Dust jackets

A dust jacket is a detachable outer cover with folded flaps. The folded flaps wrap around the front and back of the book covers to protect books from dirt and damage. Mixam prints dust jackets on satin paper stock with a protective gloss or matte lamination. For a striking and eye-catching effect, you can also add gold or silver foiling.

 

Dust jacket design

Dust jackets preserved cloth-covered hardback books in the 1800s. Today, dust jackets are a great way to enhance the presentation of your book with beautiful art.

You can get creative with these detachable covers that wrap around your book. These flaps, also called panels, are perfect for displaying extra information about the author, reviews, or social media profiles.

Example of a printed dust jacket
Example of a printed dust jacket
 

Dust jacket set up guide

Because your dust jacket will be printed as a single sheet and then wrapped around the outside of your book, we ask that you supply your dust jacket artwork as a single spread design.

When you upload your dust jacket file, we advise you name it so our system can identify it and print it to the correct dimensions. Acceptable file names can include keywords such as “dustjacket”, “dust-jacket”, “dust_jacket” and “dust jacket”.

From the finished internal book size ADD:

  1. 0.275” to the front and back cover width
  2. 0.275” to the front and back cover height
  3. Add your spine width
  4. Add the required flap sizes to each side
  5. Add 0.125” bleed to all external sides

 

Hardcover book with a dust jacket partially attached
Hardcover book with a dust jacket partially attached
Size and orientationWidth x HeightFlap width
Digest portrait5.5” x 8.5”2.5”
Digest landscape8.5” x 5.5”2.5”
US Trade Portrait6” x 9”2.5”
US Trade landscape9” x 6”2.5”
Letter portrait8.5” x 11”2.5”
Letter landscape11” x 8.5”2.5”
8.5” Square8.5” x 8.5”2.5”
7.5” Small Square7.5” x 7.5”2.5”
7.25” x 9.5” Portrait7.25” x 9.5”2.5”
7.25” x 9.5” landscape9.5” x 7.25”2.5”
7” x 9” Portrait7” x 9”2.5”
7” x 9” landscape9” x 7”2.5”
Pocket Book Portrait4.25” x 6.87”2.5”
Pocket Book Landscape6.87” x 4.25”2.5”
Royal Portrait6.14” x 9.21”2.5”
Royal Landscape9.21” x 6.14”2.5”
Executive Portrait7” x 10”2.5”
Executive Landscape10” x 7”2.5”
Crown Quarto Portrait7.44” x 9.68”2.5”
Crown Quarto Landscape9.68” x 7.44”2.5”
A5 portrait5.8” x 8.3”2.5”
A5 landscape8.3” x 5.8”2.5”
A4 portrait8.3” x 11.7”2.5”
A4 landscape11.7” x 8.3”2.5”
 

Example dust jacket artwork dimensions

Our dust jackets have standard sizing for the spine. For example, below we have a 5.5” x 8.5” book with a 0.4” spine. The standard sizes for dust jacket spines are 0.375”, 0.575”, 0.775” and 0.975”.

So you must choose a standard size closest to the size of your spine in the order, always rounding up. So for this example, this dust jacket should have a spine standard size of 0.575”.

 

Example Dust Jacket Artwork Dimensions
 

Dust jacket special options

If you have selected foiling or Spot UV for your dust jacket, you will need to create a new file for this layer to your design.

Metallic foil requires a custom quote, so please email us including your order number if you have one.

Metallic foil set up guide

Hardcover book with gold metallic foiling
Hardcover book with gold metallic foiling