|
Post by Suspicious Mind on Jun 17, 2020 6:58:26 GMT
I ordered a large book 6x9, almost 800 pages. It was created on the old Lulu wizard by uploading a jpg for the front, a jpg for the back, then typing the title, author, spine text and (if any) the back cover text into the wizard online. The Lulu wizard then did the rest, calculating spine width etc etc etc. The printed physical thing always turned out good.
This book's cover (a book that's been uploaded since a year or more) was 'off' by 8mm, meaning the spine had slipped around the fold of the spine into the front, and the rhs edge had slipped to the very limit of the cover's edge.
I complained; this is the reply I received: "We allow for a 1/8 inch variance for the cover and interior files to shift during the production process, but this appears to be more than that. However, I'd still suggest that you revise your cover file and move any essential text or images further away from the edge of the file--we recommend not having any essential text within 1/2 inch of the wrap line.
I see that there is a white border around the file too in the wrap area. While this most likely will not appear at all when the book is produced, we still suggest extending the background color all the way to the edge of the wrap area."
This just means that files created to their old templates now don't fit the new upgraded system. This book's cover was not created by me (I wouldn't know how to calculate a spine width, and can't be bothered working out bleed and other stuff) - I simply uploaded a jpg in the size requested by the old wizard for the front, and one for the back - the wizard did the rest.
It seems they 'migrate' the wizard-generated old PDF files, and they do not correspond to the new system's template requirements. ... ... ... I'm gone. At least they refunded the money.
|
|
|
Post by Suspicious Mind on Jun 17, 2020 7:06:31 GMT
Jun 17, 2020 6:58:26 GMT Suspicious Mind said:
... This book's cover (a book that's been uploaded since a year or more) ...
I looked it up - the book just mentioned was first 'published' on Lulu in August 2017, well within the 'old wizard' times.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2020 11:28:07 GMT
I ordered a large book 6x9, almost 800 pages. It was created on the old Lulu wizard by uploading a jpg for the front, a jpg for the back, then typing the title, author, spine text and (if any) the back cover text into the wizard online. The Lulu wizard then did the rest, calculating spine width etc etc etc. The printed physical thing always turned out good.
This book's cover (a book that's been uploaded since a year or more) was 'off' by 8mm, meaning the spine had slipped around the fold of the spine into the front, and the rhs edge had slipped to the very limit of the cover's edge.
I complained; this is the reply I received: "We allow for a 1/8 inch variance for the cover and interior files to shift during the production process, but this appears to be more than that. However, I'd still suggest that you revise your cover file and move any essential text or images further away from the edge of the file--we recommend not having any essential text within 1/2 inch of the wrap line.
I see that there is a white border around the file too in the wrap area. While this most likely will not appear at all when the book is produced, we still suggest extending the background color all the way to the edge of the wrap area."
This just means that files created to their old templates now don't fit the new upgraded system. This book's cover was not created by me (I wouldn't know how to calculate a spine width, and can't be bothered working out bleed and other stuff) - I simply uploaded a jpg in the size requested by the old wizard for the front, and one for the back - the wizard did the rest.
It seems they 'migrate' the wizard-generated old PDF files, and they do not correspond to the new system's template requirements. ... ... ... I'm gone. At least they refunded the money.
What have they said about the Lulu covers? Have they been specific? Does one have to go in and redo them all to fit the new specifications or is it done automatically?
|
|
|
Post by Rob on Jun 17, 2020 12:30:21 GMT
This is part of the reason I`ve changed all my projects to "private", the thought that a member of the public could receive such a shabby product with my name on it doesn`t bode well.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2020 13:15:08 GMT
Ahhhhhh, I created all my covers with the old cover-- a Jpg for the front and a jpg for the back. The books were fine. However I can assume the new Lulu will have messed up all my books--- yikes!! Thanks for the info suspicious guest. I too am getting very suspicious of Lulu. I just saw a comment that a private book made in Lulu was on google. Apparently when clicked it showed an error, but this never happened before. I really think that Lulu just wants new customers for their updated site. Don't they care about us customers who have been loyal to them for years!!!
Edit I have just received some money from Lulu I am shocked! I put it in my paypal.
I have no idea which book or books were sold. I tried to find out from Lulu but no account details were available and of course Lulu customer service forms were useless. Anyway I just put the money in my account.
Further edit. All my books have white borders.
|
|
|
Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jun 17, 2020 16:10:13 GMT
What have they said about the Lulu covers? Have they been specific? Does one have to go in and redo them all to fit the new specifications or is it done automatically? Reading their "What's new" stuff a while back the old text and cover files are supposed to still print out as they always did, only revisions or new projects are supposed to be required to follow the new parameters for text and cover.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2020 16:16:12 GMT
What have they said about the Lulu covers? Have they been specific? Does one have to go in and redo them all to fit the new specifications or is it done automatically? Reading their "What's new" stuff a while back the old text and cover files are supposed to still print out as they always did, only revisions or new projects are supposed to be required to follow the new parameters for text and cover. Ok, that's good information. Thank you. So, basically, don't touch anything.
|
|
|
Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jun 17, 2020 16:45:45 GMT
Reading their "What's new" stuff a while back the old text and cover files are supposed to still print out as they always did, only revisions or new projects are supposed to be required to follow the new parameters for text and cover. Ok, that's good information. Thank you. So, basically, don't touch anything. If you have a project there that's still one of the supported formats, don't touch it until when or if they get their system fixed.
