Trouble-Free Files and How to Make Them

We can accept and work with your book materials in many forms - based on almost any software you might want to use, at no extra cost to you for file preparation. We work directly with PDF, Photoshop, and InDesign files. We can work with files initially layed out using Pagemaker, Word, Publisher, Framemaker, TeX, LaTeX, and music writing programs, as well as QuarkXpress and other layout programs, when they are properly exported to PDF.

If (1) your files are set up so that the pages of the file document look the way you want your book pages to appear - that is, are formatted for your book - and (2) there are no serious technical problems with your files which require extensive rework or lengthy processing, then we label these files Trouble-free Files. There are more details about bleeds, resolution, etc., in the technical sections of this web site. Providing trouble-free files minimizes your cost because it minimizes the time required for us to process your files.

While we do not charge extra if you send us trouble-free files in any of the formats described above, we do prefer to receive the following PDF files with all fonts embedded for the text and cover of your book. For InDesign files we need all fonts and image links.

The advantage of sending PDF files with all fonts embedded is their stability. They will look exactly the same to us, and process to pages that look the same, as they look to you on your monitor or printer. In addition, they are self-contained and do not require any accompanying fonts or images. Contrast this with, say, Word files which can look different when moved to a different computer.