After copyediting has been completed, the approved final manuscript is typeset or composed. This stage is when the actual book pages, known as page proofs, are created and it’s handled by a composition team. For books that include illustrations, this stage might involve a separate art team, who may either process illustrations provided by the author (such as changing supplied art to the correct color or file format) or actually create the illustrations either from descriptions or crudely rendered versions provided by the author. At Virtus, all of these art services are available upon request.

Composition is a highly complex procedure, which thankfully is assisted by a few very reliable programs. Adobe has dominated the market for many years, with many publishers and vendors using the highly regarded Adobe InDesign. At Virtus, we exclusively use InDesign.

Factors that can complicate the process include the complexity of the text and what elements are included, such mathematical equations, chemical elements, and computer code. 

Even seemingly simple, non-scientific texts can present challenges. Lengthy quotations, text extracts, letters, or dialogue all require very specific rules to be followed with regard to alignment and indentation, as well as a complex mix of fonts and font attributes (such as bold or italic). 

Other issues may include artwork, illustrations, and tables included with the text, which must follow very specific rules for placement in relation to where they are mentioned, as well as where they appear on a page.

It’s important to note that Microsoft Word is a word-processing program: it is not a page makeup program. Trying to create high-quality, professional book pages in Microsoft Word is a pointless task. There are many aspects that require absolute precision, such as the space allowed for the page margins (the edges of the pages), the gutters (the space between the pages, where they’re joined), the running heads (the text at the very top), and the footers (text that may appear at the very bottom, such as footnotes). To achieve visually appealing, balanced pages, a true page-make-up program is the only way to go.

Self-publishing authors who view this stage as a potential “DIY” task will very likely be disappointed with the final product.

At Virtus, we take the page-makeup stage very seriously, since it directly impacts the final printed book. Page proofs are typically provided as portable document format (.pdf) files. 

Virtus provides page proof .pdfs to authors for all books, for proofreading before the book is finalized.

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