9   Printing, Binding, and Distributing Manuals

Manuals must be printed and bound so that they are easy to use, easy to update, durable, and attractive. Give as much thought to the production (printing, binding, cover art, and divider tabs) as you do to the contents. If you do, your manual is more likely to get the respect it deserves, because many people do judge a book by its cover.

Be sure to plan for production early in the manual’s development. Having binders made up, for instance, can take as long as eight weeks. Check with your bindery.

This chapter covers:

• methods of printing
• preparing the camera-ready copy
• printing specifications and quotations
• 3-ring binders and divider tabs
• distributing copies of the manual
• online publishing