Printing via Lulu
Remember you can contact Lulu.com support to get assistance. Or call 844-212-0689. They even have live chat.
UPDATE: You need to format the cover to be landscape 17.33in x 11.25in.
See sample file below (IDML or INDD) depending on which version of the software you use.
See sample file below (IDML or INDD) depending on which version of the software you use.
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How to set up for bleed.
How to set-up your PDF.
- Fully embed all fonts used in the document. Take care that all fonts are only embedded once.
- Ensure that your page spreads are lined up properly in your source file. The first page of your print-ready PDF will be on the right hand side of your book, opposite the inside of the front cover. Accordingly, odd numbered pages in your file will be printed on the right side of the book and even numbered pages on the left.
- Bleed is necessary if you want images, lines, or colors to go all the way to the edge of the book's page. Click here for more information about bleed settings.
- Set compatibility mode to PDF 1.3 (PDF 1.3 does not support transparencies and will flatten them when creating the PDF).
- Our printers use CMYK color space for all color printing. We recommend using the CMYK settings when generating your files for color printing. If you use RGB color space, we will convert your file to CMYK color space when making a print ready file, so it is important to review the print ready PDF to see if there are any color discrepancies before the file goes to print.
- Solid blacks will print solid at 100% with no other colors added. If you do add colors to improve the richness of the black, TAC (total area coverage) should never exceed 270%.
- Avoid very light color builds of less than 20%. Below 20% tint variation is very difficult to control on a consistent basis.
- Turn off Overprint and Simulate Overprint
- The PDF filesize should not exceed 1 GB
- If your image DPI is greater than 300, downsample to 300 DPI.
- Flatten your images.
- Flatten all transparencies.
- Do not use any security / password protection. The printer will not be able to print the PDF.
- Image compression should be set to ZIP if you want lossless (no artifacts/distortion-free) images. To reduce filesize, use JPEG -> High. Do not use CCITT or LZW compression. LZW compression creates multi-strip images, which may show white lines when printed.
- If you are printing a color book that has black & white images in it, the black & white images should have the colorspace set to grayscale.
- The gamma of a grayscale image should be between 2.2 and 2.4.