# Wrap cover

> Source: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/wrap-cover

Last updated: 2026-09-06
Category: Printing & binding
Also called: Full cover spread · Cover wrap · Cover template

A wrap cover is the single print file holding back cover, spine and front cover side by side, plus bleed, sized from the trim and the spine width.

## Definition

A **wrap cover** (or *full cover spread*) is how a paperback or casewrap hardcover cover is actually supplied to a printer: not a front image, but one wide flat file laid out as **back cover · spine · front cover**, reading left to right, with bleed on every outer edge. It is printed on one sheet, laminated, and wrapped around the book block — hence the name.

Its size is arithmetic. Width = (2 × trim width) + spine width + (2 × bleed); height = trim height + (2 × bleed). For a 6 × 9 in book with a 0.75 in spine and 0.125 in bleed, the file is 12.875 × 9.25 in. Hardcover wraps add the wrap-around allowance that folds over the boards.

Because the spine width sits in the middle of the sum, the cover cannot be finalised until the page count is. Printers issue **templates** for each trim and page count, and a barcode zone on the back is part of them.

## In Bindery

Bindery designs the cover and sizes its spine from the real page count; the bookstore pack supplies the finished wrap cover with a barcode.

## Related

- [Spine width](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/spine-width)
- [Bleed](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/bleed)
- [Barcode (EAN-13)](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/barcode)
- [Casewrap hardcover](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/casewrap-hardcover)
- [Perfect binding](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/perfect-binding)
- [Hardcover Memoir Maker](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/formats/hardcover-memoir-maker)
- [Business Book Maker](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/formats/business-book-maker)
- [Book Publishing Glossary — 59 Terms Defined](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary)
- [Bindery — the Claude-powered book studio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/bindery)

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