hooloovoos's Posts

Hi Victor,

Those are great suggestions (particularly the ability to make custom templates and have Polaroid frames – that would be so much nicer than trying to make them in PS on my own).

Just so you know, it IS already possible to export your book to PDF for others to review. Just use the Print function inside BookSmart and have it print to whatever PDF printer/driver you have.  I have used DeskPDF with good luck, and many people report good results with CutePDF.  The file will then save wherever you want on your computer for easy emailing, etc.

Keep in mind, this function sometimes takes quite a while to complete, depending on the size and photo-intensiveness of your book (I don’t think "intensiveness" is a word but oh well.)  Some other forum posters suggest setting the process running before you go to bed or work.

Hope this helps fulfill at least one of your wishes.

Teri

I am astonished that Blurb staff say that they cannot see the difference in those images. They are clear as night and day, and when you have just spent $900 on your order, I also would find their response VERY disturbing.

Like Lee, I have had an excellent all-around experience with Blurb (customer service, print quality, etc). I certainly expect that they will square up with you in the end (not that that excuses the hold-ups you are having now).  Good luck in your correspondence with them and rest assured, your eyes are fine (assuming I can say that, given the strength of my prescription).   :)

Teri

Another option would be to look at some stock photo sites. I especially like istockphoto.com. Yes, you have to pay for the photos, but when you use them you don’t have to worry (generally) about copyright issues as, in my understanding, you are buying some rights to the images. For a while Blurb in conjunction with istockphoto was offering a 20% deal to people who were new to sign up at istockphoto. I don’t know if that is still going on, but worth a look.  :)

Teri

Hi Jason,

Unless I am misunderstanding  your issue, it sounds like the easiest thing to do is keep your dark red background and change the color of the text in each text box? You can have different colors for all of your text, even within one text box. Once you are working inside your text box, just select your text and click the button that looks like an "A" (like in Word), which will allow you to select new colors. (I am pretty sure that’s the right button, sorry, I am not near the B ookSmart program at the moment).

Hope this helps. If I misunderstood your problem, please disregard.

Teri   :)

Hi David,

I have had similar issues with page numbers reappearing, although it is not quite the same as what you describe.  For instance, I have never used the Export/Backup function within Blurb – when I back up books, I just manually go to the Booksmart folder on the C drive and drag it to the disk I am backing up to.  So that is a difference, plus the fact you are using a Mac (best computers ever!).

However, I too have found in my Blurb history that page numbers and headers can be very sticky and difficult to remove. I usually choose None, then Apply to All, and the information remains in the headers/footers. Usually when I do the step a second time, the changes hold. I would recommend not doing this step until you are completely done with your book (meaning, done adding pages) because each time you add a page, in my experience, page numbers and headers/footers reappear. So the reapping information problem is definitely not just you, it’s a BookSmart problem, in my opinion.

However, the good news is, I have never had a book print with unwanted headers/footers after I have cleared them out as I described above. Just be sure to do a VERY COMPREHENSIVE review of your book at 100% size or more in Preview mode IMMEDIATELY PRIOR to hitting that Order button, without backing up in between, reopening the book, anything like that. You should be safe then.  I would also parenthetically recommend checking ALL text boxes for text such as "Add Caption Here" and removing anything stray you find because I have had these little prompts print, and they are noticeable, even if in black text on black background.

GOOD LUCK! :)

Teri

Hmmm…. there WERE paragraph breaks in that last post. Sorry that it now looks a mess!

I recently had an issue with the pdf preview once my book was uploaded. It showed in one box an entire picture, when I had zoomed in to show only a small fraction of the picture. I was reassured promptly by Customer Service that this is a known issue with the pdf preview (showing different content than what you uploaded) and the file you uploaded will print as uploaded. Mine in fact printed just fine. I agree with Lee – you will more than likely get exactly what you uploaded – if not I am sure Blurb will take care of it for you.

Teri 

That has to be a printing glitch, I’ve never seen anything like that, especially printing from the same file.  I would certainly think that you should contact Customer Service about that, see if they will reprint it for you!

remarkably *well*  :)

After reading Amelia’s comments, I would also toss in that my book’s cover was predominately (90%, I’d say) photograph, so not much blank color.  Further, the cover is admittedly VERY matte, which dulls vibrant colors somewhat, so those are some things to keep in mind.  Personally, I was very pleased, but I can see how someone wishing for a more accurate representation of vibrant color may be disappointed.

No embarrassment whatsoever is warranted, Tony! You are by far one of the major brains behind these forums, which was why I figured I was misunderstanding the issue. :)

Teri 

Rob,

Your book looks GREAT, and I am thrilled to see that your ImageWrap cover came out so nicely. Mine is being printed as we speak, so I hope I have the same great results!

 Teri