Back to Prepare & Submit Your Manuscript

Art & Manuscript Preparation Guidelines for Art Books

Preparing Files

  • Prepare your manuscript on the same system—both hardware and software—from start to finish. We accept text files in Microsoft Word. If you use a word processor other than Word or WordPerfect, save your files as Microsoft Word format before submission (with most word processors, you can do this through the Save As command). For digital art, see the “Guidelines for Submitting Original Art for Publication” section, below.
  • Do not put the entire manuscript into one enormous file. Create a new file for each major subdivision of the book:
    •      Frontmatter, all chapters, and bibliography in one file
    •      Captions in one file
    •      Tables in one file
    •      Photo/illustration credits (including copyright or photographer credits that do not need to be in the main caption for the figure) in one file
  • Notes must be embedded and linked to the text, whether they are gathered at the end of the book or remain as endnotes to individual chapters.
  • Name text files by author and book section: 01_Jones_ShortTitle_text, 02_Jones_ShortTitle_captions, 03_Jones_ShortTitle_photo credits. Name illustration files by figure numberand author: 1.1_smith_fig.tif, etc.

Formatting

Use no formatting that is not essential to your manuscript. Although word processors make it easy for anyone to produce an elaborate printout, the Press will use your files only to avoid rekeying the manuscript, and in general, the plainer the printout, the easier it will be to edit and design your book.

  • Make sure all comments and track changes have been resolved before submitting your manuscript.
  • If your manuscript requires extensive use of diacritical marks or non-Latin alphabets, use a font that supports Unicode, an encoding system with all the diacritics and special characters a language needs. Gentium is an example of a free Unicode font. (If you use a non-Latin font—for example, for Polish or Greek—supply the required font files with the rest of your electronic files.)
  • Code any diacritics that your software does not support by inserting the name of the diacritic in curly braces before the letter (e.g., “{umacron}” before letter “u” with a macron over it). With your manuscript, provide a list of characters for which you have used codes.
  • Use your software’s Header and Footer feature to indicate page numbers. Do not type the page number on each page.
  • Do not use any type styles other than italics. If there are underscored words that appear in the original quotation from a source that you wish to reproduce, you can use Word’s underline style for these words. Otherwise, no other words should be underlined.
  • Do not put an extra hard return between paragraphs.
  • Do not put “soft” hyphens at the ends of lines; that is, do not break words. In fact, it’s best to turn off the automatic hyphenation feature of your word processor. The only hyphens that should occur in your manuscript should be in hyphenated compound words.
  • When typing block quotations, epigraphs, etc., use whatever commands your word processor has for indenting the left margin. Do not insert extra spaces or hard returns between words to achieve the effect of an indentation.
  • Align all poetry passages so that they appear on manuscript hard copy exactly as you want them to appear in the printed book.
  • Do not use fields or hyperlinks. If you use the EndNote software tool to prepare your documentation or if you cite Internet addresses, remove the field codes or hyperlinks before submitting your manuscript.
  • Do not insert extra spaces between notes or bibliographical entries, or to set off block quotations. If you would like a line of extra space to appear in the book to indicate a change of topic or an abrupt break in the discussion, type the code <ls> (“line space”) on a line by itself. Do not use the <ls> code before or after a chapter title, subhead, block quotation, or list.
  • To indicate an ornamented break in the flow of the text, type <sec> on a line by itself.
  • Do not type a space before inserting a superscript note number.
  • Never use letters for numbers or vice versa; that is, don’t type the lowercase “ell” for the number one or the letter “oh” for zero.

Elements

Assemble your manuscript in this order (* indicates items present in all books):

  • * Title page (i.e., complete title, including subtitle; your name; Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford)
  • Dedication and/or epigraph
  • * Contents page
  • Foreword (by someone other than the author of the book) Preface
  • Introduction (place here unless it appears as first chapter of text) Abbreviations (if used in text)
  • * Text
  • Acknowledgments
  • Appendixes
  • Chronology
  • Abbreviations (if used only in back matter)
  • Endnotes (end-of-book notes): use short-form citations for works listed in your bibliography
  • Glossary
  • Bibliography (not necessary if full citations are used in the notes) List of contributors and their affiliations (for edited volumes only) Captions
  • Photo credits
  • Illustrations, tables, and/or figures in as final shape as possible. If preparing original art for publication please contact the editorial assistant for guidelines.

