Inspiring

Answered

Using a printers template

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
March 1, 2025
3 replies
3633 views

I regularly create covers for Print on Demand Amazon books. The way this works is that a template is acquired from Ingramspark (see the attached jpg image) as a pdf document. I have been using Photoshop which works reasonably well. Having opened the pdf, I create a marquee around the coloured part - which is the actual cover template - and then trim away the white surround. But it occurs to me that the process might be more efficient with InDesign.

The question therefore is: how do I achieve a cropped template in my ID desktop to start creating new layers with images and text etc? I need to save the completed cover as a png or jpg for Amazon. I am told that I can't crop out part of a page in ID but is that right? Can't understand why that isn't an option. Maybe I have to crop in PHOTOSHOP and then open in ID?

Any advice gratefully received.

Correct answer Eugene Tyson

Thanks for that - now downloaded.

@m5heath there's already a script that I just found - no need to wait for me

https://creativepro.com/scripts-to-resize-pages-to-content-in-indesign/

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Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

In Photoshop you crop the Canvas - which is fine.

InDesign works with physical page sizes, so you don't Crop pages, you resize them. And you do this with the Page Tool.

I have a nifty script on my mac that resizes a page to a bounding box - which is essentially the same as 'cropping' in Photoshop.

Not on my Mac at the moment, but can share with you tomorrow.

Basically you'll place the file in the centre of any page, and then have it selected and run the script and it resizes the page to the bounding box, of the item you have selected.

Of course the easiest option is to setup your document at the start - and set your page size to what you actually need at the start of the process - then place your file into the InDesign page.

There's an old saying in printing, think finishing at the beginning.

Essentially, finishing is the size, look, process used, like threadsewn, saddle stitched or whatever other finishes need to be applied.

All these things are usually considered before sitting down to design a cover or a book or anything really.

If you think finishing at the beginning you won't run into too many problems.

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m5heathAuthor

Inspiring

Hi Eugene, thanks for responding. Your script sounds exactly what I am looking for and I am excited that you can share it with me. Blessings in advance!

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Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Will pop it here tomorrow if I remember - send me a DM in case I forget - I'll post it to the forum for everyone to enjoy, it could even be improved if someone fancys taking on the task.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

I'm confused. If you're laying out the covers for KDP (Amazon), why are you using templates from Ingram? The KDP system has its own page for generating layout templates precisely sized to a trim size and spine thickness/page count.

Or... are these "printer's templates" giving you the size layout, or actual art templates that print with your information?

In any case, you should be able to lay the JPEG/PDF file into an ID document, sized and scaled so that its trim lines match the physical layout (margins etc.) Anything that extends past the trim lines into the bleed is irrelevant as it will be trimmed away after printing, whether it's extended background art, bleed lines/crops, or empty space and printer's marks. You shouldn't need to pre-trim, pre-scale or pre-pare it in much of any way. (ETA after reading your first reply above: it's no special trick to lay in an art element larger than the page definition as long as you scale the "live" area to match your page or other desired size. All trim/crop/sizing for submission is done by cropping at the PDF export stage to the exact dimensions KDP requires.)

But a clearer description of your workflow and why you're using templates across platforms would help with a more focused answer.

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m5heathAuthor

Inspiring

Hi James,

Many thanks for responding. Using Ingramspark is a bit of a red herring. The templates are virtually identical to KDP but there are commercial reasons for using Ingramspark which I haven't queried - frankly it doesn't matter. I normally open the pdf in Photoshop and then trim away all the white surround (refer to my image). It is an opened out template comprising, left to right, the back cover, the spine and the front cover. Every book is different because of the spine width. KDP are very picky about exact sizes and resolutions. I then add various layers including the cover image, the barcode, logos, spine text and the 'blurb' on the back of the book. I save the final result as a jpg normally and that is my workflow. But I have wondered whether ID is a better platform - in particular is it not better at handling text than PHOTOSHOP?

I loaded up a template in ID but I want to get rid of the white surround. Once I have done that I don't think I will have any difficulty. I know I can print a document from a selected portion of a page but I find the white surround annoying and distracting. If I can't get rid of it I will stick to PHOTOSHOP.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

InDesign is the only tool I'd use for any process like this. But to be honest, you're using such a convoluted workflow for this (and I'm still not clear whether you are using layout templates or artwork templates) and lacking some important fundamental skills with ID, that I'm not sure how to get you from there to what I'd consider a proper technique.

As a starting point, though, InDesign is not bound to a fixed page size as is Photoshop; you can place things partially on the working pages and it doesn't matter how much they extend off into the bleed/pasteboard. So any template you download from wherever can be placed at the needed/matched size to the three cover elements, and any unwanted content (marks, blank margin, copyright notices, etc.) will simply be chopped off when you export to PDF — which should be your output/submission format, not JPEG.

If you're using the template purely as a layout guide, it's best to evolve past that and use numerical setup for the three panels, which KDP will give you to the smallest value when you use their layout calculator.

leo.r

Community Expert

If I understand your question correctly, then you need to create an InDesign document of the desired size, place this PDF in the InDesign document, then just crop the placed PDF frame to the desired size

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m5heathAuthor

Inspiring

Yes - although it would be nice if there was some way of opening the document in a page that was the same size as the document by default. But I don't know how to do the cropping. And can I modify the page size within ID?

leo.r

Community Expert

But I don't know how to do the cropping. And can I modify the page size within ID?
By @m5heath

These questions imply that your experience of working in InDesign is below the very basics at this point. There's, obviously, nothing wrong with it. It's just that you won't be able to achieve much in InDesign anyway until you get at least some basic knowledge (whether by formal training or self-learning).

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