How to Make a PDF from InDesign (for Digital Printing)

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. When a document is converted to a PDF, all the fonts, formatting, colors and graphics are "locked" into place. The easiest way to make a PDF from Indesign is to download our joboptions file, and then Export in InDesign, and then distill using Acrobat Distiller. If your book will be printed offset, DO NOT use this method. Go to How to Make a PDF from InDesign (Offset).

Before you Export:

Page Size: The page size must be the final trim size of the book. For example: if your finished book is 6x9, the paper size must be setup as 6x9.

Photos and Images: We recommend that photos be 300 dpi. See Scanning Details for further details.

Single File: The whole book must be one single file. If your chapters and intro pages are all separate files you must combine them together, either in InDesign or in Acrobat after you make PDFs of every file.

Page Count: The final page count of the whole book must be in multiples of 16 for offset printing, and multiples of two for digital printing. Call us if you have questions as to which printing method your book will use.

Cover Files: Covers have specific requirements, including crop marks, spine marks, page size and bleed. See Soft Cover Layout or Hard Cover Setup for details.

Step 1: Download our joboptions file.

PC users: Right click the rectangle below. In the drop box that appears, select "Save Link As".

MAC users: Control + click on the rectangle below to access our joboptions.

Save the file on your computer in a place where you can retrieve it later. Make sure that the file retains its complete name: "gorhamprinting.joboptions".

Step 2: Load the above joboptions file into InDesign.

1. With your file open in InDesign, click on File>Adobe PDF Presets>Define.

2. In the "Adobe PDF Presets" dialog, click "Load" and locate the "gorhamprinting.joboptions file on your hard drive, and click Open.

3. The "gorhamprinting.joboptions" file will show in your list of PDF presets.

Step 3: Export the File.

1. WIth your file open in InDesign. Choose File>Export.

2. In the "Export" dialog, select a location for your PDF that you will be making. Click Save.

3. In the "Export Adobe PDF" dialog, check to make sure that the Adobe PDF Preset at the top is "gorhamprinting.joboptions". Click Export.

4. That's it, your PDF is made. We recommend checking it carefully before sending it our way. Check to make sure you have all pages included in your text file, and double-check our layout specs at this point as well.

Step 4: Give us the PDF.

You can use one of three methods to give us your PDF:

Upload from our FTP page. (up to 75 MB)

Email the file to us as an attachment. (7 MB maximum)

Put the file on CD and mail.

These instructions should work for any version of InDesign CS.

Gorham Printing
3718 Mahoney Drive, Centralia, WA 98531
Phone: 1-800-837-0970, (360) 623-1323, Fax: (360) 623-1325
E-mail: info@gorhamprinting.com