Style

For matters of style, including capitalization, abbreviation, notes, and bibliography, consult The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. Spelling, hyphenation, and punctuation should follow American rather than British rules. The Press follows Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.

Punctuation

  • Periods and commas go inside closing quotation marks, not outside them.
  • Superscript note numbers go outside commas, periods, and parentheses. There should be no space before a note number.
  • Use a comma before the last item in a series of three or more things: “this, that, and the other thing.”
  • Type dashes consistently, either as two hyphens—like this—or using your word processor’s “em dash” character. Either way, the dashes should be “closed up”—like this—not surrounded by spaces.

Subheads

  • Type part titles, chapter titles, and subheads using title-style capitalization (The Search for Community), not sentence- style capitalization or full capitals.
  • Number chapters sequentially using arabic numerals. Do not number subheads.

  • Remember that the typeset page will be more compressed than the manuscript page, and frequent subheads will make the text look choppy. If at all possible, use only one level of subhead. If you must use more than one level of subhead, add typesetting codes to ensure that we interpret the various levels correctly. Mark the first-level subheads with <ah> directly in front of them, the second-level subheads with <bh>, as follows:

    <ah>This Is a Subhead

    <bh>This Is a Subsection of the Previous Section

  • Note that if you include one subhead at a particular level, you must have another at the same level; otherwise you have created a list with only one element.

Epigraphs

The author and title of an epigraph should be given on a line following the quotation. Usually, no other source information is needed; however, if you feel that full attribution is necessary, it should be given in an unnumbered note at the beginning of that chapter’s notes. Do not place a superscript note number at the end of an epigraph.

Emphasis

Use italics only sparingly for emphasis. Do not use boldface for emphasis.

Numbers

  • Spell out names of centuries (nineteenth century, not 19th century), except in captions. If you need to use “th” or “st” for other ordinal numbers, do not use superscripts: 14th, not 14th.
  • Spell out the word “percent” rather than using the % symbol.
  • Treat ranges of numbers consistently: either repeat all digits consistently throughout the manuscript (114–115) or elide the hundreds digits consistently (114–15). (The exception is in titles of books and articles, where you should copy the title exactly.)
  • Do not use special formatting for fractions. Simply indicate them with a slash: 22 1/4.

Foreign Words and Phrases

  • It is unnecessary (distracting even) to italicize such common terms as oeuvre, sui generis, prima facie, and ménage à trois. The general rule is, if they can be found in a standard English dictionary, keep them roman.
  • Unfamiliar non-English terms should be italicized only the first time they’re used.

Quotations

  • Run in quotations of fewer than one hundred words; that is, do not set them off from the paragraph but use quotation marksand make them part of the paragraph.
  • It is okay to change the capitalization of the first letter in a quotation to make it fit your sentence structure without indicating the change with brackets. (Brackets are used primarily in textual editions and law books.)
  • Do not begin a quotation with an ellipsis, and do not end a quotation with an ellipsis unless the quotation ends with a grammatically incomplete thought. Readers understand that quoted phrases are taken from a larger context.

Abbreviations

  • Spell out such common abbreviations as “e.g.” (for example) and “i.e.” (that is) throughout the text; use the abbreviations in the notes.
  • If many abbreviations are used in the chapters of your book, consider adding a list of abbreviations to the front matter to help the reader keep track.

Cross-References

Please do not use cross-references like “(see page xx).” Using page numbers for cross-references leads to mistakes finding their way into your book later. Please refer to any cross-reference by figure number.

List of Contributors

Edited volumes should include a list of contributors. We prefer a streamlined list including only names and affiliations. If you think it’s important to provide more information than that, keep each entry down to a sentence or two.

Documentation

Please use a workable, consistent system of documentation. We accept either the note-bibliography system or the author-date system as defined in The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed., chapters 14 and 15. Other systems of documentation, if appropriate for your book and applied consistently, may also be accepted.

