Blog Tag Archives: design tips
Create stunning products with ease using Canva or InDesign
Whether you're a seasoned designer or just starting your creative journey, our guides help you create print-ready PDFs. Our resource documents are available for Canva and Adobe InDesign and simplify the technical aspects, making it easier for you to focus on unleashing your creativity. These are available on our HELP page.
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Top 5 Lessons for Printed Products and Self Publishing in 2022
If you’re feeling a bit apprehensive about what this new year will bring, you’re not alone. The good news is that we’re always thinking about ways to help, and we figured what better what to start strong for the New Year that to share the best of what we've been talking about here at Vervante headquarters! Our team works in-depth and personally with each and every one of our customers. We’ve kept a close eye on what’s working for products and publishing right now so we can provide you with the best ideas and resources to help make this the best yet. That’s how we came up with: Our Top 5 Lessons for Thriving in 2022 Lesson #1: Your Author Platform is Very Important Once you write a book or create a product - you need to make sure that people know it's there! Every author needs an author platform. Especially self-published authors. Social media is great, but when it comes down to it, you need to create and nurture an audience of interested and excited fans that will support your growth (and your bottom line). An author website that you control is a great place to start. Create and maintain a database of contact information as well, so you can send them newsletters or updates for new products, events or promotions. Add an active social media account and an Amazon Author Page and you've got all the makings for a vibrant author platform. A few resources to help: How to Create An Author Website How to Build A Contact List How to Set Up and Use Amazon Author Pages Lesson #2: Don’t Stop with Just One Idea If you’re launching a book, planner or other new product for 2022, don't stop with just that one idea, turn it into a collection! Customers who love your products will be excited when they see you have additional items available that complement or make it even better. For ideas about how to do this, check out our article about how to turn a planner into a whole collection. You can use these ideas for anything - books, journals, business training products, etc. Lesson #3: Take Your Products for a Test Run Looking at a product on your computer screen is a whole lot different than holding it in your hands in real life. We offer samples and resources to help you make absolutely sure that your product fits your vision before you send it out into the world. Start by watching videos of our CEO showing how products look and function Next, order samples of our products to road-test how they look, feel, and function Once you've created your book or product, order a test copy (or copies) for a final check Lesson #4: The Technical Stuff Matters When it comes to designing and creating a book or product, it's important to pay attention to design details for a successful printing experience. For example, you can have a gorgeous cover design for your book, but if when you look inside the words are cut off in the margin, or holes are punched in the wrong places, it can ruin the whole experience. Details like margin width and print file formatting are very important, as you can see. Whether you are doing the design yourself, or you use a graphic design professional, attention to these technical details is crucial. Here are a few resources to help: The Ultimate Checklist for Creating Print-Ready Files Why Margin Width is Important for Printing Using Canva to Design Printed Products How to Prepare Your Files for Printing The Importance of Copyediting Lesson #5: Start Planning Now As our CEO, Cindy Tyler, stated in last week's newsletter, it's very important to start planning now to ensure a successful experience down the road. If you want to create a 2023 planner, start now. If you want to write a book, develop a new product, etc., start now. Even if you're thinking of a holiday launch and it seems soooo far away, it really isn't. Set your goals, strategize your timeline, and don't put it off. We’re cheering you on for a successful and satisfying 2022!
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How to Turn Daily Planners Into Collections
You've got a daily planner you love - and your customers love it too. What's next? Give them even more! Creating products that complement and boost the value of your daily planner is something that will drive your fans wild with joy this holiday season. And you’ll love how easy it is to support the success of your planner while also adding to your revenue. Established planner companies and planner visionaries like Erin Condren, Emily Ley, Inkwell Press, and Dayspring know that people who love daily planners love to get extras to make them even more fun and functional. You can do the same by creating and offering products such as: STICKERS: Who doesn't love stickers? If you like the idea of sending custom stickers with your own branding, design and message as gifts, we can help you create them. Learn more on our blog by reading "How to Create Your Own Stickers." DOOR HANGERS These are easy to create and can be customized with any design. If you missed last week's newsletter about these fun products, check out the details and ideas on the blog here: "How to Create Custom Door Hangers" CARD DECKS: Card decks can be printed any size. Packaging can be a custom printed tuck box, a clear tuck box, drawstring bags, and we have magnetic boxes too! Samples are available with examples of the different paper stocks we offer for cards on our Samples Page here. For even more ideas, how about.... Notepads Bookmarks Recipe cards Greeting cards Planners are great, but turning them into collections really gives them serious pizzazz! For more ideas, be sure to check out the Vervante Video Vault for videos that show ideas for products that can easily be bundled with daily planners. You can also check out our Samples Page to see everything we have to offer there for fun extra products. We can help you turn your planner into a complete collection with all the products and services you need. For questions or to get started, just send us an email at [email protected].
