The built-in Mac PDF creation system sometimes creates PDFs with faulty font embeddings that cause printing issues. This post presents some suggestions to help you successfully print Mac-created projects at Lulu's print partners.
Basics:Be sure to create your original document with the appropriate custom paper size matching the trim size you want for your book. For example, if you want your book's trim size to be 8.5" x 8.5" then create your document at a page size of 8.5" x 8.5" (or the bleed size of 8.75" x 8.75" if you intend your pages to be full bleed
http://www.lulu.com/en/help/index.php?fSymbol=fullbleed ). Do this for all trim sizes. If you revise your Lulu project and change the trim size, then upload a new source document in the new trim size.
When creating PDFs from a word processor or another document creation application, your formatting is more likely to be preserved if you use "page breaks" and other specific commands for formatting your text instead of manually formatting by spacing down a page with a succession of "Enters".
Limit your font choices to standard fonts that came with your computer system or with mainstream applications.
The following suggestions are just that: methods we have have found to work best for Mac PDF creation. Errors are always possible so please approach the ordering process with care. Before ordering, always, always, (did I say always?) look over your print-ready PDF (downloaded from Lulu) to make sure it looks as you want the final printed book to look. Before ordering in quantity, or making the project available for purchase by the public, always order a proof copy yourself to check that printing is coming out properly.
For your source document:If your book does not have complex formatting or many different fonts, consider uploading your file to Lulu in Word ".doc" format. This requires that you limit yourself to fonts on Lulu's list of convertable fonts:
http://www.lulu.com/en/help/index.php?fSymbol=font_guidelinesFor a cost-free method, you can upload a PostScript file to Lulu for conversion. This method works for Word and Pages. Open your document in the application it was created in. Choose File==>Print==>PDF==>"Save PDF as PostScript." Upload that PostScript file to Lulu and let Lulu convert it. Download the Lulu created PDF and check it for size and formatting. Note: this method does not allow for full bleed since the Lulu converter will resize a PostScript file that is of bleed size and produce the final PDF in the trim size instead.
To create a full bleed book from Mac Word, you can make the PostScript file in the bleed size and then convert it to PDF by uploading it to the "Create Adobe PDF Online" facility:
https://createpdf.adobe.com/The first 5 PDF conversions on the Adobe site are free and then the facility can be used for a $10 fee that gives you a month's use. A month's fee would permit one to make many versions of a PDF at far lower cost than purchasing the full Acrobat program.
If you will be making many PDFs over a period of time you may find Acrobat to be cost effective. It is a terrific application and is the gold standard for PDF creation. It works well for Word and other applications. Currently, Lulu's publishing wizard screens for documents created by the iWork "Pages" application and prevents Pages PDFs made with Acrobat or Adobe's Create PDF Online system from being accepted. That policy may be revised in the future.
Some don'ts:Do not involve the Mac "Preview" application in the PDF creation process. There are a couple of different ways that Preview will create a PDF and both are problematic.
Do not use the "Save as PDF" link in the Mac's print menu to directly make the PDF. This also frequently creates PDFs that print badly.
Please help us:Please help the Lulu Mac user community with your feedback. Let us know of your results using the suggested methods by posting a message in this thread.
