🔍 Proofs and print quality

The last checks before a thousand copies: what to look for in a physical proof, what to preflight before you upload, and what white or cream paper changes.

Order the proof. Then read it in daylight

A physical proof is the one check no screen can make for you. Paper is not backlit, ink spreads, and the spine stops being a number in a field and becomes an object you can hold at arm's length.

Preflight: what to check before you upload

Preflight is everything between "the file exists" and "the printer will accept it." Here is the list in the order it matters, and the difference between a rejection you can fix and an acceptance that costs you a print run.

White or cream paper?

Cream is the traditional stock for novels, white for anything with pictures. The choice also changes your spine width, because cream paper is thicker — so it has to be made before the cover is finished.

Ready to build the cover?

The Cover Maker lays out your front, spine and back at your real trim size and page count, and exports a print-ready PDF for KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu or B&N Press. Start your cover →