Question for the Lulu Veterans

[Josh Roby]

Hey there hi there ho there, peeps.

I have a question for the folks who have put a book through Lulu.  I'm not sure if I'll be going that route, but I want to keep my bases covered, and I have a concern.  I'm printing in 6x9 format, hardbound.  In my files I've got a half-inch inside margin (so a full inch gutter).  Were I to print with a local printer, the pressman would be checking the gutter and offsetting the file if necessary, so the actual pages might be bumped 'outward' resulting in a larger gutter if that's what the binding would require.  Lulu, being automated, may not have a nice made-of-meat person standing by the printer as it does its thing, though, so I need to make sure I'm allowing for enough space.  I don't know, however, how much of the six inch page width Lulu's binding takes up, or if the page is actually a bit wider than six inches to allow for this sort of thing.  So.

Does the 6x9 hardbound format require more than an inch of gutter, or will that be sufficient?  I'd be especially interested in hearing from anybody who's specifically printed in this format, if I'm lucky enough that such folks are reading this thread.

Cheers!

[Nathan P.]

Hey Joshua,

On my 6x9 Lulu-printed copy of Timestream, the cover crease is at 3/8", but the binding glue is less than that (a little more than 1/16"), so a given spread doesn't lose that much to the binding. The pages I opened up and measured end up at 5 7/8" of usable space. Of course, it's only 76 pages, so a longer book may lose a little more. But a 1" gutter should be more than sufficent.

And now I see that you're asking about hardcover. Which I have not printed in. So I may be wrongy-wrong-wrong. But maybe that info for the softcover version will help.

[iago]

I've structured 6x9 books with a half inch margin and a .8" gutter based on the guidelines offered in Lulu's FAQs.  Entirely sufficient.

[David Artman]

Isn't gutter depth dependant upon the number of sheets, ideally? Or, perhaps, the number of bundles of pages?

And what about page layout aesthetics? An overly deep gutter, while perhaps "safe," could lead to an unattractive overall page layout, yes?
(Check out http://learning.north.londonmet.ac.uk/epoc/tschichd.htm)
David

[MatrixGamer]

I don't think you'll find a lot of difference between soft and hard cover books regarding this question. Many books are perfect bound and stuck in hardback covers. There really isn't any difference in the book block between these two outer cover techniques. Sounds like you'll be fine.

Chris Engle
Hamster Press = Engle Matrix Games

[Josh Roby]

Isn't gutter depth dependant upon the number of sheets, ideally?

Hands down yes.  However, I'm not talking ideally, I'm talking about one specific POD outfit, which may-or-may-not be setting up things according to how I think they should be running their business. ;)

The consensus seems to be "I did that and didn't see problems" so I'll run with it.  Thanks, everybody.