Simply trying to adjust the pricing to meet their new parameters can put a project back to draft status.
|
|
|
Post by AD on Jun 18, 2020 2:38:45 GMT
Ok, that's good information. Thank you. So, basically, don't touch anything. If you have a project there that's still one of the supported formats, don't touch it until when or if they get their system fixed.
Simply trying to adjust the pricing to meet their new parameters can put a project back to draft status.
Does this mean that if I have an existing book, created prior to the site changes, it will continue to print okay, but if I revise the project in any way, such as uploading a new interior text file, leaving the cover file unchanged, the cover will no longer print correctly?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2020 9:55:05 GMT
If you have a project there that's still one of the supported formats, don't touch it until when or if they get their system fixed.
Simply trying to adjust the pricing to meet their new parameters can put a project back to draft status.
Does this mean that if I have an existing book, created prior to the site changes, it will continue to print okay, but if I revise the project in any way, such as uploading a new interior text file, leaving the cover file unchanged, the cover will no longer print correctly? Based on what has been reported here, that is correct. I have have not attempted it.
|
|
|
Post by BlueAndGold on Jun 18, 2020 12:08:17 GMT
They have associated old covers with two of my books. Requests to correct the issue simply result in "draft" status.
Unbelievable incompetence.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2020 12:44:15 GMT
They have associated old covers with two of my books. Requests to correct the issue simply result in "draft" status. Unbelievable incompetence. ABSOLUTELY, and then if you try to revise the book and use the updated Lulu, further problems will undoubtedly arise.
|
|
|
Post by Suspicious Mind on Jun 28, 2020 8:54:32 GMT
From Memory, I ordered the book in question (see beginning of thread) before I dabbled in any of the 'revisions' requirements. And it did not print properly on the cover.
Yes - I made all of mine 'private', until such time as I can delete them; I am leaving 3 free e-books that are just PDFs, but none of the print books. I've migrated mine to 3 different labels of the same Dutch POD company. Yes, all covers made with the old wizard need redoing.
I re-did them, with the Dutch outfit, which also gives me option of 'NO ISBN'.
Further to my reply (I don't know how to revise a book cover that was created by uploading a jpg image for the front into your cover wizzard, and a jpg image for the back into your cover wizzard. I've never created a WHOLE COVER with all the bleeds and crops and spine calculations. Lulu's wizzard always turned out perfect covers, because it was the Lulu wizzard that created the cover - I merely uploaded the jpg images for the front and for the back, then, in the Lulu wizzard, typed the title, author, spine text, and back cover text (if any) into the wizzard online. If you now ask me to amend my cover, this simply means that the 'old' files created on the 'old' Lulu wizzard now do not fit the new 'upgraded' system. I have no mind spending weeks on something I have no idea how to calculate ... thank you for the refund, I appreciate it.) to their reply (see beginning of thread), they wrote:"Tue 23/06/2020 4:31 AM...We still do have a cover creator tool, although it is not the same as before. We are working on creating a more comprehensive cover creator tool, but what we have right now does work for more basic design. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and I will be happy to help. Have a great day! Kind regards,"
This does not address the problem at all, it simply puts the shamosl right at the feet of the author. Poor. Even if uploading and displaying of a self-published book is FREE, that does in no way excuse the dismal outcome of an incompetent upgrade of the system.
|
|
|
Post by Wintergone on Jun 28, 2020 20:09:44 GMT
Does this mean that if I have an existing book, created prior to the site changes, it will continue to print okay, but if I revise the project in any way, such as uploading a new interior text file, leaving the cover file unchanged, the cover will no longer print correctly? Based on what has been reported here, that is correct. I have have not attempted it. This could be the case depending on when you last updated your files. I updated a paperback maybe a week before the update. When I ordered my proof it came with the old files. So Lulu used those instead of the new updated one. I had to reupload the newest one and reorder. Dane Barrett I think his name was, had the same problem on a 100 book order of his. They all came with the old files. Lulu admitted that to him. So it might still be a good idea to download them and check just to be sure. I'm still still finding many ebooks that won't open and even the cover png won't open in any program I have. Most paperback files I've checked did open correctly but I didn't check to see if they were the latest version.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2020 3:25:41 GMT
I thought I'd mastered the all in one cover. I downloaded the template made it into a jpg and made the cover the exact same size. (I used paint shop pro) I then made it into a PDF. The cover was rejected. Could it be because I printed to the free PDF995? I have always used this to convert files to PDF but in the old Lulu we used jpg images for the cover(I used the old cover) I never converted the cover to a PDF. I checked and double-checked the cover and it was exactly the size of the template. I am wondering if there is something wrong with Lulu's cover section or is it my conversion using 995?
|
|