Setting up InDesign with bleed for KPD print?

[Lysmata Debelius]

The book I'm formatting at the moment (for print) has chapter decorations that are supposed to go right to the top and outer edge of the page with no margin. As far as I can see from the KPD print documentation, I need to set up bleed in the InDesign document, 6mm at the top and 3mm at the side. Does that sound correct? Then I'd place the image overlapping the page edge (the trim).

Anyone doen this? Any advice? Can the image extend beyond the bleed mark in InDesign, or should it go right up to the bleed and not beyond?
My client will be doing the uploading - will she have to insert information about bleed etc in the KDP print interface? I've uploaded books to Createspace and KDP print, but never had to worry about bleed before.

[RPatton]

You can set the bleed in InDesign for the specs that KDP requires, then have the image go to the edge of the bleed, not just past the trim.

Don't think of the trim as the edge of the page, but instead where the page is cut. Bleed just makes sure that if the trim is cut outside the trim edge, you won't get a line that's empty of print. If there's nothing on the page, it won't matter. If a page decoration goes to the edge, it will matter.

[Lysmata Debelius]

OK thanks
That's what I guessed.

[RPatton]

Just to add to this...

So, even if the decoration doesn't go to the page edge, if it rests somewhere outside of the safe zone, add bleed. Using bleed on a page that doesn't need it, is never a bad thing. I have a chapter decoration that sits outside the margin and brushes into the safe zone. Add bleed and I am recognizing that it is sitting in that safe zone and am making a conscious decision and not an unintended mistake.

[Lysmata Debelius]

That sounds like good advice.

And if I place an image to overlap past the bleed line in InDesign, it will be cropped to that bleed line when I export it to PDF, so that should be fine.

[Lysmata Debelius]

Another question to double check. The KDP bleed specifications say:

If you want your images to bleed to the edges of your pages, extend them 0.125” (3 mm) beyond the final trim size from the top, bottom, and outer edges for your manuscript, and on all edges for a cover file.
Format your PDF manuscript at 0.25” (6 mm) higher and 0.125” (3 mm) wider than your selected trim size in order to print the full bleed area.

In InDesign, does this mean adding 0.25 to the overall width of the spread, that is, add half of that to right and left -  0.125 bleed added to the left, and 0.125 bleed added to the right? Or add 0.25 bleed to right, and 0.25 to left?
And the same for the height - 0.5 higher, 0.25 added to the top, and 0.25 added to the bottom, or 0.5 added to top, and 0.5 added to bottom? I'm starting to confuse myself.

[RPatton]

Another question to double check. The KDP bleed specifications say:

If you want your images to bleed to the edges of your pages, extend them 0.125” (3 mm) beyond the final trim size from the top, bottom, and outer edges for your manuscript, and on all edges for a cover file.
Format your PDF manuscript at 0.25” (6 mm) higher and 0.125” (3 mm) wider than your selected trim size in order to print the full bleed area.

In InDesign, does this mean adding 0.25 to the overall width of the spread, that is, add half of that to right and left -  0.125 bleed added to the left, and 0.125 bleed added to the right? Or add 0.25 bleed to right, and 0.25 to left?
And the same for the height - 0.5 higher, 0.25 added to the top, and 0.25 added to the bottom, or 0.5 added to top, and 0.5 added to bottom? I'm starting to confuse myself.

In InDesign, you set the bleed at .125" and it will add it to the necessary edges. When you set up the margins, you have the option of including bleed. Just put in .125" and InDesign takes care of the rest.

ETA: Unless you are doing a truck with an image covering a two page spread (I don't recommend, you'll never get it right with a POD), you don't have to worry about the inside margin. If you have a truck, then you have to compensate for the trim/bleed on the inside by overlapping the image and guesstimating where it might meet.

[Lysmata Debelius]

Thanks for mentioning the two page spread thing. As it happens, my client wants the maps to spread across both pages. I warned her that some of it will disappear into the gutter.  We'll have to see how this works.

[RPatton]

Thanks for mentioning the two page spread thing. As it happens, my client wants the maps to spread across both pages. I warned her that some of it will disappear into the gutter.  We'll have to see how this works.

Oh man, and I say this with complete sincerity. Good luck. My only advice is to look at several proof or author's copies and try to find the one with the tightest binding then use that as your overlap.

[Lysmata Debelius]

Thanks for mentioning the two page spread thing. As it happens, my client wants the maps to spread across both pages. I warned her that some of it will disappear into the gutter.  We'll have to see how this works.

Oh man, and I say this with complete sincerity. Good luck. My only advice is to look at several proof or author's copies and try to find the one with the tightest binding then use that as your overlap.

Thanks.  Appreciate that. These jobs, where I'm working for other people and don't get to upload the files myself make me nervous as I never know what type of errors will be thrown. Luckily this client is a sweetheart so she won't be unreasonable if things go wrong. I just hope she understand what I mean when I say her maps might not look the  way she expects.