I have just completed a frustrating process of getting files to my primary print contractor, Lightning Source. My primary publishing role is to take client’s WORD draft and lay it out with page numbers, headings and table of contents as well as positioning and processing photos for best printing. That is enough of a job, but all of that can be done in WORD (and Photoshop). The latest challenge is in getting the cover in the right format. My printer has always required a PDF-format file with all the fonts embedded…something that WORD does not always do when you tell that program to save as a PDF.
The frustration has arisen because Lightning Source has established stiffer specifications for covers of books with colour interiors. 1) They MUST be laid out on their template. This allows the automatic generation of the bar code for the ISBN, but it also specifies a very large sheet with the actual cover fitting on that page. My failure to understand was that this huge sheet cannot have the cover colour outside of the bleed edge (but must be that larger size) 2) In addition the PDF must be in PDF/X-1a (2001) format. Wouldn’t you know, Photoshop Elements does not produce this. I suspect the need relates to color being mot in RGB but in CMYK, but there may be other issues. Buying full-blown Photoshop is expensive beyond imagination, but I have Adobe Acrobat Professional which includes Acrobat Distiller. Following a circuitous route I am able to get the cover to the required form!
Why am I saying all this? Basically I am suggesting that paying $100-200 for the services of someone, who has gone through all this pain, to do the interface to the printer is not a bad price if you don’t own the expensive software packages or have the computer experience required. Having someone who has been through it can save a lot of grief. Just a thought.
The saga continues. The very long delay may continue since I now find that the rrequirement for the text (interior) is also PDF/X-1a (2001) despite my submission being accepted. Still there may be hope. I quote from the File Creation Guide: “If a file is sent as RGB and prints as is, the shift it goes through during the rip process may be significant enough to have the customer dissatisfied with the final product.” The key seems to be the rip porcess,whatever that is.