There are five main kinds of proofs/tests you may review during the production process. If you are working with a traditional publisher, you probably will not be very involved in this process as it is the publisher’s job to publish the work they have paid for in a quality and manner they can sell. If you are working with a hybrid or self-publishing, below is a breakdown of proofing:
What is proofing? Proofing is the process of checking your work after design is complete.
PDF Proof/eBook Proof: This is the most basic proof for review. Even if you book will print, it is a proof that is supplied digitally to review on a computer screen to approve the files for printing. Nothing is mailed, and overall costs for this kind of proofing are low. This is good for books that are not color sensitive, do not have images, and are text only (i.e., fiction). Typically, you don’t need to see a printout of the book to confirm anything and doing so will only add costs. If you do opt for a printed proof, this may increase your overall budget.
Digital Proof: This can be confusing, but a digital proof typically does not refer to a proof you review on a computer digitally, but to the type of printing used for the proof—digital printing. A digital proof is digitally printed using a high-end Epson or HP Indigo proofing printer (other printers out there, but these are most common). A digital proof is used to check CMYK color printing. If your book has images in it, a digital proof should be asked for or part of the review process to check and approve color. As noted, when discussing RGB and CMYK, the appearance of an image on the screen will look different than in print and a digital proof gives you the chance to see the color shift.
Offset (wet) Proof: A wet proof is a proof pulled in print on the offset printer (typically sheet fed). This will show you the printing quality and ink density of an image on the actual paper and offset printer. You may think this is the best proof type if you are printing offset, but as discussed in the last post on printing types, offset printing set up costs are expensive. A digital proof will typically suffice to check color to a close degree. So why use an offset proof? Digital printing ink dots tend to bloat on the page, like pressing a pen tip onto a page, the ink dots printed tend to swell a bit making things a little fatter/darker when digitally printed. For checking color, the shift is not huge and probably not worth the cost. But, if your book uses a spot color, varnish, or has lots of thin line drawings, you may want to check the printing of those elements using a wet proof. Spot colors and varnish cannot digitally print so you won’t see the effects on a digital proof. Because of ink bloat, fine line drawings will tend to bloat giving a false sense of the thickness of line drawings. For most, this isn’t an issue, but if you are producing a book with a lot of line drawings and those line drawings are critical to the work (common in architecture books), you may want to wet proof test some of the line drawings to see how they reproduce on the final offset printer and ensure you are seeing them for how they will really reproduce.
Ozalid Proof: An ozalid is a very low-res printout of the book, folded and paginated. It does not represent quality of printing or paper, and is only to check pagination. If your book has gatefolds, tip-ins, multiple collated paper types, an ozalid proof is a good way to check pagination and placement of these different interior files to ensure foldouts are in the right place and folding the right direction, and that pagination of the interior pages is correct before printing. This can be difficult to check in a digital proof and especially in a PDF proof.
Book Dummy: A dummy, while not “technically” a proof, is a test done during the proofing stage. It is a blank book mock-up to check trim, materials, and binding to approve before printing. If you are concerned about paper, materials, or how the book will look/feel when held, a dummy can show you what the book will look/feel like to approve that before making decisions regarding paper and materials. A dummy that has the cover printed and mocked up is called a production dummy. A production dummy is good for checking the materials and binding, but also looks, when closed, like a finished book. It is a good tool to use to take advance photographs of a book for marketing, pre-orders, or a crowdfunding campaign before the book is produced to show people what the book will look like.
Determine what tests you will need. Keep in mind that tests cost money and you will need to determine what tests you need and can forgo based on the complexity of the book being produced. A good designer, publisher, and/or project manager can guide you on the most effective tests for your work based on the materials chosen and design. Not all testing is necessary for every book, but you also don’t want to skimp on a test that you may need to fully see and check color and materials. At the bare minimum, a PDF/eBook and blank dummy are a baseline suggestion. For books with color printing, a set of digital proofs is strongly advised. Plan and budget accordingly, including the time in your schedule for production. Once a book is designed, there is typically a production process and cycle for review before a book prints. This is to protect you and your work. Review carefully and make sure you are happy with everything as the costs to change things during production are much less than if you catch an error or want to make a change once books are printing. Testing in production is ultimately to protect you, your work, and your budget. Don’t rush the process.