For publishers, production teams and print buyers
Fast UK book manufacturing for publishers.
Quality. Flexibility. Reliability.
Manufactured in the UK.
Standard production, from proof approval to despatch: paperbacks 5 to 7 working days, hardbacks 3 to 4 weeks.
Measured over the twelve months to 28 September 2026, from our production and despatch records.
Who we are
Imprint Digital manufactures paperbacks, thread-sewn editions and hardbacks for publishers, trade customers and organisations from our works near Exeter.
Text and covers are printed on our own presses. Books are sewn, bound, cased, trimmed, packed and despatched through the same works.
We work with publishers on new titles, reprints, backlist production and repeat manufacturing.
You do not need to move your whole list to find out what we can do.
If we perform, send us the next one.
Send us a titleReprints
You should not have to rebuild a specification every time stock runs low.
For every title produced through an Imprint publisher account, we keep a title record:
An unchanged reprint goes straight to print from the approved files on the record: no new proof, and the colour matched to the last printing.
So a reprint needs three things from you: the title, the quantity, and the date it must reach your distributor. Everything else is on the record, and the record prices five quantities side by side at today's rates, or any other quantity you ask for.
542 reprints in the twelve months to 28 September 2026, of 432 titles.
Collected poems (title withheld)
Seven printings. 5,020 copies. Released to print, January 2025 to June 2026.
A real title's printing history, anonymised and laid out as a title record: one Royal paperback, thread-sewn with French flaps, every printing to the same specification. The title was first made before our title records began, so this is an illustration of one.
Each printing is the quantity the title needs at the time. The first was 120 copies; within six months the title was printing 1,000 at a time. Make what you need when you need it, rather than printing ahead of demand.
From the production records
Four runs from the twelve months to 28 September 2026, each read from its production record. Customers are not named.
3 working days
1,000
copies
The third printing of a title for an organisation. Released to print on Monday 23 February 2026, bound on the Wednesday and despatched on the Thursday.
The recorded outcome of this one job, not our standard turnaround.
Read the production record : 1,000 copies8 working days
1,000
thread-sewn hardbacks
Released to print on Tuesday 17 February 2026 and despatched eight working days later, on Friday 27 February: 1,010 copies.
The recorded outcome of this one job. Our standard time for hardbacks is 3 to 4 weeks from proof approval.
Read the production record : 1,000 thread-sewn hardbacks384 pages each
1,200
thread-sewn paperbacks
A reprint for a literary publisher: 460,800 printed pages, folded into sections and sewn into 1,200 books. 1,214 copies despatched.
The sixth of seven printings of the title, all to one specification.
Read the production record : 1,200 thread-sewn paperbacksLargest run in twelve months
10,256
copies of one title
The largest single-title run of the twelve months to 28 September 2026, printed on our digital presses and bound in our bindery.
It does not make digital the answer for every long run. It shows the route is open when the specification and the economics suit it.
Read the production record : 10,256 copies of one titleReleased means the day a job entered the print queue after approval. Working days are Monday to Friday, less bank holidays in England, counted from release to despatch. The times above are the recorded outcomes of particular jobs, not standard production times, which are below. All case studies.
Formats
Paperbacks, sewn editions and hardbacks, in mono and colour, on our own presses and in our own bindery.
One works, near Exeter
The core of the work happens in one works: text and covers printed on our own presses; sewing, binding, casing, trimming, packing and despatch in the same building.
Checked by our prepress software against the order.
Text in mono, both sides of the sheet in one pass. Covers, jackets, cases and colour on our colour presses.
Canon varioPRINT 6270 and 6220; Canon imagePRESS V1350
Folded, gathered and thread-sewn in one pass.
Meccanotecnica Universe
Bound into the cover with PUR, EVA or PO.
Horizon BQ-470
Head, tail and fore-edge in one pass, to your specification.
Horizon HT-1000V
Cases made and books cased in; shorter runs on a Samed case-making kit.
Kolbus DA-36 and Kolbus EMP
Into cartons; every courier carton booked through our system is weighed.
Pallet, courier or collection, with the delivery note in the box.
Not every book takes every stage: a glued paperback is never sewn, and only hardbacks are cased. Some specialist items are bought in, such as foil dies.
Files sent through your account are checked by software against the order before anything is printed. The job card that travels with every job carries the press checklist, and lines where the bindery and despatch count the copies and sign for them.
Each printing is made from the record of the last: the specification, the named stock and the approved files. We do not change a specified paper or board without your agreement.
A named account manager. If a date is at risk, we tell you as soon as we know, with the reason and your options. Books found damaged, faulty or unsellable are reprinted or refunded under our terms, and anything your account manager cannot settle goes to a director.
Distribution
Books leave us on pallets and by courier, into the distributors publishers use.
In the box: a delivery note with the title, the specification, the ISBN where we hold it, the copies, the cartons and their weight. No prices.
| Distributor | Warehouse |
|---|---|
| BookSource | Glasgow |
| Central Books | Dagenham |
| Parallel Distribution | London |
| Gardners | Eastbourne |
| Gazelle | Lancaster |
| Combined Book Services | Paddock Wood |
| HarperCollins distribution | Glasgow |
| Turnaround | Hertford |
Delivery destinations, not endorsements. These are warehouses we have delivered to on our customers' instructions, from our order records since November 2020 and our despatch records since September 2026. Naming them does not imply any endorsement, partnership or account with us.
Recorded, September 2026 Five reprints for a poetry press were released to print together on Thursday 10 September. Four were despatched on Friday 18 September, each split between the publisher's office and BookSource; the fifth followed on 28 September.
Planning
From proof approval to despatch. Delivery is on top.
5 to 7 working days
Typically, from proof approval to despatch.
3 to 4 weeks
Typically, from proof approval to despatch.
Some specifications, quantities and finishes take longer: sewing, colour, larger runs and some finishes add days. The quotation confirms the production time for each job.
For a new title you choose how to approve it: a free digital proof, a printed proof, or straight to print. An unchanged reprint goes straight to print.
The production book
Our production book was created for the people who get books made.
It contains:
It is thread-sewn, like the books it describes, so you can judge the paper, the sewing and the finish in your hand.
Request a copySend us the specification for your next reprint, a previous printer's quote, a printed copy or your files.
We will tell you how we would manufacture it, what it will cost and how long it will take.
Send us one title
A specification, a previous printer's quote, a printed copy or your files: any one of these is enough to start.
Riley Hancock
Account Manager
Sending a printed copy? Post it to Imprint Digital, Unit 1, Seychelles Farm, Upton Pyne, Exeter EX5 5HY.
Received
Riley Hancock, Account Manager, will review your enquiry.
In the meantime: 01392 851550 or [email protected].