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Post by benziger on May 16, 2020 12:56:33 GMT
"Because somebody asked for a comparison, here are my last three proofs from Lulu."
Proof #1
Created with old/original Lulu website. "Unfortunately, the gutter margin was wrong and there was a tiny black strip at the top of the cover, which were BOTH my fault entirely." So the author had to redo it (with the new website).
| Proof#2
Created with new Lulu website. Spacing outside as per Lulu's instructions and increased gutter margin. It looked perfect in the preview, but printed with a misaligned light blue bands all around.
| Proof#3
Created with new Lulu website. "I made sure an entire starfield image covered the background well beyond the trimline." It looked perfect in the preview, but printed with a misaligned light blue bands all around, "a full inch short of where the starfield image would have ended."
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This user miss really the old tools and after two missprinted books, he lost trust. He writes: "I certainly can't sell my books to other people in that condition." |
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2020 13:16:14 GMT
"Because somebody asked for a comparison, here are my last three proofs from Lulu."
Proof #1
Created with old/original Lulu website. "Unfortunately, the gutter margin was wrong and there was a tiny black strip at the top of the cover, which were BOTH my fault entirely." So the author had to redo it (with the new website).
| Proof#2
Created with new Lulu website. Spacing outside as per Lulu's instructions and increased gutter margin. It looked perfect in the preview, but printed with a misaligned light blue bands all around.
| Proof#3
Created with new Lulu website. "I made sure an entire starfield image covered the background well beyond the trimline." It looked perfect in the preview, but printed with a misaligned light blue bands all around, "a full inch short of where the starfield image would have ended."
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This user miss really the old tools and after two missprinted books, he lost trust. He writes: "I certainly can't sell my books to other people in that condition." He should show us the template. Perhaps he is doing something wrong. If not, Lulu has to reconsider the printers they hire. |
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Post by BlueAndGold on May 16, 2020 19:27:17 GMT
Now that I think of it, I was doing a one-piece cover a few months ago and found that the proof book I received had a white border which looked very similar to what you are seeing there. My background paper color was set to white. Is yours blue?
I realized that when I was saving the MSWord cover as a PDF I was not specifying that the size of the PDF should be the size of the Word document (the finished cover size), and it was adding in a small margin which, of course, appeared as a white stripe across the top of the book and down the outer edge of the back cover. (Another $20 spent along the learning curve.)
It might be something as simple as that?
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on May 16, 2020 21:50:28 GMT
It's far easier to do cover work using Pinta [Linux variant of MS Paint], Gimp, and Inkscape. Those three tools make it possible to do a one-piece cover.
Pinta, Gimp, and Inkscape have Windows versions, though you have to add the curtains and blinds.
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Post by danebarrett on May 17, 2020 5:21:13 GMT
Yeah the second two covers were designed in Gimp using specifications from the Lulu-generated cover template. The first one (with only the small black banding) was done using the old Lulu cover tool which is now gone (and that one isn't a wraparound cover; it only had a solid colour on the spine and back). None of that light blue stuff was visible on Lulu's preview or print ready file either.
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Post by danebarrett on May 17, 2020 5:30:10 GMT
Now that I think of it, I was doing a one-piece cover a few months ago and found that the proof book I received had a white border which looked very similar to what you are seeing there. My background paper color was set to white. Is yours blue?
I realized that when I was saving the MSWord cover as a PDF I was not specifying that the size of the PDF should be the size of the Word document (the finished cover size), and it was adding in a small margin which, of course, appeared as a white stripe across the top of the book and down the outer edge of the back cover. (Another $20 spent along the learning curve.)
It might be something as simple as that?
If it was just banding being added around the existing image, then there'd be a large amount of starfield image before an extra strip would appear (as the starfield background bleed was put in purposely to prevent this issue from happening; all of the light blue from the template had been eliminated from the cover image entirely before being loaded into Lulu's creation tools. Their previewer confirms that, too. But instead, the cover was cut WAY short of the starfield bleed area and for some reason the light blue stuff from the template was added back in. I'm not really looking for a solution anymore as I've give up on Lulu due to the amount of money I've wasted on them (it'll take me a year or more to make it all back as I don't sell alot) but I mainly posted this stuff on my facebook page so others could see what might happen. |
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Post by danebarrett on May 18, 2020 20:52:48 GMT
To be fair on Lulu (telling both sides instead of just the bad), they've contacted me regarding this issue and have admitted fault on their end that my template with the starfield bleed covering the blue areas never actually made it to the printers (apparently an older cover template was still saved in their system even though I'd replaced it). They've taken care of me (looks like they're about 8 days behind with support tickets if mine is anything to go by as of today) but I'll need to have a long and hard think about whether to continue with them.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on May 18, 2020 21:23:23 GMT
To be fair on Lulu (telling both sides instead of just the bad), they've contacted me regarding this issue and have admitted fault on their end that my template with the starfield bleed covering the blue areas never actually made it to the printers (apparently an older cover template was still saved in their system even though I'd replaced it). They've taken care of me (looks like they're about 8 days behind with support tickets if mine is anything to go by as of today) but I'll need to have a long and hard think about whether to continue with them. For an upgrade and migration originally touted to be a weekend thing now entering its fourth week, it's the weird things like what happened with your cover [among others] that don't have me trusting the print service provided. |
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Post by BlueAndGold on May 19, 2020 1:11:44 GMT
Thanks, danebarrett.
That is encouraging information.
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Post by Thenorthremembers on May 20, 2020 2:20:10 GMT
Concerning Dane's experience,I tried downloading some of my source files last night for various books. Most were corrupted and wouldn't open in Adobe Digital. I had to replace them. I ordered a proof of my latest book and later looked at the files. They were the old files used right before the update. I have revised and corrected the interior. But Lulu used the old version. So an hour later I had to upload the revised version again and order another proof so I could get the right one out. I'm wondering just how many of my books on Lulu are corrupted. I still have one corrupted cover and many books still say pending even after being on Amazon for months.
I have two books that were published five weeks ago and still nowhere except Barnes and Noble and Itunes. Still not on Amazon, Kobos, Scribd, or anywhere. Other than this most of the site is working fine for me. Just makes me wonder just how many corrupted files are there and if anyone buys off the site will complain. Still no word from support either on any of my problems. But I do feel comfortable using and publishing on the site at the moment.
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Post by benziger on May 29, 2020 6:18:29 GMT
I have two books that were published five weeks ago and still nowhere except Barnes and Noble and Itunes. Still not on Amazon, Kobos, Scribd, or anywhere. Someone on this forum was told by Lulu's support, that this is suspended until end of June. For further details, you may read this tread: lulu.boards.net/thread/268/distributions-june I am sorry, that are no good news. |
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Post by JesusNinja on May 30, 2020 23:51:32 GMT
The above two books mentioned above were published a couple of weeks before the update. It's been six weeks and still one is only on Apple and the other is on Apple and Barnes. But nowhere else. In the past it's only taken two weeks to hit Amazon.
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