Tag Archives: Foxit

‘Kindle’ KDP Paperback Publishing: The HUGE Difference Between Submitting Manuscript As A Word (Doc.) File vs A PDF.

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by Anura Guruge
on October 21, 2022

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Click to ENLARGE.

I discovered this, to my cost & horror, earlier today. I was rushing ahead to get a new paperback published. I had been working on the cover, heads down, all day, & now that it was done I wanted it submitted for publishing BEFORE the weekend. So, I was rushing, even more than I normally do when I get close to having a book ready.

This book, my 38th, was a FIRST for I. My first photo book. Yep, a photo book with a very few words! Who would have thought. It also happened to be the FIRST paperback I have published where the whole book (bar the cover) was in just ONE MS Word document.

All of my other paperbacks are split across MULTIPLE Word documents. These days I have, at a minimum, this set of Word documents per paperback book: front matter, TOC, Preface, Notes, body I, body II …, backmatter, Index, last_pages. I create a PDF from each & then use the PDF merge function to create the final book image PDF. {By the way, for the last 10-months — & as such last 3 books — I use, with great success ‘Foxit PDF Editor Pro‘.

In this case, with this short, i.e., 53-page, page I had all 53 pages in one Word file.

That was ‘the mistake’. In my hurry I forgot to create a PDF! YES. I forgot to make a PDF. I am still in disbelief & SHOCK. I, Anura Guruge, FORGOT to MAKE A PDF! Has to be dotage. I might have to stop this writing/publishing lark soon IF I continue to make mistakes like this.

KDP {happily} let me submit the Word file without a demur — or a warning saying “Are you sure you don’t have a PDF?”

My first intimation that something was different was when I launched the mandatory ‘Book Previewer’. WOW! It was quick. Like near instantaneous. I should have realized that something was wrong then. I didn’t. Old age.

Then to my horror the book was a MESS. Margins were off & that screwed up the pagination. The book was 59 pages long as opposed to my 53. SO, here is another strange thing. Though we are only talking FRACTIONS my cover size should have been wrong. KDP should have flagged me. I was beyond distressed.

Like a crazy person I started editing my Word file to resubmit WHEN it hit me. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? You don’t submit Word files to KDP, you submit PDFs.

It was a HUGE RELIEF to discover that the fix was simple. Just create a new PDF & submit that. That is exactly what I did.

The Preview process took much, much longer. But, my book looked like what it should. It was also at 53-pages.

So, I am doing this post as a HEADS-UP for you. Just make sure you submit the RIGHT file type to KDP. KDP is NOT going to flag you. {I think they should}

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‘Foxit PDF Editor Pro’, A Surefire & Seamless Alternative To The Overpriced & Overrated ‘Adobe Acrobat DC’.

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by Anura Guruge
on April 21, 2022

Click to ENLARGE. The Home Page of MY ‘Foxit PDF Editor Pro‘.
Click image to access the ‘Foxit’ product page.
Click to ENLARGE. Adobe’s current subscription pricing for Acrobat. No bloody way, Jose!

A couple of hours ago I submitted my latest print book to ‘Amazon’ ‘KDP’ for proofing. The body of that book, which has to be in PDF form, was created, very successfully & painlessly, using Foxit PDF Editor Pro. This is the first time I have published a print book without using Adobe Acrobat. I had been using Adobe Acrobat, albeit not without headaches & heartaches, since around 2001. So, yes, I had been an Acrobat user for 20-years. I have published over 26 books (out my 36 (or so)) using Acrobat. I will admit that I had got to the point I could use Acrobat, to produce books, in my sleep. It was down to muscle memory. Bang, bang, bang … & I had a camera-ready PDF for publication.

Then last year, after 12-years, I finally got a NEW PC. Wow. There was one downside which I knew in advance. My copy of ‘Acrobat 9 Pro’, which I had purchased in 2009, was not going to work on ‘Windows 10‘ on my new PC. I, of course, looked at the Adobe offerings. I was disgusted by the pricing. Yes, I can afford it, BUT it feels like outright exploitation. Plus, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t had my share of grief with Adobe. So, I avowed, last year that I would NOT go with Adobe. I, as is usually my want, have been true to my avowal. I did NOT get Adobe Acrobat.

