Designing A Book Cover
UPDATE ~ Hey! So unfortunately YT demonetised this video largely in part to audio issues so some of the voice over is gone and replaced with random music from YT. Here is the transcript of the muted areas to help follow along:
(1:33) Okay, so I've got here a metal ruler. (1:36) You're going to want to get into the practise of using a metal ruler and not a plastic ruler, (1:42) because with these sharp exacto knives, you will find yourself cutting into the plastic, (1:48) so you're going to want to start using something that's a lot sturdier.
(1:53) So I've got my metal ruler here, I'm just going to put my text block on its front, careful (1:57) not to ruin the edges. (2:02) And typically, you're going to want to start the measurement in the middle. (2:09) So the most centre point of the text block is usually where it's going to be its thickest.
(2:13) If you've done a really good job of pressing, you won't find too much of a difference between (2:18) the middle of the text block to the top, and mine is pretty consistent throughout, which (2:24) I'm really happy about. (2:26) Sometimes it's really big in the middle and then really thin at the top and the bottom, (2:30) so it looks like it's about 4.6. (2:37) So I'm going to grab one of my book boards. (2:43) If you can find a cutting mat that has this grid surface along it, I'm in Australia so (2:50) I use centimetres, but you can obviously find one that uses inches, it's really really good (2:56) and helpful.
(2:59) Because I don't want it to be on a slant when I cut it. (3:04) Okay, so it was just over 4.5, make a preliminary line there, I'm just going to measure it, (3:20) 4.6, 4.6, perfect, measure right at the top, okay, perfect fit, so that's what we want. (3:50) I will then place my ruler over the line, making sure it is even, because if it's not (4:03) we're going to have a crooked spine and we do not want that.
(4:08) And you don't need to dig hard into the book board at all, take your time and just do a (4:15) few slow runs of the blade.
(11:23) Okay, I'm going to just create an offset of the image.
(11:26) This is just a technique I use to try and get all of the excess text away, so I can (11:32) create a perfect curve, so I know where to place it later when I'm ironing down the (11:37) vinyl. (11:38) So I'm going to press slice, I'm going to delete all the bits I don't need, and take (11:44) them away. (11:44) So what I'm left is, is the little bits that say the option, and then I'm going to (11:49) put the image over that.
(11:50) So it's still a little bit readable, but you know what it says. (11:54) So this is what I'm going to go with for my cover. (12:03) Then I'm just going to create this spine text, which I'm just going to have here the (12:07) title of the book in the same font.
(12:17) Okay, and then when we're happy with our design, I'm just going to click make, and (12:22) then it's going to take us to the printing and layout section. (12:25) So I'm going to set my paper as A4, because that's the paper I have. (12:30) And then I made a really, really big mistake.
(12:33) I should have clicked mirror, because I didn't read the instructions of the paper (12:37) correctly, but we'll get to that when we get to that, okay? (12:40) I don't want to talk about it. (12:42) And then I'm just going to send this off to my printer, and load my printer with the (12:47) correct paper. (13:00) And after you finish loading your paper, go ahead and press print.
(13:04) And this is how it came out. (13:06) It came out really, really good, and I'm really happy with the colour and everything. (13:10) There's no smudges on the paper, so it worked really, really well.
(13:14) Just make sure you look at the instructions on the back of the paper you get, because (13:19) mine said that it has to be laid face down, which means everything is going to be backwards. (13:25) So I've done it all wrong, and I cut it out and everything. (13:28) So I've gone back, and I've had to print it a second time.
(13:32) So this is me readjusting it so that it's right this time, and I've also corrected it (13:38) so it's cutting for paper, and not iron-on, like I had it before. (13:42) So make sure you're not like me, and you read the actual instructions on the back of the (13:47) paper, because I had a very hard time. (14:08) Okay, so it looks like it was cutting out fine.
(14:11) The tables were finally turning, and then I see this. (14:16) My blade completely smudged one whole side of the image. (14:22) So now I have to print a third, and I have no words.
This video uses the work of lovesbitica8 'the Auction' which is available to read for free on ao3 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/191...
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