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Post by potet on Oct 2, 2020 17:35:35 GMT
A couple of months ago, I wanted to have the updated version of a hardbound private book ( Town) printed. Last year's edition had 548 pages. The 2020 edition has 556 pages. I made a mistake, and the copy they sent me was the 2019 edition. I complained. Lulu pointed at my mistake so that I could order a copy of the 2020 edition. Unfortunately I had to create a new cover. Disgusted by the difficulty I only did the front cover and left the rest in plain blue. I asked Lulu why I couldn't use the original cover for the new edition. The Lulu clerk in charge of my case, Caroll, e-mailed me that I could have my old cover if I preferred it.   I was enthusiastic and answered "yes" - this is the cover I want! I was so grateful. The copy I received today doesn't have this cover, but the wrong one, that only has the front cover.  Besides, the paper is different not as good as the previous one, and pages tend to stick to one another as though it were paper for photographs. The whole book is rather stiff and does not open so comfortably as the printing of the previous edition. The parcel was sent from the Netherlands. I have no idea of the country where my book was manufactured. What a terrible disappointment! |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2020 4:12:23 GMT
So many things are going wrong with the new Lulu. It must be so frustrating for you. I hope Lulu reimburses you for the book. Do keep us updated.
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Post by potet on Oct 3, 2020 15:53:18 GMT
Larika, I have filed a complaint.
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Post by tasmanianartist on Oct 5, 2020 5:07:00 GMT
I have to say, Carol's email is somewhat ambiguous - do you know the exact version of the preferred cover (i.e., the exact number)? Provide that do them. Ideally, they should then send that do you, and you can then adjust the PDF, and reupload the PDF to the new version. I do not believe that they can still turn back the clock and print 'old versions' that belong to the 'old system'. I think you have to alter and incorporate your 'old' cover, into a new PDF. The new 'wizard', unfortunately, is not as nifty as the old one. I ordered a book that had not changed since last year, but the order was made after they implemented the new system - and of course, the cover did no longer fit. If you have photoshop, or an equivalent image software (i.e. Corel Painter, which I use), you can easily make a file to the template dimensions that the 'design'stage gives you in the Lulu process (download template), and import the elements of your preferred cover version - afterwards, it is a matter of 'exporting/saving/printing' to PDF (usually 'printing to PDF'). I agree, Lulu should never have done this with a dead stop to the old system; however, they have, and if anyone wants to stay with Lulu to publish, they now need to adjust their way of doing things. It would have been printed in The Netherlands. The printer is the one who posts it.
Edit: I meant to say: what I think Carol meant is that, if you could tell her which version you want, she will provide it to you (provide = email it to you for your use in a new PDF to upload by you).
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sirram
Senior Printer
No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money
Posts: 269
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Post by sirram on Oct 5, 2020 8:18:27 GMT
... I ordered a book that had not changed since last year, but the order was made after they implemented the new system - and of course, the cover did no longer fit. ... That's odd. I ordered more copies of a book that I published in 2012 and which has never been altered. The order was made on the new system and the book arrived OK (and with the same print quality). |
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Post by potet on Oct 5, 2020 10:47:36 GMT
... I ordered a book that had not changed since last year, but the order was made after they implemented the new system - and of course, the cover did no longer fit. ... That's odd. I ordered more copies of a book that I published in 2012 and which has never been altered. The order was made on the new system and the book arrived OK (and with the same print quality). When I order the reprint of a book issued in the past, it is manufactured exactly like the original. The problem is with the cover of a new edition because the number of pages is not exactly the same, hence a different back width. For Town, Lulu printed the 2019 edition while I thought I had ordered the 2020 edition just uploaded. It was identical in terms of manufacturing as the 2019 copy. For another private book, published many years ago, and updated recently, I happen to have the printer-reader cover PDF made with the former Lulu wizard, so like you, I adjusted it with Photoshop to the slightly different dimensions indicated by Lulu for the new edition, and it worked. The problem is I do not have all the PDFs of my covers. |
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Post by tasmanianartist on Oct 7, 2020 0:34:42 GMT
Okay - that's now clearer. potet - create a 'ticket' (technical help), and ask them to send you all the PDFs of your earlier books that no longer print properly (i.e., those that you have no cover PDF of). I know the stress and frustration is quite overwhelming at the moment, and it goes both ways - the staff of Lulu is probably also at breaking point. So keep that in mind when you write (and that you first get a blahblah auto-generated email). But if you reply to the email - and possibly address it 'To Carol', and send a precise list of the books that you need, as Carol said (and include Carol's text to you), she will be more than happy to send them to you. They sent to me all 12 huge photobooks, both cover and content PDFs; they were so huge they had to send them via a online transfer website. It worked well. Good Luck. |
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Post by tasmanianartist on Oct 7, 2020 0:37:42 GMT
sirram - I don't know why my order came with a cover that no longer fitted - anything is possible in the mayhem of the 'dead stop' system change.
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