Notes

  • Numbering: Notes must be embedded and linked to the text. Number all notes consecutively beginning with 1 in each chapter. For catalogue entries, number the notes beginning with 1 in each entry. Do not number the notes in one sequence throughout the book. Most art books will carry endnotes at the end of the book, not footnotes. For contributed volumes and exhibition catalogues, notes likely will appear at the end of each essay and/or catalogue entry. Consult with your editor if you have any questions.
  • Avoiding Excessive Annotation: To minimize distraction for the reader, combine citations for works mentioned in a single paragraph. Because the preface is itself a note to the text, it should not include notes. Do not add notes to chapter titles, subheads, or epigraphs.
  • Shortened Citations: For books with no bibliography, each work should be cited in full the first time it is mentioned in each chapter. Thereafter, use a shortened form, including author’s last name, short title, and page number (Doe, Short Title, 114). For books with a bibliography, use the shortened form throughout the notes, even on first mention of a work. Do not use “op. cit.” or “loc. cit.” It is okay to use “ibid.” to refer to a source in the preceding note, provided that that note cites only a single source.

Illustrations, Captions, and Tables

  • Illustrations: Mention all illustrations in the text, with call-outs such as “(fig. 1).” It is preferable that these call-outs fall at the end of a sentence, before the terminal punctuation. For specialized books or books with very large illustration programs, illustrations can be double-numbered and called out as (fig. 1.1), (fig. 1.2), etc.; this would make any necessary renumbering less taxing. Please consult with your editor before using this option. In the rare instance that the figure numbers will not appear in the book, the figures must still be numbered for our reference.

    Color illustrations that are grouped separately from the black-and-whites should be labeled as “plate 1, plate 2,” etc. However, if the color images are scattered with black-and-white images throughout the book, all the illustrations should be numbered consecutively in one sequence as “fig. 1, fig. 2,” etc.

    If your illustrations will be unnumbered in the final book, call-outs must still appear in the text at a paragraph break, as [insert fig. 00 near here], and the illustrations must be numbered as described above. The designer will remove final numbering when the illustrations are placed in the designed pages. If you’d like to pursue this option, please discuss it with your editor before submitting your final manuscript for editing.

  • Frontispiece images: These should be unnumbered and will be identified with a caption on the book’s copyright page or opposite the reproduction itself.
  • Captions: Provide a double-spaced list of captions or legends for all illustrations (see instructions for preparing captions, below). The Press does not include lists of illustrations in art books; captions are sufficient and should include all necessary information for the reader.
  • Photo Credits: If you are required to secure permissions for your illustrations, please provide photo credits for your illustrations (see instructions for preparing photo credits, below).
  • Tables: Type tables double-spaced, one per page. Avoid tables with more than 10 columns. Number the tables consecutively (1, 2, etc.). Mention all tables in the text with such call-outs as “(table 1).” Group the tables in a separate file.

Elements Requiring Permission

Determine whether your manuscript includes any of the following elements, and secure permission for those elements that require permission. If you have any questions about whether permission is required for a specific element, please consult with your editor. You also may wish to refer to the in-depth guidelines prepared by the Association of American University Presses and the Press’s permissions guidelines. 

