Welcome to your Print Proof, exciting times your book is almost done!

Below is a series of ideas and steps you can undertake to make sure your final printed book is high quality.

Please note to start with:

• We normally don't include ISBN's until we move into the publishing process so it's fine to be blank in our proofs
• Electronic proofs should not be used to evaluate color or print quality. 
• A physical copy should be reviewed to evaluate this.
• When you are viewing your proof, you may note it may not be centered on the page. 
• That is because of the glue margin in the inner edge of each page. 
• Books with a large number of pages will appear more off center than those with a small number of pages. Don’t worry – the glue in the middle is the cause of the optical appearance of the page being off center. 
• When your books are delivered – the pages will be centered properly.
• Also, note that blank pages are intentional. This to allow for chapters to start on the right-hand side of the book.

Now let's get started...

Read the Book If at all possible, read the entire book.

While you are reading, you’ll be checking for typographical errors and inconsistencies.

• Is the text complete?
• Did a paragraph get left out somewhere along the way?
• Is part of a sentence cut off at the bottom of a page?

All of these things can happen at one end of a book file when you’re looking at the other end.

Check to make sure everything that’s supposed to be there is actually there.

While you’re reading, be aware of the following:

1. Fonts – Are they used consistently throughout the book?
2. Inch vs. quote marks – Good typography uses proper curled quotation marks, not straight inch marks.  Check the ones in your book.
3. Hyphens, ems and ens – Each type of dash has a different use. For instance, numbers or dates in a range are separated by an en dash, not a hyphen.
4. Line spacing – Is it consistent in every paragraph throughout the book?
5. Word spacing – Do you have some lines that are much looser or much tighter than the others? Watch out for forced line breaks that might be left in the file. If you can, have someone who hasn’t seen the book before also read through it. You’ll be surprised by the errors that can be uncovered by an observer who’s not directly invested in the work. P

Look at the Book What do I mean by “look”?

I mean ignore the text and instead concentrate on everything else. Here are the things you’ll typically be looking for, and some tips on how to find them.

1. Orphans/widows -Those pesky single lines at the bottom of a page or parts of lines at the top of a page. If you can get rid of them, do so.
2. Running heads need to be consistent and have the proper information, like part titles or chapter titles. It’s easy to make a mistake with these, so check them thoroughly.
3. Chapter openers should also be consistent. Does each chapter start in the same place on the page and contain the same elements in the same order?
4. Folios or page numbers need a look. Blank pages should have nothing on them, and also check that your pagination is accurate with all odd-numbered pages on the right. It pays to check!
5. Page references are another trap. If you referred to something “in Chapter 2” or “on page 112” is it still there?
6. Paragraph indents ought to be consistent throughout, no matter what style you’re using.
7. Subhead spacing and alignment can be controlled by styles in your software, but you should check them anyway to make sure they are uniform. Here’s a trick for you: Hold the edge of the book in one hand and allow the pages to flip quickly through your fingers. You’ll spot misalignments because they “pop” out compared to the other pages. Try it.