Thank you for the kind words! I still have to do a video that incorporates how to use the bleed settings that are available in InDesign. Too much work to do videos right now. Not a bad thing!

Awe! Yay! I'm really going to blow your mind when I do one that includes bleed settings. :) You got this!

This may be my most fav comment yet, lol. I still have to do a version where I explain the benefits of using the built-in bleed settings so keep your peepers open :)

@@MelindaMartin Will do.

Thank you!

Thank you! I still have to do a new version that address bleed specifically but this setup got me through lots of book covers! It's almost perfect, lol. After I address using bleed settings, it will be primo.

Thank you for taking the time to comment

Also, I'm working on a children's book at the moment that features Simplified Chinese :)

Thank you! I will be doing another one that incorporates using the bleed settings and more detail on exporting.

Thank you for the kind words! So you won't need master pages per se if you're doing cover design for a single book. If you are doing a series of covers, though, you could def use master pages for that. I design for curriculum too so there are always cases where I set up a file specifically to use master pages in the cover design. Is your project just a one-off or are you designing for a series? For a one-off, I would start you off with a 3-page (back cover, spine, front cover) template which doesn't rely on master page knowledge. A dustjacket would be a 7-page spread (a page for each flap and a page for each gap between the flap and the content). You could also reduce it down to a 5-page spread if you want to incorporate the gap into the flap calculation. Schedule a call with me at melindamartin.me and we can do a 30-minute video call (no charge). I actually have a template you can test, so this will be helpful to me as well to see it in action with someone I don't know, lol.

Thank you for watching and commenting

Awe! Thank you! I am honored to have you here. I have lots of good stuff planned. There is soooo much to learn and I'm going to do my best to help everyone learn how to do it the right way.

For typesetting especially, the best way is to set the document to the true size (6x9), select facing pages, then add .125" bleed to the top, bottom, and OUTSIDE margins only. If you see "left/right" in the bleed, then you didn't select facing pages. When you export, you'll need to make sure to check that it is exporting with the bleed settings. Sometimes short-run digital printers will request bleed on all sides, but all POD and offset printing for books only requires bleed on top, bottom, and outside pages.

If you're going to go with print-on-demand, I'm afraid there aren't options, per se. For instance, KDP doesn't print hardbacks, but you can get them printed with IngramSpark, which will distribute to KDP and several other platforms. If you want to pursue offset printing (1000 or more, printed like how newspapers are printed on a big roller system) or short-run printing (less than 1000 and printed digitally), it is best to request a sample from the printer you want to use. They will have paper options and various printing options that you can utilize (raised lettering, foil stamping, etc.). I will say that IngramSpark prints a very nice dustjacket!

And to export, 1) File-->export 2) Select range = all, spreads 3) Select PDF x-1A If you are using the actual bleed settings, then you will want to go to the Marks and Bleeds section of the export menu and select "use document bleed settings". The marks area should be cleared for POD.

Each platform has different specs for the spine width, because even though they may all be using white paper, they are getting their paper from different sources, so the thickness per piece of paper is different, which then makes the spine width different. For example, an Amazon KDP POD book that uses white paper will use a spine width of # of pages multiplied by .00225". But IngramSpark's white paper is .2139". While it is an extremely small difference at just a one-page level, it adds up. This is why a cover can not be finalized until we know which platform it's going ot be uploaded to, as well as the page count and which paper will be used.

Go to your Window menu and make sure you have "Control" turned on and "Tools." Control is the horizontal bar that runs across the top on my screen and Tools is the vertical bar on the left. :)

@@MelindaMartin Thank you so much! You rock

After the book is printed, it will physically be cut in order to leave a nice crisp edge. The bleed is what gets cut away. One of its purposes is to allow room for variance in the cutting equipment, so the design needs to be finished all the way out to full bleed edge so that if the cut is a tiny bit off, the design is not compromised.

I have another video I am working on that approaches this from the bleed settings angle. This is something I was confused about when I first started and you can either build the bleed in if you're using a software that doesn't have bleed settings OR use the bleed settings if you are using professional software like InDesign.

Additionally, when you set it up as just ONE page, then you are unable to only export the back cover, the front cover, the spine, etc. as single images for marketing purposes.

Hello out there :) I will be posting a new video that shows how to work with the bleed settings. This video incorporates the bleed into the actual page size instead of using the bleed settings. To export, you will want to select pages 1-3 and export as spreads, not pages. This will export the cover as one page. To export just the front cover, you will export page 3 as a page (not a spread). Hoping to complete an even better video of the cover process this week. Subscribe to be alerted when it's released if you don't want the hassle of checking back :)

you all probably dont give a shit but does anybody know of a method to log back into an instagram account?? I stupidly forgot the account password. I love any assistance you can give me!

@Rex Easton Instablaster ;)

@Julian Brayan thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.

@Julian Brayan It did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy:D Thanks so much you really help me out :D

Yes! I am doing a video on that. Long story short, I had bad information from a KDP tech. But for the softwares that don't allow for bleed, this video serves that purpose.