  • Illustrations: Permission typically is provided by the image source. However, if the artwork is still under copyright, you may need to secure permission from the copyright holder in addition to the image source. Please see the next section for detailed instructions on how to secure art and permissions. The form letters provided may be adapted as needed to cover permission requests for the other elements listed below. Please note you will need to request additional permission for the image that is chosen for the cover. Do not do this in advance, as the final design is not created until later in the production process.
  • Maps, charts, or tables: If created by someone else, permission is required. Re-rendering of data into a new, original figure does not require permission, only attribution.
  • Quotations of published material: In all cases, provide appropriate attribution for any quotations. For quotations of works under copyright (published 1923 or later). Also, quotation of a complete unit (such as a chapter, a story, a letter, a poem, or song lyrics) or a significant portion of a work requires permission. Secure permission for poetry and song lyrics, even brief excerpts. Only quote song lyrics that are essential to your argument; ASCAP and BMI are clearinghouses that can help you locate rights holders. Secure permission for any use of text, poems, or songlyrics in an epigraph where there is no articulable relevance to the chapter content.
  • Quotations of unpublished material: Quotations from unpublished letters, diaries, journals, manuscripts, or student writings by someone who died more than seventy years ago may be quoted without permission; otherwise, secure permission. Note that the copyright to unpublished letters resides with the writer, not the recipient or any subsequent owner.
  • Interviews: If any portion of your book is based on interviews, secure releases for the use of the interviews. Ask each interviewee if what you have quoted or related from the interview is accurate.
  • Translations: If your book or any portion of it is a translation, rights to the original work must be obtained, as well as a work-for-hire agreement or contract for the translation.
  • Anthologies and edited editions: Permission for all previously published materials, no matter the length, is required in an anthology. For edited editions, contributors’ agreements from each chapter author are required. In consultation with your editor, determine whether permission should cover use in print and electronic editions.
  • Your own previously published material: If you quote or reprint your own previously published material, you may need to secure permission from your publisher.

Please retain copies of your permissions paperwork and documentation in your records. You must be able to provide the Press with copies of all permissions forms upon request.

Securing Art and Permissions

For illustrated art books, securing art and permissions is an important and often time-intensive task. Be sure to allow plenty of time to secure these in advance of your submission deadline. The following information is aimed at guiding you through the process.

  • Image Source: Determine where you will secure art for each image on your illustration list. Depending on the work, this may involve contacting the artist, the owner of the work, or an image bank. An artist’s gallery often will be able to help you contact an artist, or may be able to provide you with art. Many museums have Rights and Reproductions Departments to handle image requests, although some museums instead outsource this task to an image repository. Some of the major image banks that represent museums and archives are Art Resource and the Bridgeman Art Library. See also ARTstor’s Images for Academic Publishing. Some museums and image banks allow you to place a request online; otherwise, mail a request letter to the institution’s Rights and Reproductions Department. Please see the end of this document for a sample letter for requesting artwork and permission from the image source.
  • Copyright: Be aware that works under copyright may require permission from the copyright holder (copyright permission) in addition to permission from the image source (use permission). To determine whether a work is still under copyright, consult the section “Which works are in the public domain?” and the Public Domain Chart in the resources section of the AAUP’s permission guidelines. As the chart demonstrates, copyright duration is complicated, and the copyright status of each work on your list should be investigated with care. Copyright permission may be administered by the artist (if living), the artist’s estate or foundation, or a rights organization. The major U.S. rights organizations are Artists Rights Society (a list of artists represented) and VAGA. If you do not know who holds copyright, an internet search or the photo credit for a previous reproduction of the work may be helpful. The image source also may be able to offer advice. Please see the end of this document for a sample letter for requesting copyright permission.
  • Print and Digital Rights: Use and copyright permission (where applicable) should be secured for both print and digital editions of your book. Secure nonexclusive, worldwide, all-language rights to reproduce the image in both editions. If all-language rights or digital rights are cost prohibitive, please discuss with your editor. The permission grantor will typically wish to know how many copies of the print edition will be printed, how large the image will be reproduced and whether it will appear in color or black and white, and the expected retail price for both editions. Not all institutions have developed clear guidelines for granting digital rights, and may wish to apply similar questions to electronic editions as to print editions. For example, a permission grantor may ask for an electronic edition’s print run, which is difficult to determine since we do notknow how many times the book will be downloaded. Consult your editor if a lender requires this information. Alternately, a grantor may wish to assign a length of time for which the permission is valid. Where possible, please secure electronic rights with as few restrictions as possible, since the work involved in requesting the rights to be renewed after a length of time or number of downloads is onerous.
  • Authors of art books will need to submit an Art Log (in place of the CIF).

Art Log

 

Alt Text

PUP is committed to making our content in all formats as accessible as possible to the widest possible audience, including people with print disabilities. Providing alt text for all images in your book will help support this goal. Please refer to our guidelines to learn more about what alt text is, why it’s important, and what we need from you.

