Calibre and Kindle Create for print

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

Hello, everyone.

Just curious: is there anyone who used either Kindle Create or Calibre to create a print-ready PDF of your book, and can you share your experience (and, possibly, some tips)?

[Trana]

Hello Tomas,
Sorry but I didn't use either of those to create the print-ready PDF. I did it using Word and it came out perfect! I did download and follow the KDP guide for formatting for print.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Trana wrote: "Hello Tomas,."

No links, please. Thanks.

[Colin]

Hi Tomas

I format my own books and books for my clients. A "Print Ready PDF" is also known as a PDFx or a PDF 1.4. The settings for these can be reached in Microsoft Word, or in InDesign, or similar programmes. I do use Calibre, and it is an excellent programme, but not to create a PDFx.

It's also a good idea to learn what is meant by "print ready."

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

I know there are other ways (including Amazon's templates), but I was wondering if I could 'double kill' it with Calibre as I use that to create the e-book - and I've tried formatting the e-book with KC as well.

[Colin]

Tomas wrote: "I know there are other ways (including Amazon's templates), but I was wondering if I could 'double kill' it with Calibre as I use that to create the e-book - and I've tried formatting the e-book wi..."

I never use any of the kindle templates and always upload either a PDF 1.4 or an MS Word. I use Calibre to convert my books for my own .epub, mobi copies.

[Trana]

Dwayne wrote: "Trana wrote: "Hello Tomas,."

No links, please. Thanks."

Sorry Dwayne. I removed the link. I only included it because the PDF file can be difficult to find!

[Wanjiru]

Colin wrote: "Hi Tomas

I format my own books and books for my clients. A "Print Ready PDF" is also known as a PDFx or a PDF 1.4. The settings for these can be reached in Microsoft Word, or in InDesign, or simil..."

I take "print-ready" literally (a pdf?). Can you please elaborate? Thanks.

[Gail]

Thanks, Wanjiru, I wondered myself!

[Colin]

Wanjiru wrote: "Colin wrote: "Hi Tomas

I format my own books and books for my clients. A "Print Ready PDF" is also known as a PDFx or a PDF 1.4. The settings for these can be reached in Microsoft Word, or in InDe..."

No, a PDF isn't necessarily a "Print Ready" PDF. A standard PDF is designed for digital screen, not for print. So you have to make sure it is set as a PDF for Printing.

If you'd like to email me I can show you screen shots of how to set it up. Or indeed, you can easily find "how to" vids on Youtube.

[Trana]

In Word, select Export then "Create "PDF/XPS". On the next screen before you press "Publish" click "Options". Make sure the PDF/A has a checkmark. Press Ok, then Publish and name your file.

[Wanjiru]

Trana wrote: "In Word, select Export then "Create "PDF/XPS". On the next screen before you press "Publish" click "Options". Make sure the PDF/A has a checkmark. Press Ok, then Publish and name your file."

Thank you so much, Trana. I've been doing it all wrong - I never took the final step. No wonder Kdp has always said my fonts weren't embedded and that they had corrected it.

[Wanjiru]

Colin wrote: "Wanjiru wrote: "Colin wrote: "Hi Tomas

I format my own books and books for my clients. A "Print Ready PDF" is also known as a PDFx or a PDF 1.4. The settings for these can be reached in Microsoft ..."

Thanks, Colin for mentioning the difference, which I understand as: for a print book I do a print-ready pdf and for an ebook a plain pdf.

[Trana]

Wanjiru wrote: "Trana wrote: "In Word, select Export then "Create "PDF/XPS". On the next screen before you press "Publish" click "Options". Make sure the PDF/A has a checkmark. Press Ok, then Publish and name your..."

Wanjiru To embed fonts is different. With your manuscript open in Word, click File, then Options. Select "Save" from the left side, then just below the section titled "Preserve fidelity when sharing this document," checkmark the "Embed fonts in the file," then click "Ok".

[Angela]

I upload formatted Word documents when publishing through Amazon, unless there are images. Most PDF converters, including Amazon's, reduce the resolution of images making them unsuitable for print. If I produce a book with images, I create a PDF using a program called doPDF. It's free and you can select to maintain the image resolution.

[S.E.]

Really useful, didn't know that. I use a Mac, which is great until you need Word to beta read etc. It only seems to have an export to PDF function. Any suggestions on how I'd convert to a PDF 1.4. ?

Also, any easy way on a mac to get my MS to start page one at the start of a novel ie after chapters, acknowledgments, copyright declarations, etc?

[Gail]

S.E. wrote: "Really useful, didn't know that. I use a Mac, which is great until you need Word to beta read etc. It only seems to have an export to PDF function. Any suggestions on how I'd convert to a PDF 1.4. ..."

I also have a MAC, and I use Office 365 on it. You can download Microsoft's Office 365 for about $10 a month. I use it and it works great.

[S.E.]

