Book printing for self-publishing authors, printed and bound in our own Exeter bindery from 10 copies.
We are not a self-publishing service. We are a UK book printer and bookbinder that works with hundreds of self-publishing authors a year, and we do one part of the job properly: the part that touches paper. You bring the manuscript and the cover, we print, bind and finish it, and you keep the rights, the ISBN and the royalties. Build your edition below, paperback or hardback, and the price follows. No setup fees, and a free digital proof before anything prints.
Every standard UK trim, or any height and width to the millimetre. Portrait, landscape or square.
Perfect bound or thread-sewn in a laminated cover, or a case-bound hardback for the gift edition. Foil, spot UV and dust jackets where the design earns them.
Uncoated book papers for text, coated for photographs and illustration, all from the calculator range up to 170gsm. The preview page shows the stock in its own shade.
Black and white, colour or a mix of the two. The slider follows the binding's page rules, so every count it offers is one we can bind.
Every run size from 10 copies (25 for hardbacks) is priced live, with no setup fee and a free digital proof on every order.
For hardback orders, the printed proof is a plain-cover paperback with a separate sample of your cover. About proofs.
Weighing a print run against print on demand? Read the print on demand comparison, or see short-run book printing.
DESIGN YOUR BOOK
Give your paperback edition a cover that feels like your book. Choose a template, add your words and artwork, then bring the front, back and spine together.
Try it without an account. Sign in to save your work.
Every book here was printed and bound in our Exeter bindery for the person named, from 10 copies up. Under them, some of the people we printed for, with their copies. The reviews are pulled live from our Google listing, word for word.
It was my first time printing books with Imprint, and I had a really good experience. The books came out just as I expected, and they were packed really carefully for delivery. Happy with the service and the quality!
Brilliant company, which I highly recommend for any printing task, large or small.
I would give 10 stars if I could. This was my first foray into preparing a book myself for self publishing. In the past we have paid a designer a vast amount which wasn’t a cost effective option for this project. Riley at Imprint was endlessly helpful and patient and we have ended up with a very professional product at an incredibly reasonable price. What is even more outstanding is that I approved the final PDF on Wednesday and received the books on Friday!
I'm delighted with the whole printing experience with ImprintDigital. In a book with many colour photos and detailed technical illustrations, the printing quality is absolutely superb, with bright, true colours, sharp details and a high-quality glossy texture. The ordering process was simple and email responses were fast, friendly and professional..A delivery issue caused by another company was handled swiftly and elegantly. I highly recommend ImprintDigital.
Built by us for book work: every output is generated to your exact spec, not a static download.
A press-ready cover template built for your trim size, spine and cover material, in seconds.
Upload your PDF and we flag bleed, resolution and colour issues before anything reaches press, free.
Your exact spine width from paper, page count and binding, live, to the tenth of a millimetre.
Every UK trim size at actual size, with what each one is conventionally used for.
Paperback runs of 50 to 250, often with a small hardback edition for events and gifting. A5 perfect bound is the typical spec.
Sci-fi, fantasy, romance and thriller. Series authors printing book one and adding to the catalogue, thread-sewn for durability, B-format for the retail look.
Saddle-stitched booklets at 50 to 100 copies, or perfect bound for longer collections. Often on a premium paper for the feel.
Paperback or hardback at 25 to 100 copies for family editions and private circulation. An ISBN is usually not needed. Gift editions available.
Hardback editions at 50 to 100 copies for libraries and academic communities. Thread-sewn with a foil-blocked spine. Thesis printing →
Hardback case-bound runs in colour on coated paper. Coffee-table format at 100 to 500 copies with premium finishing.
Full-colour paperback or hardback, A4 or square, at 100 to 500 copies. Saddle-stitch for slim picture books, perfect bound for longer ones.
Heavy coated paper for food photography, thread-sewn binding. Cookbook printing, typically 100 to 500 copies.
Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu and BookBaby are full self-publishing platforms with retail integration built in. We are a focused book printer. Different tools for different jobs, and plenty of self-publishing authors use both.
