Layout and composition services for print and digital editions Manuscripts typeset to your house style, with print-ready pages and covers
Typesetting and book formatting built to your house style From a manuscript or an old edition to print-ready files
How our layout and composition services work Five steps from the manuscript to print-ready files
- Before the first titleAgree the templateWe agree the page template, fonts, styles and print specification with your production team.
- Sample chapterSet one chapter firstWe typeset a sample chapter, and your editors mark it up before the rest is set.
- Every titleAgents set, people decideAgents apply the template to every page, and a person decides breaks, widows and figure placement.
- Every titleProof and correctWe run your proof rounds, apply each correction, and check that nothing else moved.
- Every titleSign offThe batch owner checks the final files against the print specification and signs them off.
When layout and composition services are the right fit And when an ebook conversion or a designer would serve you better
A good fit when
- You publish a series that has to look the same title after title
- Your list includes long books full of tables, figures and indexes
- Proof rounds keep slipping because one team sets every title
Look elsewhere when
- The book is typeset and only needs an ebook: see ebook conversion
- You need a brand new visual identity for a series
- It's one short booklet a word processor can lay out
Our layout and composition services in detail What each service covers, and the files you get back
Typesetting services
Typesetting is the last step before a book goes to print. We set your text to the template, adjust spacing, move or remove text where your editors ask, build the index, and prepare the files for the printer.
We work in InDesign, LaTeX and the tools your production team already uses.
Page composition
Whether you send Word files, the typeset files of a previous edition or a stack of photocopies, we deliver coded, print-ready pages set to your specification. A person decides where each figure and table sits, because those are the calls a template can't make.
- Print-ready PDF to your printer's specification
- Open InDesign or LaTeX files for the next edition
- PostScript-based composition when your printer needs it
Book cover design and book layout design
We offer cover and interior style options that your editors choose from, or we match a design you already have. The style is then kept across the whole book, and across every title in a series.
Keying and manuscript formatting
When the source is hard copy, we type it into Word, proofread it against the original, and send it to your copyeditor. For self-publishing authors, we format the manuscript so it's ready to set.
Layout for digital editions
The same composition serves the digital edition. We lay out ejournals, ebooks and ecatalogs so the print and digital editions come from one set of files.
Questions about layout and composition services What publishers and authors ask us before they start
What are layout and composition services?
Layout and composition services arrange a book's text, images, tables and other elements into designed pages, ready for print or digital release. They include typesetting, page composition, cover design and preparing the final files for the printer.
What's the difference between typesetting and book formatting?
Book formatting prepares a manuscript's styles and structure, so it's ready to be set. Typesetting places that text onto designed pages, with the spacing, breaks and indexes a printed book needs.
Which tools do you typeset in?
We typeset in Adobe InDesign and LaTeX, and we can deliver open files in either. If your production team uses another tool, we agree it on the sample chapter.
Do you work with self-publishing authors?
Yes, as well as with publishing houses and small presses. An author sends the manuscript and the trim size, and we return print-ready files and, if needed, a cover.
How much do layout and composition services cost?
Damco prices layout and composition per page or per title. A novel costs less per page than a textbook with tables and figures, so we quote after setting a sample chapter.
Send us the manuscript and the template
Tell us the title, the trim size and your deadline, and we'll show you how we'd set it.