and a heavier sheet means a thicker spine and a redrawn cover file.

The back cover carries the blurb, a short author line, the price and the ISBN barcode, which needs a clear light panel of roughly 40 by 25mm to scan. What goes on the front is a commercial decision rather than a decorative one, as our guide to what makes a good book cover works through.

Paper and binding change the file you send

Binding is chosen with the page count, not after it. Perfect binding suits most paperbacks and needs the gutter allowance above. Section sewn binding costs more, opens flatter and lasts better on a thick book. Saddle stitching works only on slim booklets, roughly under 48 pages, and needs a page count divisible by four. Hardcover adds board thickness and a wrap allowance, changing the cover artboard again.

Confirm paper weight and binding before the cover is finalised, since both feed the spine measurement. Then ask for a printed proof and read it on paper, because errors invisible at 100% zoom are obvious at printed size.

Doing it yourself, or handing it over

Typesetting is learnable in a weekend for a simple prose book and worth buying for anything with images, tables or Urdu script. Most publishers in Pakistan, TWS Publications included, build interior layout into a package rather than selling it separately, and the houses that do sell it alone tend to be design studios working to a publisher's specification. We work nationwide in English and Urdu. Our four packages run from a paperback first edition to nationwide bookstore distribution, with author royalties up to 80% of profit, and authors keep 100% of copyright. Our publishing process page sets out each stage, and our author services page covers formatting as standalone work. Pricing is tailored to the manuscript and quoted after a free editorial review, with a general ballpark of PKR 50,000 to 500,000 and above.

Whoever does the work, get the trim size, paper weight, binding method and page count in writing before the cover is designed. Those four numbers are what a printer quotes against.

Frequently asked questions

How do I format a book for printing?

Format a book for printing by fixing the trim size first, then setting margins and a gutter sized to the page count, arranging the front matter in the standard order, and exporting single pages to PDF in CMYK with every font embedded. Add 3mm of bleed to anything that runs to the edge, and keep the page total even.

What is the standard book size in Pakistan?

There is no single standard size, but printers in Pakistan quote most often on A5 at 5.8 by 8.3 inches, 6 by 9 inches for novels and biography, B5 at 6.9 by 9.8 inches, and A4 for manuals and workbooks. Poetry and short fiction usually sit at A5 or 5 by 8 inches.

What margins should a printed book have?

Allow half an inch on the outer, top and bottom edges, then size the gutter to the page count: around 0.625 inches under 100 pages, 0.75 inches between 100 and 250, and up to a full inch above 250. Perfect binding pulls the inner margin into the glue, so the gutter has to grow.

What file format do book printers need?

Printers need a print-ready PDF, ideally PDF/X-1a, built as single pages rather than reader spreads, converted to CMYK, with all fonts embedded and photographs at 300 dpi. The cover goes in as a separate flat file covering back, spine and front together, carrying 3mm of bleed on every outer edge.

How do I format an Urdu book for printing?

Typeset Urdu in software built for right-to-left text, most commonly InPage, using a Nastaliq face such as Jameel Noori Nastaleeq, Noto Nastaliq Urdu or Gulzar. Allow generous line spacing for the diagonal stacking, put the gutter on the correct side for a book that opens from the right, and export vector PDF.

Who formats the book if I publish with a publisher in Pakistan?

The publisher does. Most publishers in Pakistan, TWS Publications among them, build interior typesetting and cover layout into their packages, so you hand over an edited manuscript rather than a print-ready file. Ask which trim size, paper weight and binding they are specifying, and ask to approve a printed proof.

When your manuscript is ready to be read and specified for print, our sample submission page is where to send it.