PDF Uploaded Successfully!

Anyone who has ever first uploaded a PDF to Ingram Sparks or any other site may tell you, it is not as easy as you think to get it approved successfully.

My first ventures for proofs were with CreateSpace and InDesign. I had to use indesign because the coding with Word was so difficult and inconsistent, that it drove me nuts!

So then I tried In Design, and I had to buy a book to figure it out, it had pain in the butt glitches and again, my nerves said no! I kept uploading and by the time I was done, I was so exhausted and confused I couldn't remember which was the last one I uploaded. I ended up at one point, getting a proof of an older proof! So I chucked that all in!

FINALLY I have found the publishing format for me with Affinity Publisher. I cannot not say enough goo about it. It is simple, concise, does the job, has many of the same bells and whistles as In Design and no rental, just buy it outright. The most important thing however, is because of its simplicity, and the fact that it is new, there is tons of help on line to answer any questions you many have.

One of the things I learned the HARD WAY was what PDF format to use for upload. And now I know it works. It is PDF/X-3:2003.  Why this older format I do not know, all I know is it works. It may change colours slightly I read somewhere however so far, so good.

A few other things to remember with PDF: Ingram Sparks wants single spread layouts which means you don't click the little "facing pages" box.  Of course if you are doing two page spreads like I was, then you do it this way, then convert it back to single and check all margins and bleed lines as well as make sure everything is embedded or linked by going to your "resource manager."

OH YES, another mistake I made: NEVER MOVE YOU IMAGES ONCE THEY ARE LINKED (WHICH MAKES THE FILE SMALLER TO DEAL WITH WHEN WORKING IT ALL OUT), OTHERWISE IT IS A PAIN SHOWING THE PUBLISHING PROGRAM WHERE THEY WENT!  Mistakes?  Yup, I think I have made them all!

Lastly, make sure your images are CMYK/8 at least. They NEED to be CMYK! And as mentioned in an earlier blog, whether it is black and white or colour, it will ALL get printed as colour!  When I do my murder mystery, THOSE will be done in grey scale which will change the price completely.

Well, not feeling great, but wanted to post this for myself as well as anyone reading who may want one day to print their own book. It is not as hard as it seems, especially if you can persevere through the learning curve!