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Post by JRF on Sept 30, 2020 17:00:33 GMT
I've done a few books up to this point, and never had a problem with the covers. I used to create them in JPG form, and it was easy to get the
dimensions right (usually in pixels) for the combined front and back image, the spine beginning and width (and hence the end of the spine) and
even the exact placement of the ISBN number. Then just upload the whole thing and it was done.
The new website is, as I'm sure you know, not like that at all. It requires upload in PDF. And the only free PDF tool they could point me to
was CANVA which doesn't work well at all. I've made several attempts to get the hardback cover correct, and it hasn't worked.
Can someone who has been successful in creating a PDF of their cover, please help me?
I use Windows 10 and MS-Paint or PAINT.NET as needed.
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Post by TallTree on Sept 30, 2020 21:38:58 GMT
Irfanview, among many other programs, will convert jpg to pdf. You might look into that.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Sept 30, 2020 22:38:47 GMT
Free for non-commercial use.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2020 23:11:56 GMT
Once you have uploaded the interior of your project to Lulu it will calculate the dimensions you need for the cover including the correct spine width and generate a PDF Template for you. This can be downloaded in the 'Design your Cover' section. From here there are several ways to get a finished cover back into Lulu, all depend on what particular software you have, this is a zero cost option: Take the PDF Template you've downloaded and convert it to a JPG using the free PDF to JPG tool at www.adobe.com/acrobat/online.htmlLoad the JPG into PAINT.NET and make a note of the "Total Document Size (with bleed)" dimensions you can see written in the Template. Use the Resize Option of PAINT.NET and set the Print Size to these dimensions - this is important. With this Resized image as your Background Layer build up your cover graphics, spine text etc. over the top of it using the markings in the template as a guide. Delete the Background, Save as a JPG, go to www.adobe.com/acrobat/online.html again and use the free JPG to PDF tool to convert it to a PDF. Before uploading it to Lulu as your cover check that the PDF size is exactly the same size as the dimensions of the original PDF Template using a PDF reader that has this ability (e.g. the free Foxit Reader.) If Lulu accepts it then it will Preview your cover showing bleeds etc. Download the Print Ready Files of the cover and the interior as well from the Button below and make sure that they are exactly what you want before committing to anything. Then come back here and tell us how you got on.  |
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jrf
New Member
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Post by jrf on Oct 1, 2020 0:52:16 GMT
Irfanview, among many other programs, will convert jpg to pdf. You might look into that. I have IRfanview the 64 bit version. When I try to save as PDF I get "PDF Save error !" So it doesn't work, at least not for me. Anyway, creating a PDF is not the issue. There are plenty of tools which can do that. |
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Post by BlueAndGold on Oct 1, 2020 0:53:48 GMT
As bizzley said above, the first step is to find the required cover dimensions. With that in hand you can proceed. If you have MSWord you can do it this way, but first install the freeware dopdf which creates a new menu option at the top menu bar called NovaPDF. I can attest that this works great. The Save As PDF function in my MSWord (2007?) is worthless.
In Word, create your new blank document in portrait mode set to the Custom size of your needed cover dimensions.
Word seems to default to at least 0.1" margins on the custom size. Set these margins to 0.0" and click IGNORE when it tries to fix them. Setting paper color to white or black or whatever doesn't hurt.
Create a blank drawing canvas and Right-click Size it to fully fill the blank paper size (the same size as the blank document and the same size as the required Lulu dimensions).
Insert Image (your previously finished JPG cover) into the drawing canvas. You may need to resize it again. (MSWord might try to "fix it" for you.)
Save you Word document (in case you wish to change anything later), then go to your NovaPDF menu and go through the Settings and Save PDF steps. You will need to enter the exact dimensions you want to save it as. This is VERY handy! It will do exactly as you tell it to do.
Upload to Lulu, check it out on their previewer, and proceed through the project to order your proof.
You're done!
I hope between bizzley and myself you find what you need, JRF. Best of luck!
