Printing & Binding for AKTU Lucknow (Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University)
AKTU sets a colour code by degree: M.Tech is light blue, M.Pharm is light pink, and Ph.D. is cloth bound dark blue with gold embossing. Printster prints and binds to that specification and delivers to Lucknow in 5–10 working days, with black & white from ₹0.60 a page and hard binding from ₹250 a copy.
AKTU is one of the largest technical universities in the world by affiliated colleges, with several hundred engineering, pharmacy and management institutions across Uttar Pradesh feeding into a single set of thesis rules. That scale is why its 2019 thesis manual is worth reading closely: it is unusually prescriptive, and because every affiliated college submits against the same manual, a binder who gets the colour code wrong will get the thesis returned. Printster prints and binds to the manual's specification and delivers across UP, so a student in Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Prayagraj or Gorakhpur orders the same object as one in Lucknow.
Institution type: State Technical University, City: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh; delivery: 5–10 working days. Printster has been printing for Indian students since 2014 and has delivered over 2.5 lakh orders.
The colour code, degree by degree
This is the part of the AKTU manual that a general-purpose print shop most often gets wrong, because it is not one colour but three. M.Tech is bound with a hard cover not less than 120 gsm in light blue, with impressions printed in black. M.Pharm is the same 120 gsm hard cover in light pink, again with black impressions. Ph.D. is different in kind: cloth bound on a dark blue background, with impressions embossed in permanent golden colour. Tell us which degree you are submitting for when you order and the cover is set accordingly — a light blue M.Tech cover on a Ph.D. thesis is a reprint, not a correction.
Spiral bound for evaluation, hard bound after the viva
AKTU splits submission in two, and the two stages want different objects. For evaluation the manual asks for copies printed on both sides and spiral bound using a flexible cover of thick white art paper — four copies for Ph.D., three for M.Tech and M.Pharm, each with a CD. Spiral binding is ₹40 a copy at Printster, so the evaluation round stays cheap. Only after the viva voce do the hard bound copies follow: two copies, printed on both sides on good quality white paper not less than 80 gsm, in the colour code above. Ordering the expensive object first is the most common and most costly mistake here.
The side back carries the title too
For all three degrees the manual says the side back of the thesis — the spine — shall also carry the title, the name of the candidate, and the month and year of final submission, in the same impression as the front. For M.Tech and M.Pharm that is black on the light cover; for Ph.D. it is gold on dark blue cloth. Printster's hard binding is ₹250 a copy and ₹350 with gold on the front and the spine, so a Ph.D. submission that needs permanent golden embossing on both faces is the ₹350 option. Send the exact title text you want on the spine, because a long title may need to be set smaller to fit the board thickness.
Margins, spacing and the 290 x 205 trim
The manual asks for a 35 mm left margin against 25 mm on the top, bottom and right — a wide inner margin, because the binding edge swallows some of it. General text is Times New Roman 12 at 1.15 line spacing, with one and a half spacing for the table of contents and single spacing for the abstract and the lists of tables and figures. Note one detail that surprises people: the manual gives the page dimensions of the final copies as 290 mm by 205 mm and says standard A4 may be used to prepare them, so an A4 print is acceptable. Printster prints A4 as standard.
Ordering from anywhere in Uttar Pradesh
Upload at printster.in — PDF, DOCX, PPT, JPG, PNG or ZIP, up to 100MB — pick paper, colour and binding, and enter your address anywhere in UP. Payment is by UPI, card or net banking; there is no cash on delivery. Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Agra, Bareilly and Gorakhpur all sit outside Delhi NCR, so the published window is 5–10 working days from the next working day after ordering, with 1–2 days added for hard, soft cover or glue binding. Ghaziabad and Noida are inside Delhi NCR and run faster, at 4–7 working days.
AKTU Lucknow submission specifications
Taken from the institution’s own published guidelines: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University — Guidelines for Preparing the Thesis: Ph.D., M.Tech., M.Pharm. (14 March 2019). Where a specification is not published we say so rather than guess — always confirm the current requirement with your department before printing.
