Perforation Artwork Setup Guide

Below are some requirements to be mindful of for adding perforation to your project:

1. Standard perforation is 10mm (or .40”) from the binding on perfect and case bound projects. Be mindful of this when setting up your artwork.
2. Standard perforation is .20” from the binding on saddle-stiched books. Be mindful of this when setting up your artwork.
3. You will need to indicate the distance from the spine for perforation on wire and spiral bound projects. Perforation will need to be at least .50” from the binding.
4. Be mindful that perforation will be reflected on BOTH SIDES of the physical page.
5. We can customize perforation on your project. For example: If you only want the last 6-pages of your project to be perforated, we can do that! You will just need to have this custom quoted with your Account Manager.

In some cases, you may want a unique shape or a non-standard distance from the binding when it comes to your perforation. In this case, we recommend submitting your artwork in the following way.

Uniform Custom Perforation

We will need 1 additional PDF uploaded for the perforation that is indicated by a Magenta line. 

Essentially, you will need to:

1. Create a new layer in your artwork:
2. Add the line/shape to the new layer
3. Turn off the printed artwork layer
4. Export out the “perforation” artwork layer

Below is a quick screenshare video highlighting above:

Here is the PDF download of the above video. This PDF represents a 20-page perfect bound book.

Unique Custom Perforation on Select Pages

We will need additional PDFs uploaded for the perforation that is indicated by a Magenta line for each unique design. The same process as highlighted above should be used to export out artwork. Here is an example of print-ready PDF artwork for a 20-page perfect bound book.