Another note below: _____________________________________________________________________
Personally, I create the whole cover using Word rather than a JPG. Copied below is the note to myself I made to remind me of the steps I use, since it is usually quite a spell between cover makings and I have to re-learn it every time. This might help whomever comes across this and likewise uses Word pretty much exclusively:
1. Start with a blank document in landscape orientation and set paper size to what Lulu wants in the upload section.
2. Word seems to default to at least 0.1" margins on the custom size. Set these margins to 0.0" and click IGNORE when it tries to fix them. Setting paper color to white or black or whatever doesn't hurt.
3. Create a blank drawing canvas and Rt-click Size it to fully fill the blank paper size. When you want to place images, create a new drawing canvas for each, Insert Image into the drawing canvas, resize the image, and drag the sides of the canvas in to near the edges of the image. Then you can position the new canvas where you want. (Pre-make your layered JPG's with GIMP or what have you.)
4. For titles, use Insert, Wordart. This allows you to turn things sideways for spines and such. Use text boxes for back cover blurbs.
5. Select all elements and group if you like. This allows you to position all spine elements or front cover elements together.
6. Save As PDF using your PDF add-on utility. Be sure to save it as the same size as the document's paper size, and be sure to check the IMBED FONTS box.
7. Upload to Lulu and examine it with the cover pre-viewer. If it looks right, proceed. If it doesn't, adjust the features in your Word Doc, re-save as PDF, and upload again.
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jrf
New Member
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Post by jrf on Oct 1, 2020 0:55:10 GMT
Once you have uploaded the interior of your project to Lulu it will calculate the dimensions you need for the cover including the correct spine width and generate a PDF Template for you. This can be downloaded in the 'Design your Cover' section. From here there are several ways to get a finished cover back into Lulu, all depend on what particular software you have, this is a zero cost option: Take the PDF Template you've downloaded and convert it to a JPG using the free PDF to JPG tool at www.adobe.com/acrobat/online.htmlLoad the JPG into PAINT.NET and make a note of the "Total Document Size (with bleed)" dimensions you can see written in the Template. Use the Resize Option of PAINT.NET and set the Print Size to these dimensions - this is important. With this Resized image as your Background Layer build up your cover graphics, spine text etc. over the top of it using the markings in the template as a guide. Delete the Background, Save as a JPG, go to www.adobe.com/acrobat/online.html again and use the free JPG to PDF tool to convert it to a PDF. Before uploading it to Lulu as your cover check that the PDF size is exactly the same size as the dimensions of the original PDF Template using a PDF reader that has this ability (e.g. the free Foxit Reader.) If Lulu accepts it then it will Preview your cover showing bleeds etc. Download the Print Ready Files of the cover and the interior as well from the Button below and make sure that they are exactly what you want before committing to anything. Then come back here and tell us how you got on. This is fantastic, thank you so much. I have all of those tools. (It's 2am here now, so I won't be checking it out just yet.) These instructions look great though. I will absolutely let you know how it goes, but I suspect it's going to go swimmingly. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2020 3:54:31 GMT
This is fantastic, thank you so much
Yes, bizzley helped me with my cover too. Thank you bizzley.
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jrf
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Post by jrf on Oct 1, 2020 10:06:14 GMT
make a note of the "Total Document Size (with bleed)" dimensions you can see written in the Template. First snag : That's not in the Template. There is a "Total Document Size (with wrap)" The word bleed doesn't appear in the PDF at all. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2020 10:06:20 GMT
If you want to check that whatever process you decide upon to create a cover works for you - and importantly Lulu - without having to spend time and effort designing and creating it first then you can upload a 'placeholder' cover first and see what happens. In your Project you can upload and overwrite the cover PDF as many times as you want, it's not a one-off thing. So using the process I outlined above - after you've converted the Template PDF to a JPG and resized it in PAINT.NET you can immediately save it out to a JPG without adding anything then convert it back to a PDF and upload this as your placeholder cover to Lulu. You'll know right away whether this works or not as well as being able to see in the Preview whether it all lines up properly.
If you use a method such as BlueAndGold's it's the same thing, just follow all the instructions, leaving out the bits where you get artistically inspired or just add rough blocks of colour so you can see what's what, then create the temporary cover PDF and upload it.
