Guides

Why book files get rejected

Plain-English explanations of the errors IngramSpark and Amazon KDP send back.

PDF standards

IngramSpark says your file is not PDF/X-1a:2001 compliant

The single most common IngramSpark rejection, and the one that tells you least. Five separate conditions produce the same message.

Diagnosis

You fixed what the printer named and it failed again. That is how preflight works, not bad luck. Here is how to break the loop.

Platform specs

A cover built for one platform will not pass the other. A side by side comparison of PDF standards, spine math, color and ink limits.

Platform specs

Same company as IngramSpark, same specification, but nothing preflights your file at upload. The full spec, and the template that does not transfer.

Cover production

Spine width is calculated from page count and paper stock, not chosen. Change either and the whole cover wrap moves.

Fonts

A printer cannot use a font it does not have. How to check in thirty seconds, and what to do when a font refuses to embed.

Margins and bleed

Trim, bleed and safe zone are three different things. Confusing them causes this rejection, in both directions.

Color and press

The rejection almost nobody writes about. What the number means, why dark covers exceed it, and the rich black to use instead.

File Fix diagnoses every reason your file was refused, not just the one the printer named. Diagnosis back in three to five business days, from $99.