Print Ready PDF: Getting Your Book Ready to Print

By Kevin Osworth | November 5, 2019

print ready PDFEvery writer dreams of the day they can hold their book in their hands. If you’ve chosen DiggyPOD to self-publish your book, you’re one step closer to fulfilling that dream. Before you can make that dream a reality, though, you need to get your book ready for printing. We purposely ensure that printing with DiggyPOD is easy for new and veteran self-publishers, but that doesn’t mean your work is done as soon as you type “The End.” When you print with DiggyPOD, your book must follow specific guidelines. One of these guidelines specifies that your manuscript must first be converted into a print ready PDF. If you don’t know what that means or how to do it, then this blog is for you.

What is the Difference Between a Print Ready PDF and Word Document?

You’ll use a Word Document (.Doc or .Docx) to write and edit your novel. When it comes time to self-publish, that’s when you’ll convert it into a print ready PDF. PDF stands for “portable document format.” Basically, a .Doc or .Docx allows you to edit your work. A PDF shows you what the printed product will look like, and you’ll therefore be unable to edit a PDF. Hold off converting your Word document into a PDF until you’re absolutely sure that it’s ready to be printed. Make sure all your editing is complete. PDF files can be opened using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Converting Your Manuscript into a PDF Ensures It Prints Beautifully

At DiggyPOD, everything we do is to make sure your books print exceptionally. We understand that your book represents a long journey of late nights, countless rounds of edits, and years of dreaming. When your book prints, we want it turn that dream into a reality. Converting your Microsoft document into a print ready PDF ensures this. 

Because a PDF shows you exactly what the document will look like when it prints, your print ready PDF is an accurate representation of what to expect when your book gets delivered to your front door. Before your print it, though, to provide an extra layer of comfort, we created the Free Online PDF Checker Tool. This PDF checker will scan your file for the most common file problems that we see with files each day. Once you’ve run your PDF through our Free Online PDF Checker Tool, you will be provided with an online proof of your print ready PDF. The downloadable proof will show you exactly how your book will look, such as how the pages will lay next to each other in the book, and it will also tell you of any problems and direct you on how to fix the problems.

DiggyPOD Will Check Your PDF!

We don’t stop there, though! When you place YOUR order with DiggyPOD, we’ll also check for the same items as our Free PDF Checker but dig deeper into the file. We’ll make sure the integrity of the file is correct and will print correctly by checking for a lot of technical items, such as flattening form fields and artwork. We also do some basic visual checks of each file; we check the placement of page numbers, headers, footers, to make sure they are not on the binding side of the book. Before we approve the PDF, we’ll double check the resolution of book cover images to make sure they are high resolution.

Please note we do not check the actual content of the book. Any editorial or proofreading work will need to be done prior to this step. We recommend hiring a freelance editor to edit your book if you’ve never done so before.

How to Convert Your Document into a Print-Ready PDF

Converting your manuscript into a print-ready PDF is easier than you think. Why? Because we’ve created a conversion tool specifically for this purpose! 

Our free Word to PDF online conversion tool will take your Word document and convert it into a Print-Ready PDF file. Our create to PDF tool will convert most Word documents, but some older versions of Word may not convert perfectly. This PDF converter may also not have the exact same fonts that you have and therefore will not convert your file.

What does the PDF converter do? Here’s a list:

  1. Embed all fonts.
  2. Ensure your Page Size matches your Trim Size.
  3. Alert you if the conversion software is missing fonts
  4. Convert a downloadable PDF file for your book printing order.
  5. Show you a PDF proof of your book.

For your peace of mind, know that with the DiggyPOD’s online Word to PDF conversion tool, you can trust that your files are safe and secure. We use the HTTPS security protocol on our entire website to protect your information and files.

Common Errors We See

We review a lot of PDFs, because we print a lot of books. That means we know what errors to look for when reviewing print ready PDFs. The most common errors we see are below.

  1. The fonts are not embedded.
  2. The Word document page size doesn’t match the trim size ordered.
  3. There are page margin issues and page numbers aren’t placed right.
  4. Page numbers are in the binding area.

The DiggyPOD Difference

We’re happy to provide useful tools like our Word to PDF online conversion tool and our Free Online PDF Checker Tool because we want to ensure new and veteran self-publishers alike are happy with their published books. 

If you’re a new self-publisher in need of some more helpful tips and tools, be sure to check out our First Time Self-Publisher’s Guide.