How to Make a PDF using Adobe InDesign

Adobe InDesign is a popular layout tool used to create books, magazines, newsletters, brochures and flyers.

To export an InDesign file to PDF format:

Launch Adobe InDesign. Open the document you wish to export or convert to PDF format. In the File menu, choose the option to Save as PDF (print). Click Save. A PDF Export window opens allowing you to customize the file. Choose the appropriate file size: The Press Quality setting makes the image quality the highest priority and is for documents going to a professional printer - like

Note: This setting is not compatible with all versions of Adobe Reader or other PDF reading programs.

Note: This setting is not compatible with all versions of Adobe Reader or other PDF reading programs. The High Quality Print setting will create a PDF file that is compatible with all versions of Adobe Reader. Select the Page options: All exports all pages as a single PDF file.

If your project requires each page to be an individual file, you may enter each page number and convert them one at a time to PDF format.

Please note we strongly recommend to review our PDF Creation Settings for more in depth information regarding file creation. Select View PDF After Exporting to review your file once exported to PDF format. Click Summary to review and/or edit your file settings. Click Export.

Review the PDF file. If you discover issues that need correcting, we recommend you edit the InDesign file, then convert the file to PDF.

Note: If your file was originally created in CMYK, we recommend leaving it as CMYK rather than converting it to sRGB.

To convert an InDesign file to PDF using Lulu Job Options:

Open the file to be exported in InDesign. Go to File > Export. Enter a filename and click Save. Under Adobe PDF Preset select Lulu (Download the preset joboptions attached to the article) Note: We have two different Lulu Joboptions. We advise to choose the appropriate Lulu Joboptions based on the current file you are creating (interior versus cover) Click Export.

Interior and Cover File Setup using Adobe InDesign | Tutorial

To determine if the fonts are embedded in your PDF:

Open the file using Adobe Reader or Acrobat Pro Go to File > Properties Select Fonts and verify that all fonts show (Embedded Subset)

If all fonts used in your document are followed by (Embedded Subset), then all fonts are properly embedded and your file will upload to the Lulu Publishing Tool without error.

Pro Tip: While you have your PDF open, scroll through it to make sure your book interior is properly formatted - page breaks, copyright page, odd and even pages (odd on the right).

How to Export a Color-Managed PDF File in Adobe InDesign

More often than not, when providing a file to a printer, it will be as a PDF. InDesign provides color-management tools when creating the PDF. It is always good practice to check with your print provider to verify their requirements.

Go to the File menu and select Export . Navigate to the location where you wish to save the file, select Adobe PDF (Print) from the Save As Type menu, and click Save . In the next dialog box, select Press Quality from the Adobe PDF Preset menu, then go to the list at the left and click Output . Click the Destination menu. In the U.S., there's only four options you're likely to use. Sheetfed or Web refers to the kind of printing press the project is being printed on. Coated or Uncoated refers to the kind of paper being used. Your print provider can supply this information. Once you have chosen the destination, click the Profile Inclusion Policy menu and choose Include Destination Profile , then click Export .

How To Export A Print-ready PDF from Adobe Indesign

1. File>Export>Adobe PDF (Print)

This opens the settings dialogue box for exporting to Adobe PDF

2. Select ‘Adobe PDF Preset: [PDF/X-1a:2001]’

This preset sets up most of the settings for you, all RGB colours are converted to CMYK (including images) and all transparency is flattened so commercial printers and RIPs won’t have any issues with transparency.

3. Marks and Bleeds (see below screenshot)

Click the tick box for ‘crop marks’ and enter 3mm for the bleed amount (top, bottom, left and right).

4. Output>Destination:Document CMYK – Coated FOGRA39 (ISO 12647-2:2004) (see below screenshot)

This is choosing which colour profile to use for the RGB to CMYK conversion. After extensive testing we have found that the coated FOGRA39 profile gives us the best CMYK colour conversion.

5. Export

NOTE: Do not click the ‘spreads’ option. This creates readers spreads, not printers spreads. We need to split readers spreads back into single pages to be able to impose them.

This is a very brief guide to help you output a hi-res* CMYK PDF that we will be able to print from. No two jobs are the same and there are many other settings that can be tweaked on a job-by-job basis.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the creation of print-ready PDFs.

* These settings will down-sample all images to 300dpi, which is high enough resolution for both digital and litho printing. Please note that if your images are under 300dpi or have been enlarged by a considerable amount (which will decrease their resolution) then the print-ready PDF created using these settings will still contain low-res images as there are no settings to up-sample low-res images. Read more about flyer printing costs.