Alt Text Guidelines

Captions and Photo Credits

Captions

The order and, to some degree, the content of the information may vary depending on the nature of the objects illustrated (e.g., artist is usually listed first for paintings, object first for decorative arts), but similar objects should be treated consistently throughout. Typically, captions should be formatted as follows:

Fig. 1. Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from Bellevue, 1882–85. Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 1/8 in. (65.4 x 81.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. H. O. Havemeyer Collection, bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929.

Fig. 2. Commode, c. 1755–60, attributed to Thomas Chippendale. Mahogany, oak, pine, and ormolu, 33 x 55 x 25 1/2 in. (83.8 x 139.7 x 64.8 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art. Purchased with the John D. McIlhenny Fund.

Fig. 3. Seated Bodhisattva (detail), early 8th century. Made in China (T’ang dynasty, 618-907). Gilded bronze with traces of color, height 9 in. (22.9 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art. Purchased with Museum and subscription funds.

Fig. 4. Judgment of Paris, Attic red-figure amphora. British Museum, London [E 289].

Note: In the last example, medium and dimensions were omitted since the book focused primarily on the subject matter depicted in Greek art. In such cases, accession numbers can be useful for distinguishing between large numbers of similar objects.

  • Dates: For approximate dates, use “c.” (“ca.” is also acceptable), not “about.” Use arabic numerals, not roman, for centuries (mid-19th century). Use the abbreviated form for inclusive dates (1901–5, 1934–36) except when the first date ends with 00 (1900–1901), B.C. dates (2156–2034 B.C.), and artists’ life dates (1815–1876). An artist’s nationality and dates need not be included after the first reference to that artist.
  • Dimensions: Height precedes width; depth, if given, follows width. Give measurements in inches followed by the centimeter equivalent in parentheses (express round numbers without a decimal: 127 cm, not 127.0 cm). If one or more dimension exceeds 99 inches, express the measurement in feet and inches. Dimensions need not be given for details, but the caption should indicate that the image is a detail, as in the third example above.
  • Collections: Use the credit line supplied by the collector or institution. If the work is in a private collection, use the form “Collection of John Bettson Davis, [city],” or if the owner wishes to remain anonymous, “Private collection, [city].” If a state name is included, use the traditional abbreviation listed in Chicago 10.27, not the postal abbreviation (“Mass.” not “MA”). “New York” is understood to mean New York, N.Y.; never use “New York City.” For lost or unlocated works, simply state “Location unknown.”
  • Medium: The materials used to create an object should be listed in a consistent fashion (e.g., “tempera on panel” or “tempera on wood”). For decorative arts and textiles, it is preferable to list the principal material(s) first, then decorative elements (e.g., “porcelain with enamel and gilt decoration,” “silk with metallic thread embroidery”).

  • Museums: The official name of an institution should be followed by the name of the city* where the institution is located, unless the city is included in the name of the institution (e.g., The Art Institute of Chicago). Names of most foreign museums are given in the language of the country (though a few are traditionally given in English). The names of museums in countries that do not use the roman alphabet must be transliterated or translated.

    Names of cities should be spelled as they appear in Webster’s New Geographical Dictionary (e.g., Lucerne) unless the name of the city is part of the museum’s name (e.g., Kunstmuseum Luzern).

Please note: the captions list should be in a separate file.

Photo Credits

As you gather photographs for the book, you should also prepare a separate list of photo credits that will be printed at the back of the book. The photo credit may be different from the institutional credit line in the caption (e.g., “Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris” rather than “Musée d’Orsay, Paris”), and it may include a copyright notice or the name of an individual photographer. The easiest way to handle this is to assemble a simple numbered list corresponding to the caption list. The photo credits should be the last page in your manuscript and prepared as a separate file:

© Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris (fig. 1); Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon (fig. 2); © Trustees of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (fig. 3), etc.

Please contact your editor if you have any questions. Remember that a carefully prepared manuscript moves most expeditiously through the editing and production process. Thank you for your cooperation.