How to print a hardcover book: a step-by-step guide

Only for orders from the Netherlands and Belgium!

You've finished designing your photo book, and now you're ready to turn it into a real, printed book. But where's the best place to get a hardcover book printed? And how do you make sure your design looks just as beautiful in print as it does on your screen?

In this blog, we'll walk you through a simple step-by-step guide showing you exactly how we get our hardcover books printed and how you can do the same. Feel free to adjust the settings to suit your preferences! Want to achieve the same results as in our videos? Simply follow the settings we've included in this guide.

 Order your hardcover book here
Hardcover boek laten drukken: zo pak je het aan

Step 1: Choose an almanac

It's important to select ‘Almanak drukken’ (Almanac printing) on the Studentendrukwerk website. This option gives you a hardcover book with a customizable spine that can also be printed on. You can go directly to the correct product via this link.

PLEASE NOTE! Don't save or download your cover and interior pages just yet. If you've added or removed pages, you may need to adjust the spine width of your book. Studentendrukwerk will let you know the correct spine width once you've entered your book specifications. We'll explain this in more detail in the next steps.

Step 2: Customize your hardcover book

Click on ‘Product samenstellen’ (Customize product) to get started. You can then choose the settings for your book.

  • Size: Select A4 portrait.
  • Number of pages: Enter the total number of pages in your book, excluding the cover. At Studentendrukwerk, your book must contain at least 24 pages and no more than 400 pages. The total number of pages must always be an even number, such as 24, 26, 28, or 30 pages.

Step 3: Choose your paper type and finish

Now it's time to choose the paper type and finish for your hardcover book. These are the settings we always use for our own books:

  • Paper type: Premium smooth
  • Cover material: Paper
  • Cover finish: Single-sided matte lamination
  • Ribbon bookmark: No ribbon bookmark

Step 4: Check the spine width

Have you added or removed a lot of pages compared to the original template? If so, the spine width of your book may have changed.

You can find the original spine width of your template in the instruction guide you received with your purchase. Compare this with the spine width Studentendrukwerk provided earlier in the ordering process.

Do the spine widths match? Then you don't need to change anything!
Are the spine widths different? Then you'll need to adjust the spine width of your cover in Canva to make sure the front cover, back cover, and spine are perfectly aligned when printed.

Adjusting the spine width

Open Canva and create a new design with custom dimensions.

  • Hardcover: (472 + spine width) × 343 mm (W × H)
  • Softcover: (420 + spine width) × 297 mm (W × H)


In your new design, enable rulers and guides by going to ‘File’ > ‘Settings’ > ‘Show rulers and guides’ (shortcut: Shift + R). This will allow you to create the layout shown in the image below.

Want to add a horizontal guide? Move your cursor to the ruler at the top, click and hold, then drag a guide onto your page. You can use the ruler on the left to see exactly where to position your guide in millimeters.

Want to add a vertical guide? Follow the same steps, but use the ruler on the left instead.

Hardcover:
The image below shows what your file should look like. We've highlighted the guides in pink so you can easily see which ones you need to add.

Start with the vertical guides. Place the first guide at 19 mm. Then use the following measurements to position the remaining guides:

  • 1st guide: 19 mm
  • 2nd guide: 236 mm
  • 3rd guide: 236 mm + spine width
  • 4th guide: 453 mm + spine width

The horizontal guides should also be positioned 19 mm from the edges:

  • Top guide: 19 mm
  • Bottom guide: 324 mm

Step 5: Save and upload your files

Now it's time to get your Canva designs ready for printing!

1. Save the interior pages as a PDF
Our Canva templates also include the front and back covers in the interior design. This makes it easier to see how everything looks together while you're designing your book.

However, when preparing your book for printing, you'll need to exclude these two cover pages from your interior PDF, as the cover is uploaded separately.

Here's how to save your interior pages in Canva:

  1. Click Share → Download in the top-right corner.
  2. Select PDF Print as the file type.
  3. Check Crop marks and bleed. This is important for printing your book!
  4. Select all pages except the first and last pages (the front and back covers).
  5. Click Download.

Your interior PDF is now ready to upload!

2. Save the cover as a PDF
Next, let's download your cover design. For a hardcover book, the process is slightly different from saving the interior pages.

  1. Open your cover design in Canva.
  2. Click Share → Download in the top-right corner.
  3. Select PDF Print as the file type.
  4. Make sure Crop marks and bleed is unchecked.
  5. Click Download.

Important: For your hardcover cover, leave the crop marks and bleed option unchecked, even though you need to enable it for the interior pages.

3. Upload your PDF files to Studentendrukwerk
Have you downloaded both your interior pages and cover as PDFs? You're now ready to upload them to your order on Studentendrukwerk.

Make sure to upload your interior PDF under ‘Binnenwerk’ (Interior pages) and your cover PDF under ‘Omslag’ (Cover). Then click ‘Uploaden’ (Upload).

Once both PDF files have been successfully uploaded, all that's left to do is add your book to your cart and complete your order.

Now all you have to do is wait for your beautiful hardcover book to arrive at your doorstep!

Discover more at Studentendrukwerk

We order many of our products from Studentendrukwerk and are always really happy with the results! Besides hardcover books, they offer plenty of other fun products you can have printed. Be sure to check out their website and discover all the possibilities!

Visit the Studentendrukwerk homepage here
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