Quote:
Originally Posted by BeccaPrice
I've asked about this at The Other Forum where I tend to hang out, but I get the feeling people here are somewhat more technical, and I need a technical solution.
I create my book in MS Word for PC and then convert to PDF for submission to CreateSpace.
In my latest book, Fairies and Fireflies, I have a 2-page map. The maps were drawn at 300 dpi. When I submit the files to CreateSpace, I get an error saying that the graphics are 150dpi and won't print well. The graphics are not enlarged in any way; in fact, they are shown on the page somewhat smaller than the original graphic size.
When I looked at the electronic proof at CreateSpace, the maps looked OK, but I've ordered a print proof just to verify that, in spite of the CS error message, they'll print all right.
Nobody at That Other Forum seems to have had this issue, but I've read that decreasing dpi is one of those things that Word just does.
I'd rather not have to learn InDesign to layout my books, but 2014 is going to be the year I add graphics to my stories, and I want them to print well.
Has anybody here had experience with printing graphics that have been inserted in a Word doc and the dpi gets reduced? and is there a solution to this?
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Hey, Becca:
Listen, I don't want to freak you out, but I play a real live bookmaker on TV. Okay, no: I got confused. I am a real live bookmaker, and I'm NOT on reality TV. In any event, 150dpi is really,
really low. Now, depending on the image/graphic, it might be fine, but 150dpi will almost always look pretty good in the online proof, due to the reality of how computer screens display graphics. We usually try to use 600 here, for high-detail graphics (now, everyone remember, we're talking print here, don't climb my glutes) like pen-and-ink drawings, pencil drawings, and the like, and not less than 300ppi/dpi for anything like jpegs/pngs.
Don't flip out until the proof shows up, just in case it's great, but you should look for something like..I think PrimoPDF does a decent job with graphics. And IIRC, so did PDF995; I used to use that and their FTP, for that matter. Do you have a buddy with Acrobat and Word? They could simply take in your Word file and export it to Adobe. That would solve half your problem right there. Well, actually, all of it. Can you tell us what PDF-maker you're using?
Or, do you have MS Publisher? I don't remember, it's been so long since I used it, but it might give you the kind of fine-grained image resolution control that you need. But you might want to be prepared for the possibility that the Proof mightn't be the quality, image-wise, for which you are hoping.
Hitch