Microsoft Publisher, PowerPoint, and Word

NOTE: MS software's have been found to be problematic for book creation because they do not adhere to standard PDF specs. If you wish to create a project using one of these programs please apply the trouble-shooting help tips below!

For any Bulk order a Proof will be required to ensure that the results are satisfactory before the bulk order is submitted into production - please read all about this and turnaround times associated with Proofing an order here: Bulk Orders

PowerPoint

PowerPoint is not the most sophisticated photo layout application available. As a result the current OSX PowerPoint version 2011 does not offer the functionality of saving projects in high enough resolution for print. Likely Microsoft made this change in order to discourage PowerPoint users from using this program for what it was not created for - since printed results are often not satisfiable.

PowerPoint Mac 2011

Therefore PowerPoint 2011 is not eligible for book creation.

PowerPoint Mac 2008

However PowerPoint Mac 2008 does offer the ability to create 300DPI PowerPoint presentations. but you will need to ensure you've increased the resolution of the presentation to be print quality.

Simply go the "Preferences" menu option, and select "Save As". There you can select the resolution of your presentation. Choose "300 DPI".

We suggest then creating your PDF using Adobe Acrobat Pro. A free trial version of this program is offered by Adobe allowing 5 free PDFs. Or, for $10, you have the option to create unlimited PDFs for a month if you want to go the trial and error route.

The most current version of Adobe products do much better creating the PDF for the printer than any of the other file editor products. Please note that you will likely see output problems with most all other products!

Please Note: We do not suggest to convert to a PDF using Adobe Acrobat 6 or Acrobat 7 due to the fact that it will be very difficult to get either version to convert correctly and embed the fonts completely. There are also problems with transparencies. According to Adobe, they didn't code Acrobat to convert transparencies (shadow effects, feathering, etc) until Acrobat 6 (PDF version 1.5).

PowerPoint Windows Office 2007

There are a number of issues with PowerPoint 2007 when trying to convert to a PDF suitable for printing. Because of this, we suggest to save your each screen as a large .jpg file - see below:

Creating Individual PowerPoint Slides To Be Uploaded As jpgs

Powerpoint has the ability to save each slide as an individual jpeg. There is one trick --- you will need to increase the resolution of the presentation to be print quality. So, in powerpoint you will need to select file, page setup, choose custom as your "slides sizes for" option, increase the size width and height to 3 times the dimensions of the book you plan to create. (Ex. for a 9x7 book the page size should be 27 inches x 21 inches). Select ok.

Then select file, save as, for the "save as type" select JPEG File Interchange Format and select save. Each slide from Powerpoint will be saved as a JPEG. You will then be able to upload your jpeg images.

For Older Versions of PowerPoint (Windows 2003, Mac 2004 or older)

1. In PowerPoint, select File -> Page Setup from the menu bar and choose "Custom" as your "Slides Sizes For" option.
2. Increase the size width and height to 3 times the dimensions of the book you plan to create. (Ex. for a 9x7 book the page size should be 27 inches x 21 inches, or for a 8.5x11 book, the page size should be 25.5 inches x 33 inches). Select ok.
3. Create your PhotoBook like you would any slide show, however be VERY CAREFUL about Cropping And Bleed. Do not put important visual elements near the edges.
4. When you are done, select File -> Save As from the menu. For the "Save as Type" select "JPEG File Interchange Format" and select Save.
5. Each slide will be saved as an individual JPEG file in a folder. You can then upload each image to your gallery (or to save time, you can zip up that whole folder and upload it to your gallery).

Publisher

FAQ

I am using Microsoft Publisher to lay out my pages. All the font options are checked. When I print to PDF, I have a special print definition file that forces inclusion of the Fonts. The file shows an increase in size when I force embed the fonts and the PDF file properties list the fonts as included. I am not sure what else I can do to make this work.

Actually, Microsoft Publisher has been known to cause problems with printers. For some reason they create 3 images of your original file to compose their image. Then when the book prints some of the pages will have this odd banding problem.

Please don't use MS Publisher to create a PDF.

Instead we suggest creating your PDF using Adobe Acrobat Pro. A free trial version of this program is offered by Adobe allowing 5 free PDFs. Or, for $10, you have the option to create unlimited PDFs for a month if you want to go the trial and error route.

The most current version of Adobe products do much better creating the PDF for the printer than any of the other file editor products. Please note that you will likely see output problems with most all other products!

Please Note: We do not suggest to convert to a PDF using Adobe Acrobat 6 or Acrobat 7 due to the fact that it will be very difficult to get either version to convert correctly and embed the fonts completely. There are also problems with transparencies. According to Adobe, they didn't code Acrobat to convert transparencies (shadow effects, feathering, etc) until Acrobat 6 (PDF version 1.5).

Good luck and let us know if you have any tips to share with others!