Instead I got Foxit PDF Editor Pro for a one-time fee of $179. That is the same as a 1-year subscription to Adobe Acrobat DC. That is crazy.

Foxit PDF Editor Pro tries to be so alike Acrobat. To I it was seamless.

I, to be fair, only need three functions: create high-quality (clean) PDF files from Word, to be able to merge multiple PDFs into a single PDF & use the SEARCH capability to INDEX a book. I managed to do all of these, effortlessly, with Foxit.

By habit & choice I use the Print Driver to create PDFs. Have done it so for decades. Foxit provides a nifty Print Driver & I quickly edited a profile for my needs with high-quality image printing. Merging PDFs is even NICER than with Acrobat! Extremely easy. As for SEARCH, it is a mirror image of what I am used to with Adobe. Piece of cake.

So, I am happy camper.

I have NOT seen the Amazon printed proofs as yet. I will get them next week, on Wednesday. They will tell me how the image sampling worked. Yes, I am a bit nervous about that. Fingers crossed. I will, of course, let you know.

But for now, I am GLAD I went with Foxit. Screw Adobe. I don’t like to feel that I am being exploited.

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I REFUSE, As Of Now, To Be Exploited By ‘Adobe’ When It Comes To ‘Acrobat’ & PDF Creation (& Merge).

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by Anura Guruge
on November 8, 2021

Click to ENLARGE. PDFs of the 1st main page of my last book created using
‘Soda PDF’, ‘Foxit’ & ‘Adobe Acrobat’.
Click to ENLARGE. Trial versions of ‘Soda PDF’ & ‘Foxit’ side-by-side on my old Windows 7 PC.
Click to ENLARGE. Creating a PDF straight from Microsoft Word. I will need Foxit or Soda to merge the PDF files since I split my books into multiple Word documents for ‘safety’.
Click to ENLARGE. Adobe’s current subscription pricing for Acrobat. No bloody way, Jose!
Click to ENLARGE. Those Adobe does its darnest to keep it hidden, there is a non-subscription version of Acrobat too. But, it is NOT that cheap.
Click to ENLARGE. Using Acrobat has NOT been easy. I maintain all these settings.
This is the one I use for most of my books.

Truth me known, one of the reasons I DELAYED getting a new PC was because I knew I would have to get a new version of Adobe Acrobat. I have been using Acrobat 9 Pro since 2009 — when I got my last PC. Acrobat 9, however, does not work with ‘Windows 10’ & my new PC, of course, is running Windows 10.

Yes, of course, I can afford to get either Adobe Acrobat 2020 for $299 or the subscription ‘DC’ for $155/$179 a year. Money & affordability is NOT the issue here.

Microsoft (for all its inherent deficiencies) gives me ALL of MS Office & 1TB of ‘OneDrive’ for $69 a year. Yes, $69 a year. That is reasonable. So, I pay $69/year for ALL of Office (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Notes, Access, Outlook) & BLOODY Adobe thinks I should give them $155/year just for Acrobat.

No bloody way, Jose.

Just a matter of principle. I don’t know about you, BUT I don’t like being exploited.

So, over the last few days I have been playing around with ‘Foxit PDF Editor‘ ($159 one-time) & ‘Soda PDF Professional‘ ($48). See images above. They are BOTH good. Appear to work flawlessly. I am still LEARNING to fine tune them to get my IMAGES to the extent I desire.

To this end, I have to tell you that Foxit has been BEYOND AMAZING. They appear to have 24×7 telephone help — & good help at that. I called them — even though I am still on the trial — & asked for help. They have been WONDERFUL. So, responsive & helpful.

Soda, on the other hand, only appears to have e-mail support. Given their prices, I can afford to buy them BOTH & have them side-by-side. Plus, the option of saving to PDF directly from Word & then using Foxit or Soda to combine the PDFs into a book.

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit dejected. That Adobe had won. That I had no choice BUT to buy a new Acrobat. But, not so today. I have a third option! SMILE. I have two old PCs, running Windows 7, that BOTH have Acrobat 9. I can just keep them in mothballs & use them when I need to produce my FINAL completed PDF for a book! Remember, I have contingency plans for my contingency plans.

But, right now, I am growing more & more impressed with Foxit & Soda — Foxit, the BEST, because of their support. I like to know that there will be support if I run into trouble. For now, I am happy to say, with conviction, SCREE Adobe!

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