Change in page sizewhen export to PDF

[barryg01]

We are trying to publish a book using bleed on KDP. When we export to PDF print ready with the "include bleed" box checked, they keep rejecting the file. When I check the page size in Preview the dimensions include the bleed dimension. When KDP checks the page size they come back that it is too big. How can we create a file they can use?

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[thomaso]

@barryg01, there are a few threads in this forum which solved their KDP rejection issues by ensuring that no layer / object / bounding box exceeds the bleed area. One user mentioned the size / position of a text frame for page numbers on a master page causing the issues. As @Lacerto mentions, you might need to be more specific / less ambiguous ("too big") with the KDP error message and its full details.

On 1/4/2024 at 1:13 PM, lacerto said:

absence of page boxes (e.g. bleed box) in certain cases (e.g., Affinity apps do not provide this information unless visible bleed marks are output, even if the document itself has bleeds)

What are "bleed marks"? Do you mean crop marks? Is it a V2 issue? I can't reproduce a PDF in APub V1 resulting in a missing bleed box when bleed is activated for export. (and the known bug with bleed in AD 1 and 2 was reported by @Serifbot as being fixed in Nov 2023 for V2.)

V1 w bleed.pdf

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[thomaso]

49 minutes ago, lacerto said:

Bleed marks indicate the bleed area and can be used in InDesign (and probably in QXP), but not in Affinity apps.

Thanks for clarifying. I forgot about the ID option … which I always found rather confusing by its double marks. – To me the Affinity way to place the crop marks outside the bleed area appears more useful / more clear, their position indicates the bleed area.

36 minutes ago, lacerto said:

I think that the same omission applies to 1.x versions

33 minutes ago, lacerto said:

no explicit bleed box, but just calculational box

Ah, I never noticed this missing entry since APub offers a "bleed box" display selection for such a placed PDF and Acrobat displays the bleed area + a TrimBox (indicating existing bleed by different dimensions). And, yes, it appears the same way in macOS for V1 exports: the BleedBox info requires to export crop marks, too:

-

Also interesting that in particular KPD with its quite strict rejection rules does not complain about the missing bleed box. (otherwise none of the reported issues in this forum would have been solved)

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, lacerto said:

Bleed marks can be useful e.g. in cover production and possibly also in package design.

I can imagine the need for cut/crop marks and fold marks (cover) and for cutting contours/dielines (packaging) but not for bleed marks. Can you give a more detailed example where bleed marks are helpful while a BleedBox wouldn't give the required info?

Questions for a use of bleed marks were asked in the web various times but apparently without a literal answer. David Blatner responded "I don’t think anyone really needs them (…)". While ePac, a global packaging producer mentions in an article about bleed in packaging and in a prepress checklist the use of a black rectangle printed as "Eye Mark" for the automatic cutting process … but no bleed marks.

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[thomaso]

43 minutes ago, lacerto said:

One could e.g. use bleed marks to separate the slug area where technical notes are written:

Wouldn't this placement of custom text in the slug area be possible without bleed marks? Especially if these texts get placed in the layout before crop marks are visible (unless they were created as custom elements on the layout page like fold marks or crop outlines)? In my understanding crop marks & trimbox indicate the relevant layout content and dimensions.

Is there a situation where it is important or helpful to see whether the bleed area has a width of 3 or 30 or 300mm, while a layout content in that area would show the outer edge of the bleed area anyway?

18 minutes ago, lacerto said:

with a genuine need to make clear (both for printers and other people involved) what needs to be done, so what Mr. Blatner can imagine and what not is not a concern of mine 🙂

Please don't misunderstand me, I do not have doubts about your experience, knowledge and skills – that is why I am interested in your argument for bleed marks. Maybe they aren't literally required like crop marks but rather "just" an additional hint that bleed was set in a layout at all (e.g. for printed sheets that show empty bleed and thus their crop marks alone don't make obvious if bleed was set)?

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[barryg01]

Thanks for your replies. I'm 81 and do not understand.  I do not see a way to use crop marks in Publisher.  I do not see a solution in them that I could use. If someone has fixed the problem on the forum how do I find them?

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[thomaso]

On 1/4/2024 at 9:47 PM, barryg01 said:

I do not see a way to use crop marks in Publisher.  I do not see a solution in them that I could use. If someone has fixed the problem on the forum how do I find them?

Sorry for the discussion about bleed box & bleed marks in your thread. – If you can post a screenshot of the KDP error messages it would help to narrow down the issue. Your initial info "too big" can have different meanings and various reasons.

Here two thread examples that solved their KDP page size issue: