Frequently Asked Questions

• I don’t understand Font Embedding. What does this mean and why is it so important?
  
  
• What happens if I do not embed?
  
  
• Why can’t I use the “Export to PDF” feature in my application?
  
  
• How do I know that my fonts are properly embedded?
  
  
• What is PDF Library? And why does this cause problems?
  
  
• What is PDF/X-1a:2001?
  
  
• What is CMYK and how does working in RGB mode cause color issues?
  
  
• Why does blue turn to purple?
  
  
• Why is the color on my monitor or home printer different from the printed
  book that I received?
  
  
• What is Resolution?
  
  
• Embedding a font is the act of including fonts in a document in order to be able to render a particular typeface in a computer that does not have the  same font installed. Using embedded fonts guarantees that the reader of the PDF will see and reproduce the original font, regardless of whether or not they have the font installed on their system.
  
  KDP does not keep a font library, therefore, we are dependant upon the publisher’s PDF files to have the embedded font information to ensure proper printing representation of the book cover or interior.
  
  
• The “Export to PDF” feature included in many applications will create a PDF that is incompatible with KDP's printer RIP. The “Export to PDF” feature will create a PDF that exactly represents your PDF and is quite suitable for sharing your information. However, when printing to high-end printers, many items represented in your document are not properly interpreted by the printer. Transparency effects in images and text often cause problems when printing. Many font errors occur when using “Export to PDF”. KDP recommends that you print to a PostScript file first, then processing the PostScript file using Adobe Acrobat Distiller Professional version 6 or newer. This allows you to produce a solid and stable PDF that is ready to print.
  
  
• If your font is not embedded, it will fail to process through the printer’s RIP and will not print. If a font is not embedded in a PDF file, the risk of substituting a font with a serif or san serif typeface that is similar. With the font metrics included in the PDF, the fonts are stretched or condensed to ensure no re flow. However, it is important to understand that the fonts are look alike only, and particularly with unconventional or script faces, they may not look alike at all.
  
  
• PDF Library is a popular internal ‘engine’ that many applications use to create PDF files. This feature often allows you to save PDF/X-1a:2001 files. Transparency effects in images and text often cause problems when using PDF Library. Many font errors occur when using PDF Library.
  
  KDP recommends that you print to a PostScript file first, then processing the PostScript file using Adobe Acrobat Distiller Professional version 6 or  newer. This allows you to produce a solid and stable PDF that is ready to print.
  
  
• PDF/X-1a:2001 is designed to provide a reliable and stable PDF for printing purposes. It requires that the color of all objects be expressed in CMYK or spot colors, prepared for the intended printing conditions. Elements in RGB or Lab color spaces or tagged with ICC profiles are prohibited. It also requires that all fonts used in the job be embedded in the supplied PDF file.
  This file format is the most compliant file type for KDP’s printing purposes. It addresses most issues that prohibit your file from printing. This profile was established specifically for the printing industry.
  
  KDP requires all cover and interior PDF files for Color Interior Books be PDF/X-1a:2001 compliant. KDP recommends that you print to a PostScript file first, then processing the PostScript file using Adobe Acrobat Distiller Professional version 6 or newer. This allows you to produce a solid and stable PDF that is ready to print.
  
  
• The RGB color space is capable of producing many more colors than the process (CMYK) color space. That is the danger of creating RGB colors on the computer that will later be reproduced with inks on the press. Many RGB colors you make on the computer simply cannot be reproduced on the press with process colors.
  
  For example, let’s take RGB “Blue.” It is a beautiful, vibrant blue that simply jumps out of your monitor. In order for you to print, on a printing press, the items you made blue on your computer, it must be converted to the CMYK color space. In virtually any program that supports CMYK, on any platform, your beautiful RGB blue, when converted to CMYK, will in fact end up tinted purple. Your computer will covert RGB blue into a combination of 99.6% Cyan and 95.7 Magenta. This conversion results in a ratio of Cyan to Magenta that will produce a purple hue, and that’s how it will print on the press. The result is this: The gamut, or range of colors we humans can see is huge. The range of colors that an RGB monitor can reproduce is large, and the range of colors that CMYK printing can reproduce is limited. RGB blue is outside of CMYK’s gamut. CMYK simply cannot reproduce that shade of blue. So, the computer substitutes the closest color to it. Technically, that color is purple.
  
  The designer/publisher will need to make adjustments in the case of blue, when converting from RGB to CMYK to achieve the desired blue color.
  
  If KDP receives a file with RGB blues, those blues will probably be converted to CMYK purple. KDP assumes that the designer is aware of this RGB to CMYK conversion.
  
  Most colors convert reasonably well from RGB to CMYK. These colors are within the overlapping gamut's of each color space. But there are, unfortunately, many colors that do not convert well. Those colors are outside of CMYK’s gamut.
  
  
• The color on your monitor is produced using RGB color fields.
  The professional printing process utilizes four basic colors. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. (click here for more on this topic)
  
  Most home printers are never calibrated after leaving the factory.
  The printing industry color standard for CMYK printing process is the Pantone color matching system. The calibration software that comes with most printers does not comply with the Pantone color system. KDP calibrates our color printers at least once an hour. KDP has worked extensively with the manufacturers of our printing presses to create a calibration profile that complies with the Pantone printing system. Our technicians not only calibrate using proprietary software, but they visually compare the calibration sheet to a control standard to verify color calibration.
  
  Consumer quality printers have a wide margin for variation. The best way to verify the final color output, when submitting a file to a printer, is to purchase a Pantone to Process Swatch booklet from a local professional art supply shop. This book contains Pantone calibrated color swatches that you can compare to the CMYK color percentages of your digital file.

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