Provide an appropriately sized source document
Your source document page size must match the project's format size.* For example, if you upload an 8.5 x 11 document and select 6 x 9 as the book size, Lulu scales your document to approximately 75% of the original size. The printed book will have unexpectedly small fonts and images. For more information about available book sizes, please see "What paper will my book have for the cover and interior?"
* Please note that there are different specifications for books with full bleed. If your work requires a full bleed layout, we recommend you create a PDF file for uploading. See here for more information.
To change your page size:
Remember, you must change the size of the actual pages in your file, not just the margins!
- Go to File > Page Setup > Paper Size
- Select the proper size from those available to match your preferred book size
- If a preset size is not listed, click on the Manage Custom Sizes option and enter the required page size.
Set document pages to Portrait orientation, not Landscape
POD printers tend to print landscape pages sideways, so even if you are creating a wide format book (9 x 7), the uploaded source document page orientation must be set to Portrait, with page dimensions defined with the wider width than height.
Use standard or common fonts
If you are planning to have Lulu convert your document to a PDF, be sure to choose fonts from the following list. If you use a font that is not on this list, the Lulu converter will substitute one of these fonts in its place. This may adversely affect your formatting.
- Arial
- Book Antiqua
- Bookman Old Style
- Century
- Courier
- Garamond
- Palatino
- Tahoma
- Times New Roman
- Verdana
- Symbols
If you are planning to upload your own PDF, you may use any fonts you like, but you must embed the fonts in the PDF before uploading to Lulu.
If you have unique or hard-to-find fonts in your document, provide a print-ready PDF of your work instead, making sure it meets our requirements — in particular, that the PDF includes the embedded fonts. For more information about PDFs and fonts, see "How do I embed fonts in a PDF?"
Embed your graphics
Always embed any images or other graphics that you use rather than linking (or referring) to them. When you save the document, an embedded graphic is part of the document file. When you save a document with a linked graphic, the document file only contains a pointer to the graphic file, and the document file and graphic file remain separate. When you upload the document to Lulu, linked graphics do not upload.
Odd Numbered Pages are on the Right
Printing is not available on the inside of front and back covers. This means your first page starts on the right hand side.
Page Breaks
When you want to start text on a new page, for example in a new chapter, use the Insert > Page Break function rather than simply hitting the enter key until you get to the next page.
If you are unsure whether you have properly inserted page or section breaks, click on the å¦ button to display your formatting marks. Hard returns are displayed as å¦ while page breaks will be indicated by the "---page break---."
When providing several files for a book, check page numbering
It is always best to upload a single file for your printed book, but you can upload multiple files for a book. If you do so, Lulu will assemble the files in the order you specify to build the final PDF. Drag and drop your uploaded files to arrange them into the order you want. Conversion does not change or update page numbering. Here are tips for using multiple source files for your project.
- Assuming each document begins a new section or chapter, each file should have an even number of pages. This ensures that the chapter starts on an odd-numbered (right side) page when the book is printed. If you have an odd number of pages in a particular file, insert a blank page at the end of it.
- Make sure the page numbering is correct within each file and across the files if you are numbering it sequentially. For example, if File1 is pages 1 through 10, then File2 should begin with page 11.
- You can use chapter numbers in your page numbering (page 1-1, page 2-1, and so on) instead of sequential numbering. If you do this, make sure the order in which the documents are listed in the Content section of Project Details matches your chapter order.
- When we get multiple files for the interior pages of a book, our software opens them up and converts them into a single document (without bleed) of the size you chose in the previous step. This process sometimes causes issues with fonts. If creating a book with a bunch of photos, you might prefer to use our Photo Book Studio; it provides better support when using multiple images in your book.
See also: What types of files can I upload?
Distribution Requirements
You may offer any book for sale in the Lulu Marketplace, regardless of the book size or format. However, if you plan to offer your book for sale on other retail sites, it must comply with the Print Book Distribution Requirements provided by our retail partners.