Open the pages panel. Click on the middle page, which is the spine page. Then go to layout--margins (writing from memory so the menu name might be slightly different). Adjust the inside and outside margins (left and right) for just that page from .5" to .625". Then you can adjust the spine width using the page tool.

Check to make sure you put in .0625 and not .625. email me a screenshot if you're still having issues martinpublishingservices at gmail dot com

A lot will depend on what type of book you are printing and who is printing it for you. For paperbacks printed through IngramSpark, it's called a duplex cover. But it's not available for every size. Check this chart. melindamartin.me/publishing-advice-resources/book-design-and-layout/book-trim-sizes-in-inches-for-createspace-and-ingramspark/ If you're doing a hardback book through offset printing, then you have to use self-ends.

Sometimes even when you select the middle page, it will jump back to selecting all pages, so check again and reselect if needed. You can use the Loom (online screen recording) and send it to me at martinpublishingservices@gmail.com if it still won't work and I'll see what I can see :)

@@MelindaMartin so I have the 2023 version and my layout looked different to yours! I figured it out!

@@BellsBooksAndCoffee great! I use 2023 now as well. My goal is to make a new video showing how to use InDesign's bleed settings, which is the best way.

@@MelindaMartin omg please!!

.125" is added to all outside margins. Since the top and bottom are both outside margins, then it's .125" for top and .125" for bottom.

Oh okay

While teaching the technical aspects of using InDesign to create a cover, teaching someone HOW to be a good designer requires a whole course and then teaching someone HOW to use the Adobe suite to arrive at a well-designed cover is multiple other courses. A quick video will never suffice. Just choosing a font is a skillset that takes years to fully develop, because it goes much deeper than how it looks. Thankfully, Adobe has their own guru who covers lots of these topics. Search for Terry White. He's not a dedicated book designer, but I know you will find his list of videos super helpful. If you're a LinkedIn member, look up InDesign courses by Anne Marie Concepcion. She's also amazing at teaching ID.

Are you using the page tool or the document settings panel?

@@MelindaMartin I wasn't. lol Now it's fine :)

@@dias791 THATS AWESOME

If you have access to facebook, join the group InDesign Secrets. Then you can post your issue there and get lots of helpful feedback.

@@MelindaMartin yes i have...but which one ?

@@ahmedalawadh6818 This is the group: facebook.com/groups/2083332661901219

This is how to build a cover from scratch so there is no need to insert your own pages. If you have already designed the front cover in another program, then you would place that file on the front cover page (file-->place). I build my covers right in the cover file and will use Photoshop and/or Illustrator as needed for the cover elements and bring them in as needed.

@@MelindaMartin Thank-you. I will try to figure that out. My cover (and pages of my photography book -with some text), is fully designed, but the size of the pages and cover, are not consistent, so I am trying to figure out how to fix that, on Indesign.

@@myrnalieuwen5069 More than likely, there are several other issues that you aren't aware of as well, because if the basics aren't right, then the gap widens when the technical underbelly is exposed. You can book a consulting call with me here: bit.ly/mps1hour. In case this is helpful, the cover should be a separate file than the interior.

@@MelindaMartin THANK-YOU! I might very well do that (though I may struggle on first a bit...:)

Did you try checking your playback settings? If it's on auto and you have slow internet, then it will have adjusted it down to a lower display. Click on the gear next to the CC button on the playback strip then you will see quality options to choose from. Auto is default.

@@MelindaMartin Ok. Thanks

@@MelindaMartin I am new to indesign but I followed all of your instructions however in my document the orange bleed line runs outside of my page. So my page is actually too small?? What could I have done wrong? Here’s my step by step that I followed. #1) 6.125 x 9.25 3 pages, facing pages #2) .125 margin for top, bottom, outside. Create page #3) deselect both allow pages to shuffle and the other. Select page and merge together. Then double click select middle page #4) with middle page selected set in and out margin at .0625 #5) with middle page still selected change width to .3 inches. Thank you great great step by step tutorial!!

@@Lakesideboomer_ are you familiar with Loom? It's a great cloud-based screen recording tool and it's free! Can you possibly record your actions and send those to me via email at martinpublishingservices at gmail dot com?

@@MelindaMartin Melinda thank you so much for getting back to me. I just sent you a video of the recording of my actions on screen in indesign. Sorry for the delay it was a bit of a learning curve for me on loom but I think I got it. Thanks for looking at it!

It's good practice that if you have criticism to lead in with a positive, state the criticism, and then close with a positive.

The title of the video is "How to Create and Export a Book Cover in Adobe InDesign." It is not "How to Transport an Image." I'm not even sure what you mean by that. Transport means to carry. Do you mean how to export an image? Or how to import (place) an image? Export means to send out or in this case, generate a final file type, whether that is JPG, PDF, PNG, etc. Import means to bring in. Let me know if I can help clarify further.