Process for creating printed books at Lulu

[jeanweber]

Hello Olivier and Docs Team,

I have started writing up my process for creating printed books
through Lulu. Some steps may need to be modified if Olivier or someone
else takes this over who does not use a Mac. I will explain.

I do the printed books in a 6x9-inch size, not the full A4 of the
PDFs. This is to save printing costs and thus the cost to purchasers.
Lulu requires a book file (PDF) to be provided in the selected page
size, so I have to create a suitable file. It is quick and easy to do
on a Mac: I use the Mac's built-in Preview app to "print" the original
A4 PDF to a PDF with a 6x9-inch page size. I do not know what the
equivalent method may be on Windows or Linux. I may have asked this
question here before, but I do not recall the answer (if any).

Of course, someone else could avoid that step and produce the books
full-size (A4) and purchasers would have to pay the extra printing
cost (probably double) and postage cost. Thoughts?

(There are some other issues to consider, which are unrelated to the
page size. I will mention them in separate notes.)

Jean

[ohallot]

Hello Jean

Hello Olivier and Docs Team,

I have started writing up my process for creating printed books
through Lulu. Some steps may need to be modified if Olivier or someone
else takes this over who does not use a Mac. I will explain.

I do the printed books in a 6x9-inch size, not the full A4 of the
PDFs. This is to save printing costs and thus the cost to purchasers.
Lulu requires a book file (PDF) to be provided in the selected page
size, so I have to create a suitable file. It is quick and easy to do
on a Mac: I use the Mac's built-in Preview app to "print" the original
A4 PDF to a PDF with a 6x9-inch page size. I do not know what the
equivalent method may be on Windows or Linux. I may have asked this
question here before, but I do not recall the answer (if any).

If I get it right, the A4 page is shrunk into a 6x9in, right? It is *not* the same as rezising the page styles to 6x9in page (where text will reflow and total pages will increase accordingly).

My maths says the book is ~75% the size of the current A4 document, same number of pages.

I'll test this operation in Linux (I think it is feasible)

Of course, someone else could avoid that step and produce the books
full-size (A4) and purchasers would have to pay the extra printing
cost (probably double) and postage cost. Thoughts?

I admit I have not purchased one of Lulu prints, but I guess font size and image quality won't suffer.

(There are some other issues to consider, which are unrelated to the
page size. I will mention them in separate notes.)

A wiki page on the topic, with do's and don'ts is my suggestion.

Regards
Olivier

[Paul_Sutton]

I admit I have not purchased one of Lulu prints, but I guess font size and image quality won't suffer.

(There are some other issues to consider, which are unrelated to the
page size. I will mention them in separate notes.)

On this, I bought a copy of the writer 7.3 guide from Lulu this week (arrived 26th May) all text and graphics are a good, clear size. The size of the book is also nice, more pages but it fits on a shelf nicely too.

Hope this helps

Paul

[jeanweber]

Obviously, the easiest solution is to have someone with a Mac shrink the
pages, after they or someone else (such as Olivier) has done some necessary
pre-processing. Olivier or whoever can then do the rest of the publishing
process.

I will write separately about pre-processing and the rest of the publishing
process. The 6x9-inch covers are also an issue, which I will write about.

Jean

[jeanweber]

I have put a sample interior file for 6x9-inch print copies in the
Community Resources section on NextCloud, so you can see what it looks
like. - Jean
https://nextcloud.documentfoundation.org/s/gkcwt2pyybTReCD

[flywire]

Throwing another one into the mix.

A5 is also a popular size and printer drivers normally have an option to
print A4 at 2 per page resulting in A5 (148mm x 210mm - 70.7%). It's often
a convenient size to halve the number of printed pages from a desktop
printer for a booklet or chapter.

Anything designed for A4 is normally fine at A5 as long as the content
doesn't contain small fonts, like reduced charts and maps with text, which
need to be read. The intended audience needs to be considered; from about
age 40 it is common for eyesight to start to deteriorate making it harder
to focus on smaller objects.

Regards

[jeanweber]

I have tested A5. It is too small for this purpose. The reduction in font
size and line thickness is too great.
Jean