Thanks. I will wait until I need to format my next novel (and I'm only at first draft stage so that's months of editing away!!) but thats great idea.

[Wanjiru]

Trana wrote: "Wanjiru wrote: "Trana wrote: "In Word, select Export then "Create "PDF/XPS". On the next screen before you press "Publish" click "Options". Make sure the PDF/A has a checkmark. Press Ok, then Publi..."

I think I got it now, and if I haven't I'll never do. Thanks a bunch, Trana.

[Wanjiru]

Trana wrote:
Wanjiru To embed fonts is different. With your manuscript open in Word, click File, then Options. Select "Save" from the left side, then just below the section titled "Preserve fidelity when sharing this document," checkmark the "Embed fonts in the file," then click "Ok".

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I think I got it now, and if I haven't I'll never do. Thanks a bunch, Trana.

[Trana]

Wanjiru wrote: "I think I got it now, and if I haven't I'll never do. Thanks a bunch, Trana."

You're welcome Wanjiru! The KDP instructions for formatting a print manuscript are so much better. It even explains how to have the author name on even pages and book title on odd pages using Word!

[Jennifer]

S.E. wrote: "Really useful, didn't know that. I use a Mac, which is great until you need Word to beta read etc. It only seems to have an export to PDF function. Any suggestions on how I'd convert to a PDF 1.4. ..."

I use a Mac, and I transfer the Word file to InDesign (far better to see the right hand pages) and export to PDF-X1 there. Another way is to use full Adobe Acrobat Pro, as a client told me you can take it through to a PDF-X1 for print through Distiller.

With Word, with Chapter 1, you insert a new Section Break, and Insert Page numbers--manual start-- set '1' in the box. That is how to change the page numbering.

[Todd]

In Dec 2020 I used the Kindle Create app to publish my novel on Amazon, ebook first followed immediately by paperback. It's useful in that regard and saved me considerable labor versus my previous efforts preparing MOBI files for all my prior book submissions. I'm content with the results and the quality of what Kindle Create output.

That said and though I encountered no showstopping failures, my experience wasn't struggle free. The tool has some limitations and bugs. Amazon continues investing in Kindle Create to fix glitches and add features. My opinion is if you are happy with your current method of book file formatting and submission to Amazon, I wouldn't rush to adopt Kindle Create just yet. If you are contemplating changing your book file formatting and prep process though, it's at least worth a look.

[Berma]

I'm going to have a book ready in about a year and really want to pay someone to do the formatting for me. I appreciate the suggestions here but how does one find someone to do the formatting.

[Berma]

Trana wrote: "Hello Tomas,
Sorry but I didn't use either of those to create the print-ready PDF. I did it using Word and it came out perfect! I did download and follow the KDP guide for formatting for print."

[Berma]

How could I find someone who does the formatting as a service?

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

Formatting the e-book isn't that hard, in my opinion, if you can work with a guide and basic HTML. Paperbacks are worse because of all the headers, footers, page numbers, and other nonsense e-books are free of.

[Berma]

This is very helpful. I didn't grow up on computers and I feel right now like I need a guide for varied projects I want to undertake. Thanks so much, everyone!!

[Berma]

S.E. wrote: "I just used Fiverr and paid someone with a 5 star rating to format both ebook and paperback for $50. You give a tip. of 10-25% but went really well. Saved me well over 50 bucks worth of stress!"

What is Fiverr?

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

A site where you can hire people to do stuff for you, mostly IT type of stuff or digital art. There's a lot of people doing book covers or book formatting there.

[Justin]

I use Calibre. It's simple and easy to use.

[B.A.]

Meanwhile I found Calibre totally frustrating. I use Draft2Digital since It's easy, has nice templates and you can get all formats. You don't need to use them, but you can use their templates. I happen to like them for distribution.

[Justin]

Draft2Digital is good. I don't see any sales with them but they're definitely easy to use and a good secondary if you don't wanna use Amazon.

[Sarah]

Tomas wrote: "Hello, everyone.

Just curious: is there anyone who used either Kindle Create or Calibre to create a print-ready PDF of your book, and can you share your experience (and, possibly, some tips)?"

Kindle Create has been a great experience. I loved it. I even got the KPF file to download for the paperback version of my upcoming novel. Highly recommend.

I have had nothing but trouble with Calibre. I have been trying to convert files into mobi or epubs and the formatting is always off. Pretty sure I pulled half my hair out trying to get the darn thing to work.

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

For me, Calibre creating e-books is quite easy and does what I want if I input a HTML file... but I couldn't make it produce a decent print file. I couldn't get the page numbers and headers/footers right.

[Kendall]

This was basically my experience as well. Use Calibre for eBooks and something like LibreOffice for print copies.

I tried using KindleCreate but it is far more limited than Calibre, particularly if you have inserted images, font changes (such as to denote a hand written note) and the like, as I did.