5 Technical Terms Every Children’s Book Illustrator Should Know

1. Gutter

The gutter is the middle part. It is where the two pages of the book are bound. Most illustrators either fear the gutter or have a healthy respect for it. My main advice is not to put anything important in the gutter. Avoid drawing faces or any intricate details, as they will be lost once the book is bound.

2. Trim Size

This is the book's physical size once it has been printed. The client or publisher provides the measurements, and you must design your illustrations specifically for that size. The trim size should be determined before you begin illustrating the book.

3. Bleed

Bleed is a term for a certain amount of space (3 mm to 5 mm -  depends on the printer) that extends beyond the trim size. The illustration should extend beyond the trim size to prevent white borders when the book is cut during printing.

4. RGB or CMYK

These two will be blog posts of their own, and I can guarantee you that every illustrator has had a difficult time with RGB and CMYK at the beginning of their career. RGB (red, green, blue) is for screens, and CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is for print. Have you ever drawn something in vibrant colours, only to realise those colours are not as vivid when you print the art out? That is because your illustrations were not in the right mode. The files you hand in should be in CMYK. Managing your colours is one of the most important things you can learn as an illustrator.

5. DPI

DPI is a technical term for dots per inch. I don't think there is an illustrator out there who hasn't had a problem with DPI at some point. I've created a few detailed illustrations only to realise that my DPI wasn't set to 300. There is not much a good cry, and chocolate can't fix ... but make sure your illustrations are set to at least 300 DPI before you start drawing. You can check DPI in Procreate by going into Actions - Canvas - Canvas Information - Dimensions.

If you have any additional questions, let me know,