| Binding required | For evaluation: "printed on both sides and spiral bound using flexible cover of thick white art paper" — four copies for Ph.D., three for M.Tech. and M.Pharm. For final submission after the viva-voce: hard bound, "printed on both sides on good quality white paper not less than 80gsm". M.Tech. and M.Pharm. use a hard cover "not less than 120 gsm"; Ph.D. is cloth bound. |
|---|---|
| Cover colour | Set by a colour code per degree. M.Tech.: "bound with hard cover not less than 120 gsm with light blue with impressions printed in black colour." M.Pharm.: "bound with hard cover not less than 120 gsm with light pink with impressions printed in black colour." Ph.D.: "cloth bound dark blue background with impressions embossed in permanent golden colour." Evaluation copies use a flexible cover of thick white art paper. |
| Spine text | "The side back of the thesis should also carry the title, name of candidate and month and year of final submission" — for all three degrees, in the same black or golden impression as the front cover. |
| Title page layout | Times New Roman throughout, every line centred within the specified margin: title font size 20 bold single spaced; the submission phrase size 14 bold; the name of the degree size 20 bold in uppercase; "in" size 14 bold lowercase; field of specialisation size 16 bold in title mode; "by" size 14 bold lowercase; name of student size 16 bold in title mode as enrolled; enrollment number size 12 bold; phrase of supervision size 12 bold; name(s) of supervisor size 14 bold prefixed Prof. or Dr.; name of the University size 16/14 bold; month and year size 14 bold. The final hard-bound cover repeats the title page but with the month and year of final submission. |
| Margins | Top edge 25 mm, bottom edge 25 mm, left side 35 mm, right side 25 mm. Page dimensions of the final copies should be 290mm x 205mm. |
| Paper size and weight | "The thesis should be prepared on good quality white paper preferably not lower than 80 gsm." "Standard A4 size (297mm x 210mm) paper may be used for preparing the copies." Printed on both sides; the impression on the printed copies should be black in colour. |
| Line spacing | "Line spacing of 1.15 should be used for typing the general text. The general text shall be typed in font Style Times New Roman and Font Size 12." One and a half spacing for the Table of Contents; single spacing for the abstract and for the lists of tables and figures. |
| Copies for submission | For evaluation — Ph.D.: four spiral-bound copies plus four copies of the Research Summary and a CD. M.Tech./M.Pharm.: three spiral-bound copies plus a CD. Final submission after viva-voce — Ph.D. and M.Tech./M.Pharm. alike: "Two copies printed on both sides and hard bound as per University specifications, plus a CD with thesis contents in pdf format." |
| Submission deadline | Not publicly specified — confirm with your department. |
Verified on 2026-09-06. 8 of 9 specifications are publicly documented for AKTU Lucknow. University requirements change — this page is re-checked periodically, and the source link above is the authority.
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Before you send the file
Specification above taken from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University — Guidelines for Preparing the Thesis: Ph.D., M.Tech., M.Pharm. (14 March 2019), checked 2026-09-06.
- How to format a thesis for binding — what to fix in the file before it goes to print.
- Binding margin and gutter — how much inner margin a bound thesis needs so text is not swallowed by the spine.
- Spine width calculator — work out the spine thickness for gold foiling before you order.
- Hard binding, in detail — what a case-bound thesis actually is, at ₹250 a copy or ₹350 with gold on the front and spine.
- All 12 binding types with prices — hard binding ₹250, with gold on front and spine ₹350 a copy.
- Final-year project report printing · lab manual printing
Frequently asked questions
- What colour cover does my AKTU thesis need?
- It depends on the degree. M.Tech is light blue with black impressions on a hard cover not less than 120 gsm; M.Pharm is light pink on the same 120 gsm cover; Ph.D. is cloth bound dark blue with impressions embossed in permanent golden colour. Tell us the degree when you order.
- How many copies does AKTU want?
- For evaluation, four spiral bound copies for Ph.D. and three for M.Tech or M.Pharm, each with a CD, plus four copies of the Research Summary for Ph.D. After the viva voce, two hard bound copies for every degree, plus a CD.
- Can I order the evaluation copies and the final copies separately?
- Yes, and you should. The evaluation copies are spiral bound in a flexible white art paper cover at ₹40 each. The hard bound copies in the degree colour code come after the viva, once corrections are in. Two separate orders costs less than binding twice.
- Does the spine need printing as well?
- Yes. For all three degrees the manual says the side back shall carry the title, the name of the candidate, and the month and year of final submission. Gold on the front and spine is ₹350 a copy against ₹250 for plain hard binding.
- Does Printster deliver to my affiliated college's city?
- Printster delivers across Uttar Pradesh. Cities outside Delhi NCR take 5–10 working days from the next working day; Ghaziabad and Noida are inside NCR and take 4–7. Hard, soft cover and glue binding add 1–2 days.