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Board Covers for Hardcover Planners and Books
If you're looking for a budget-friendly, durable and attractive alternative for hardcover books or planners, board covers might be the answer for you. A popular (and affordable) cover we have been offering is a 2-ply. We are now also offering a 3-ply and 4-ply option. To produce these covers, we use our standard 12 pt C1S cover stock, the same cover used for a paperback book. We litho laminate (glue) two pieces together, three piece or four pieces of cover weight stock together to create a great option to a traditional hardcover. Advantages of board covers Depending on the size of the cover, board covers cost about 50% less than hardcovers The turnaround time is at least two weeks less than hardcovers We can wire-o bind or spiral bind (metal or plastic) board covers Board covers can be printed 2-sided So, if you’re working on a product that you’d like to have ready sooner than it would take using a traditional hard cover, a board cover might just be the solution for you. You can order samples by clicking here: SAMPLES. We also have a quick video (CLICK HERE) demonstrating the different thickness options. If you have any questions about the products or design tips we shared with you here today, our team is ready to help at [email protected].
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Gold wire-o and metal spiral binding
We've got the gold! We're so excited - the ship we've been waiting for finally came in! Several months ago we purchased shiny bright gold wire-o and metal spiral binding from a manufacturer in China. The ports have been backed up for a long time, but the boat finally arrived with our shipment and we now have beautiful bright gold wire-o and metal wire-o binding in stock. We offer silver - and now gold - metal spiral binding on-demand, or in any other quantity. Our wire-o binding is available in minimum order quantities of 25. We will be ordering more bright gold, but based on the port situation, it will be many months before we get more shiny bright gold in stock again so order now while supplies last. We cannot get bright gold in either wire-o or metal spiral from a U.S. distributor so we are excited to finally have this in-demand item in stock. For more information or to inquire about using gold wire-o or gold metal spiral binding for your planners, journals or other products, contact our team at [email protected].
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Faux Leather Softcovers
We've got Faux Leather Softcovers! Yes, you're hearing it here first: We just posted another new video to the Vervante Video Vault introducing you our Faux Leather Softcovers. Planners can be customized in so many ways, including the addition of adding these faux leather covers. Budget-friendly, professional, and sturdy, they can be foil stamped and give your books or planners that luxe look your customers desire. These special covers can be wire-o, spiral or perfect binding. To watch the video, click HERE. To access all videos in our video vault, click HERE.
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Perforated Pages and Cards
Check it out! We've just posted a new video to the Vervante Video Vault introducing you to our new Perforated Pages & Cards. If you're thinking about adding something fun and functional to your planners, journals, workbooks or similar products, performated pages or punch-out cards are a great idea! They can be added when you first have your entire product printed and assembled, or they can be added after the fact. These are also very popular for coloring books so you can cleanly remove pages that have been colored to share or display. We can perforate pages that can be added to planners, journals or products. You can also create perforated cards to add to products – and it’s great for easy tear-out pages in coloring books too! To watch the video, click HERE.
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The importance of copy editing for books and all products
Nothing can be more damaging to your products and your reputation than publishing a book or other written product that is filled with typos, errors, and incorrect information. Every book needs editing, as well as other products such as planners, workbooks, journals, training manuals, fitness or health programs, and more. A few mistakes here and there aren't that big of a deal, but consistent misspellings, grammar errors, and incorrect information (such as wrong dates, incorrect website addresses, etc.) will distract your reader and leave them with a negative perception of you, your expertise, and the message or information you share. No matter what your budget might be, investing time and/or money into editing for your project is a vital step that will help you create the best product you can. When your book or product is in the final stages of writing or design, we recommend that you have it professionally edited. Do not compromise when it comes to the quality of your product. If your budget allows for it, hire a professional. If not, consider a trade of services. Or ask for help from family, friends or colleagues. There are several kinds of editing services that can be done, including proofreading and copy editing: #1 PROOFREADING: This is editing that is done at the final stage, before your book, planner, workbook, journal, etc. is finalized for printing. The editor checks for typos, formatting issues, and any other errors they can find. Proofreading is a "lighter" sort of editing that focuses on eliminating minor errors and inconsistencies. Proofreading is right for you if: Your book, planner or product is in the final stages of design and ready to be printed. You are reasonably confident in your work and just want one more set of eyes to catch any errors that might have slipped through. #2 COPY EDITING: Copy editing is detailed, word-by-word editing that includes everything you get from Proofreading plus a deeper look at grammar, usage, and consistency. Copy editing is right for you if: Your manuscript is finished but hasn’t moved to the design and formatting stage yet. You want a professional set of eyes to ensure your content is free of errors, technical problems, inconsistencies or loose ends that might confuse or turn off your readers. While we do not provide editing services here at Vervante, we strongly believe in the necessity of having an editor and often use editors to ensure professional end results. We are happy to provide you with referrals for editors, or answer any questions about editing at [email protected].
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Why margin width is important for printing
When it comes to deciding on the details for your next planner, book or journal, the smaller choices are just as important as the big ones. For example, you can have a gorgeous eye-catching cover, but if you open the book and the words are cut off in the margin, or holes are punched through them, it can ruin the whole experience. Details like margin width are very important, as you can see. If you are designing a new planner, journal or book, attention to margins is crucial. We receive a lot of questions from our customer asking about margins, so we thought we’d share our recommendations here. In general, for spiral or wire-o bound products we recommend 1/2" margins to be safe. However, if space is an issue, you can follow these specific guides: Holes for spiral binding are smaller and only require 1/4" of the binding edge. Wire-o holes are larger and require 1/2" margins If you have any questions, we're here to help at [email protected].
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