How to Make a PDF from Publisher

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. A PDF is best made using a software program called Acrobat Distiller. Although Publisher has an "Export to PDF" procedure, do not use the Export process, as it will result in damaged file that we cannot use.

What is a Postscript File?

A postscript file is also known as a "printer" file. Simply put, you will print to a file, rather than to paper. When you hit "Print", your file is usually sent to the printer, the printer receives it, and puts it onto a piece of paper. Making a postscript file is the same procedure, except the data is sent to a file rather than a printer and paper. We can use your postscript file to create a PDF. To make a postscript file, there are 3 basic steps:

1. Load a postscript driver in Windows.

2. Print a file to the driver.

3. Save the file and submit it to us.

Before you make the Publisher postscript file:

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 Publisher 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: Load a postscript printer driver in Windows

In this step, you will load a printer onto your computer, for a printer you do not have. This method will use your Windows XP software to load an AGFA Select Set 7000 printer onto your computer. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Start at the bottom left of your Windows desktop. Click on Start. Click on Printers and Faxes. In the menu of the box that comes up, click on File>Add Printer. A box called "Add Printer Wizard" will appear. Check the circle that says "Local printer attached to this computer" (Leave "Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer" Unchecked.) Click Next.

2. Check the circle beside "Use the following port." To the right of this, make sure it shows as FILE. Click Next.

3. On the left will be a scroll box under Manufacturer. Scroll to AGFA (near the top), and click on it to highlight it. On the right, in the scroll box under "Printers" scroll down to "AGFA-SelectSet 7000" and select it. Click Next.

4. Under Printer Name: Leave it as "AGFA-SelectSet 7000". In the circles under this, "Do you want to use this printer as the default printer?" Click NO. Click Next.

5. Printer Sharing: Click the circle beside “Do not share this printer”. Click Next.

6. Print Test Page: Click the circle beside NO under "Do you want to print a test page?" Click Next.

7. "Completing the Add Printer Wizard" box will come up. Click Finish.

You have successfully loaded an AGFA Select Set 7000 printer!

Step 2: Open your file in Publisher

1. Open your book file in MSPublisher. Open File>PageSetup and check to make sure the orientation is portrait, not landscape.

2. Go to: File>Save As. In the "Save as Type" box on the bottom, select Postscript (*.ps). In the "File Name" box, give it a name (check to make sure it has the ".ps" extension on the name.) Click "Save". Another dialog will pop up that wants to know what printer to use, just leave it as is and click "Save".

3. Once your postscript file is complete, review the “Ready to Print Guidelines” document available in the Information Section of our website.

At this point, if you do own Acrobat Distiller, go to How to Distill where you can make a completed PDF. If you do not own Acrobat Distiller, follow the instruction below:

Step 3: Give us the postscript file and we will make a PDF from it.

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

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.

Why you should NOT Export to PDF

After you send us your PDF, and if it will be printed on the offset press (rather than digitally), we will need to send your files to a special computer called a RIP. This computer uses a language called postscript to talk to our other print devices that make negatives that will get turned into plates that go onto the press. This RIP will not process PDF files that have composite fonts, which are created when Export to PDF is used.

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