Either way, if Lulu accepts the finished PDF cover and it all looks OK in the Preview then you can go back and create the cover properly.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2020 11:29:30 GMT
make a note of the "Total Document Size (with bleed)" dimensions you can see written in the Template. First snag : That's not in the Template. There is a "Total Document Size (with wrap)" The word bleed doesn't appear in the PDF at all. It sounds like things are different for hardbacks compared to paperbacks, presumably since a hardback cover has to neatly overlap the edges of the book rather than be a hard edge cutoff? Not having created a hardback with Lulu I will throw this out to anyone who has done so for a better explanation.
What I would suggest then is taking the "Total Document Size (with wrap)" dimensions instead and Resizing (or creating) your JPG to this size and use the placeholder idea I mention above to create a rough idea of what you want your cover to look like, allowing for edge wrapping, upload it and see what the Preview shows
This is what one of my PB cover Templates looks like:
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Post by BlueAndGold on Oct 1, 2020 11:52:24 GMT
Yes, the process is the same for hardbacks. Only the outer dimensions change (get larger) for the hardback. i.e. 14.51 inches instead of 12.846 for the paperback versions of a 238-page book.
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sirram
Senior Printer
No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money
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Post by sirram on Oct 1, 2020 15:49:41 GMT
If you want to check that whatever process you decide upon to create a cover works for you - and importantly Lulu - without having to spend time and effort designing and creating it first then you can upload a 'placeholder' cover first and see what happens. In your Project you can upload and overwrite the cover PDF as many times as you want, it's not a one-off thing.... That's extremely good advice. I have used the same technique with book interiors. Firstly, create a book (of the required size and using your favourite WP or DTP). Insert loads of dummy pages and at least one image. Once saved to PDF, the initial upload to Lulu can be incredibly useful: Is Lulu happy with the page dimensions? Is Lulu happy that fonts were all embedded? Does Lulu find the image(s) to be of sufficient resolution? Also, in the case of our local history society, if I insert a rough guestimate of the number of pages in the eventual book, Lulu will show me the print cost. So, before even doing the main work, we can see whether the book will be financially viable and how many we would need to sell before starting to cover our costs. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2020 4:32:07 GMT
A couple of days ago, I was asked by Lulu to fill in a survey. It involved putting in order of priority how they could improve their service. I placed "Amend book cover wizard" as number one.
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Post by tasmanianartist on Oct 12, 2020 6:09:47 GMT
also read this: lulu.boards.net/thread/604/supported-trim-size-bleed-issue - and lulu.boards.net/thread/348/pdf-upload-error?page=3 it seems that when Lulu's servers receive the PDF file (a correctly formatted PDF, according to their template), they ADD a default 'bleed' edge all around - in effect giving the uploaded PDF a 'waste edge' that can be (and will be) trimmed off at the finishing stage during book production. Unfortunately, the note generated (a perceived error note), alerts the author to what amounts to a 'mistake' in the size, which is misleading. The uploaded PDF is correct, the bleed Lulu added increases the size of the PDF to give it the needed waste area to cut off'. I have yet to fathom the connection to 'if you require images that go to the trimmed edge ... upload a PDF prepared for Full Bleed' - because: that's not possible - if you make the PDF larger (already include the Lulu-generated 'bleed' that in essence is the waste to be cut off), then you'll either get an error note of PDF being too large, or will DEFINITELY see your added 'bleed' all around the page. So, in effect, we're between a rock and a hard place - The created PDF has been made using the template, and is therefore correct, but when uploaded the PDF will be enlarged by Lulu by adding a 'white bleed' - and Lulu informs us of that. Those PDF files that do not have images going edge to edge can simply ignore that note - it is noteworthy for those who have edge-to-edge images, as a 'mis-cut' in the final trim can indeed show a small white edge. The bleed Lulu mentions (the waste that will be cut off) in essence is the narrow pale blue rim around the template in the image above. It does not add up - Lulu wants us to create PDF that incorporates that bleed, yet when the PDF is uploaded THEY ADD IT. Catch 22. I've sent off enquiry - it's Monday here in Oz, the US hasn't woken up yet. Should I hear back, I'll post it here.
Edit: All my PDFs cover and interior have been sized to the templates 'including bleed' size - the largest size given in the template, yet I still get the note that Lulu has added a 'bleed edge/rim'.
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