Dust jacket

In a book the cover is the first thing to wear out. Even though quality materials and modern technologies are used to produce it, this is the element of the edition that is handled most often and is therefore the most vulnerable. A dust jacket partly solves the problem.

The dust jacket: what it is and what it is for

A dust jacket is a special removable cover. It is made of paper and is fitted over the hard binding, and it is wider than the format of the cover itself – the extra width is folded into flaps that hold the jacket on the edition. It is a striking element of a book, and today the book and printing market is hard to imagine without it.

The dust jacket serves three purposes:

• it is an additional decorative element;
• it is a new advertising space;
• it protects the edition from deformation, moisture and dirt.

To produce high-quality printing for our customers we use the following types of paper:

• coated paper;
• offset paper;
• designer paper.

For additional protection the printed sheets are laminated with glossy or matt film and then cut to the required size of the jacket, after which the finished cover is wrapped around the book. This can be done by hand or on special equipment – the method depends on the customer’s wishes, the budget and the size of the print run.

There is another important point: the extra width of the flaps is an excellent opportunity for advertising. This is especially valuable for editions that work as corporate printing, for example business souvenirs. Your clients, partners and employees will appreciate such a creative approach to dialogue and cooperation.

What can be printed on a dust jacket?

Modern printing and publishing services make it possible to produce an informative and spectacular dust jacket for a binding. A variety of design techniques are used in developing it. The text on the jacket can include:

• the title;
• the author’s name;
• bibliographic data;
• a blurb or a review, in full or in an abridged form;
• reviews by critics;
• marks and awards, for example «New», «Top sales», «Nominee»;
• links to internet resources – websites, social media and messengers;
• the barcode, the ISBN and the author’s mark;
• the publisher’s details.

Types of dust jacket

The dust jacket is used mainly for editions with a particularly artistic appearance. The flaps usually carry information about the book in small print, sometimes with small pictorial elements.

Dust jackets are divided into several types:

• ordinary;
• multi-fold, with combined or parallel folding;
• with a die-cut shaped window;
• a band;
• double;
• a jacket that doubles as a bookmark.

Most of the orders we receive are for the first, ordinary type. It covers the whole surface of the binding and the flaps are folded inside the cover. Such a jacket is the simplest and the most economical one, while the protective and decorative functions are preserved.

To sum up, a dust jacket is a kind of bright wrapper that is put over the binding and is held in place by its flaps.