| Factor | Self-publishing platforms (KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu) | Imprint Digital |
|---|---|---|
| Service scope | Print, retail integration, distribution, marketing tools and ISBN options, all bundled. | Print and bind only. A tighter scope, and deeper expertise on the part that touches paper. |
| Per-copy cost | Higher per copy, and flat: print-on-demand economics put a typical paperback at £8 to £15 whatever the quantity. | Short-run economics: around £6.60 a copy at 25 copies and £2.80 at 250. The price falls with the run. |
| Print quality and options | Standard paper, perfect bound, limited cover finishing. Generic by design. | 19 paper stocks, thread-sewn binding, foil blocking, hardback construction, dust jackets and premium cover materials. |
| Royalties and rights | You keep the rights, but the platform takes a cut of every sale, typically 30 to 60%. | You buy the books outright at print cost. All of any onward sale revenue is yours. |
| Retail integration | Direct integration with Amazon, IngramSpark distribution, sometimes Apple and Google. | None. We print, you sell. Amazon listings, direct sales, events and bookshops are yours to run. |
| Best paired with | Authors selling mostly through Amazon retail who want no inventory. | Authors who sell direct, sign at events, supply bookshops, or want print worth holding. |
Plenty of authors use both: KDP for Amazon-driven sales, us for the books they sell direct, sign at events, send to bookshops and give to family. More on print on demand against short-run book printing →
No, we are a book printer and bookbinder. We print and bind books for self-publishing authors, but we do not do editing, design, distribution or marketing. You bring a press-ready PDF (or a Word file we will convert) and we print it. You keep the rights, the ISBN, the royalties and the relationship with your readers. For full self-publishing platforms with retail integration, look at Amazon KDP, IngramSpark or Lulu.
Printing costs depend on page count, colour, paper, paperback or hardback binding, and quantity. Compare run sizes for your own specification, with UK delivery calculated at checkout. Use the calculator above for your exact specification, or compare UK book printing prices.
No. An ISBN is only required if you are selling for retail: Amazon, Waterstones, libraries, bookshops. For private editions, signed copies sold direct, family histories, gift editions and any non-retail use, no ISBN is needed. We can print, bind and dispatch your book whether or not it has one. If you do need one, ISBNs are issued by Nielsen UK.
On the print side, yes. We apply your ISBN barcode to the cover from your own ISBN so it scans correctly at a till, and our ONIX metadata tools are coming soon. They are not available to customers until testing is complete. We do not distribute or sell the books for you: you keep your ISBN, your rights and your trade relationships. You will need your own ISBN and a distribution arrangement, and print-on-demand titles rarely reach physical bookshop shelves, so if shelf distribution matters, plan it deliberately.
Ten copies for a paperback, twenty-five for a hardback. Most self-publishing authors order 50 to 250 copies for a launch: enough for events, review copies, bookshop consignments and gifting, at per-copy economics that work. Pricing scales smoothly, so 50 is genuinely 50 rather than a minimum of 100.
You can design your own paperback cover here, using templates, artwork and our step-by-step guide. Sign in to save it to your bookshelf. If you prefer a designer to create it for you, we work regularly with UK book designers and can introduce you to one. If you have designed your own cover in Canva, InDesign or Photoshop, we check the file is press-ready before printing, free on every order, and flag bleed, resolution or colour issues before it reaches press. Our cover template generator builds a template to your exact spine and trim.
Standard production takes 5 to 7 working days for paperbacks and 3 to 4 weeks for hardbacks, from proof approval. Delivery is additional. If you have a deadline, tell us before ordering so we can confirm what is achievable.
Different jobs. Amazon KDP gives you single-copy retail fulfilment through Amazon, which is ideal if your readers buy there. We give you better print, thread-sewn binding, premium options such as hardback, foil and dust jackets, and a substantially lower cost per copy above one copy. Many authors use both: KDP for Amazon-driven sales, us for the books they sell direct, sign at events, send to bookshops and give to family.
Debut novels (paperback at 50 to 250), poetry pamphlets (saddle-stitched at 50 to 100), genre fiction often in series, memoir and family histories (paperback or hardback at 25 to 100), academic monographs (hardback at 50 to 100), photo books, children's books (100 to 500), cookbooks, and limited editions in premium hardback at 50 to 200.
Build the spec above, size, pages, paper, quantity, and the price updates as you go.
Print-ready PDF preferred: the free file check flags resolution, colour and bleed issues.
Free digital proof of cover and interior: we never print your run without your approval.
Covers and interiors printed in Exeter on presses profiled for accurate colour.
Thread-sewn or perfect bound in-house, then trimmed, laminated and cased where the spec calls for it.
Wrapped, boxed and dispatched via DPD or pallet courier, UK and overseas.
Plan the page size, line breaks and binding for a collection or anthology.
Choose the trim, paper and binding for a novel, novella or story collection.
What every format and finish costs, priced live from the same engine.
Editable layouts for novels, memoirs and guides, with page styles and PDF samples.
A press-ready cover template for your exact trim, spine and material.
The facility, the machines and the team that make your books.
Get an instant quote in under a minute, or order a free sample pack to see and feel our work first.
