How to manage overlap on page spreads in InDesign

[Wordfruit]

I'm laying out a picture book in InDesign. The finished book is to be 7.5" by 7.5".

Each page is one single image only, which is to cover the whole page and bleed over the page. So each image for each page is to be 7.5" by 7.5" plus bleed.

I made the images 7.75" by 7.75" at 300dpi, so there's 1.25" bleed on all sides.

(That's what it says to do here: http://connect.lulu.com/t5/Interior-Formatting/Creating-a-PDF-with-Bleed-in-InDesign/ta-p/78973 )

When I place the images into the InDesign document, so they line up with the bleed guides, one image overlaps another in a page spread. So for example, the image from the right-hand page of the page spread goes across the centre of the book, 1.25" of it overlapping on to the left-hand page.

Like this: https://img.skitch.com/20111021-8g1by1ignxycn54gebn17air1h.jpg

(That's what it looks like in InDesign.)

And when I Export, create a pdf, and open up the pdf, here's what the page looks like: https://img.skitch.com/20111021-nn13kr9q626imihek8c893m9c6.jpg

How should I manage this?

[kevinlomas]

I doubt a file with overlaps in will work in Lulu's convertor.

[Ken Anderson]

I've covered this in finite detail a number of times.
Search for my previous contributions.

[kevinlomas]

But actually looking for answers is just too hard Ken ...

[Ken Anderson]

...and sometimes when they find the answer they just ignore them Kevin.

C'est la vie or something  

[Wordfruit]

Thanks, Ken.

I've taken a look and I can't see your posts on this. Part of the prob is possibly that I'm not sure what term to search -- I searched with the term 'overlap' for example, and that didn't bring posts on this up.

Is there a term for that overlap in the middle of the book? 

[kevinlomas]

Word.
Lulu's Convertor Wizard, from what I have seen, will not accept overlaps, layers, or anything like those. So just do not have any.
Are we talking at cross-purposes though? Overlap in centre of books? Do you mean a 'Double-page Spread'? If so then that is not an overlap but a 'bleed', that makes what is on two pages to join where they meet (even if those two pages are in the centre of a book). Basically it's 'simply' not having a margin at the edges you want to meet.

[Ken Anderson]

Wordfruit just for you.

I've been using InDesign since it first replaced PageMaker and PageMaker before that since it was published. In that time I've published hundreds of books, magazines and periodical with it always using the same methodology as follows.

Create an INDD for each section or chapter of a book.
Make an INDB and add each INDD to it.
Make full use of both paragraph and character styles. (if making an EPUB using Export Tagging)

Do not use any bleed settings.
Make the dimensions of each page the exact page size so for a 6x9 book each page should be 6" x 9".
Set each page to have Facing Pages and Master Text Frame.
Make each margin a minimum of 0.5". If using headers and footers make the margins larger say .75 to 1" and when you add a footer a header ensure that it is at least 0.5" from the edge of a page.
Don't bother with gutters unless using multiple columns just make the inner margin a tad larger, say .85" rather the .75" for the outer margin.

Images.
If you want an image to occupy a full page make the original images at least .25" larger than the desired page. Importantly design the image so that any content on the extremities will not affect the design if it is cropped.
So let's say you now have an image 6.25 x 9.25 in size. Place it (Ctrl-D) on the page and adjust its position. If it overlaps the centre fold line then just grab the handle on the margin size and pull it into the centre.

If you want a full page spread then make the image the size of the spread plus the extra, in this example 12.25 x 9.5. Again place it and adjust the placement.

Now a full page image on both pages. Place the first image as above but do not grab the handle and pull it into the centre fold line. Place the second image and adjust its position. Now make sure that it is at the front so it is on top on the first image. Then grab the inner handle for that image and pull the edge of the image back to the centre fold line.

For any images that don't occupy a full page but where you want them to go right to the edge of the page adopt the same technique of making the image larger and overlapping the page.

Once you export to PDF use the standard InDesign PDF option of high quality print and it will produce a perfect PDF with full bleed.

Personally I always make my images have an overlap of at least 0.25" on each page and I always achieve perfect results.

 Let's get this tagged so I don't have to write it again.

[Wordfruit]

Thanks Kevin and Ken