Print-ready PDFs for Quilltips Shop

Print-on-demand in Quilltips Shop needs two print-ready PDFs: an interior (the book pages) and a cover (one wrap-around file with the back, spine, and front). Quilltips prints paperbacks through Lulu, so the files have to match the trim, paper, and finish you pick on the print product. This guide covers what those files need, how to get a template, and who can build them for you.

For trim sizes, validation, pricing, and postage, see Print-on-demand on Quilltips.

The PDF has to match the book you want to print

A 6×9 novel cannot be printed from a US Letter or A4 PDF without shrinking the pages and adding large white margins. Choose the trim on the print product first, then export the interior at that exact page size. Common novel sizes are 5×8, 5.5×8.5, and 6×9. Workbooks and illustrated books often use 7×10, 8×10, square, or 8.5×11.

Black & white interiors cost much less than full color. Cream paper is only for black & white. If you already have a KDP or Ingram export, you can still upload it — Quilltips can adapt several common mismatches — but a file built for Lulu's trim, margins, and bleed is the most reliable path.

Interior PDF

• Page size — Every page should be the trim you selected (for example 6×9 inches), not Letter or A4.
• Margins — Keep body text and important art inside a safe margin (about 0.5" or more, and a bit more on the gutter / binding edge). Text too close to the edge can be trimmed off.
• Bleed — If a background or image should print to the edge of the page, extend it 0.125" past the trim on all four sides. Lulu wants bleed on every side, including the binding edge.
• Even page count — Paperbacks print on both sides of each sheet. If your count is odd, Quilltips adds a blank last page so Lulu can print it.
• Embedded fonts — Export the PDF with all fonts embedded. Unembedded fonts fail validation and need a re-export from your layout tool. Quilltips cannot fix this after upload.
• Images — Use high-resolution art (about 300 DPI at print size). Low-resolution images look soft or pixelated in print even if they look fine on a screen.
• No locks or crop marks — Password protection, form fields, and printer crop marks / registration marks should stay out of the file. Those also need a clean re-export.

Cover PDF (back, spine, and front)

The cover is one landscape PDF — not a front-cover JPEG. From left to right it is the back cover, the spine, and the front cover, plus bleed around the outer edges. The spine width depends on page count and paper, so lock the interior (and its page count) before you finish the cover.

• Extend background color and images 0.125" past the trim so they don't leave a white sliver after cutting.
• Keep titles, author name, and barcode-adjacent text inside the safe area — away from the trim, spine folds, and the barcode zone on the back.
• Spine text only works on thicker books. Very short books may not have room for readable spine type.
• A front-only image (the kind you use on an e-book) is not a wrap. Quilltips can place it on the front and leave the back and spine blank, but a designed wrap looks more finished.

Download a template from Quilltips

After the interior is uploaded and the page count is set (usually auto-detected when Lulu validates the interior), open the print product in Shop and use (download template) next to Cover PDF. That file is sized for your selected trim, page count, and cover finish — use it as a guide layer in your design tool, then export a print-ready PDF at the same dimensions.

If the page count changes later (you add pages, or Quilltips pads an odd count), download a fresh template. A cover built for 248 pages will not fit a 280-page spine.

Other free cover estimators

If you want a second opinion on spine width while you wait for Quilltips validation, these free tools estimate a wrap from trim, paper, and page count:

• KDP Print Cover Calculator — Amazon's paperback/hardcover calculator and downloadable template.
• IngramSpark Cover Template Generator — emails a template for your specs (IngramSpark account required).
• Lulu pricing calculator — Lulu's own specs and design bundles for the printer Quilltips uses.

Treat KDP and Ingram files as a starting point, not a guarantee. KDP often uses three-sided bleed; Lulu wants 0.125" on all four sides. Prefer the Quilltips or Lulu template when you can, then run Validate with Lulu before you activate the listing.

DIY formatting tools

If you want to build the files yourself, use a tool that exports a print PDF at a specific trim with embedded fonts — not a Word "Save as PDF" of a Letter page.

• Atticus — browser-based book writing and formatting; exports print PDFs for common trims.
• Reedsy Book Editor — free editor that exports print-ready interiors for several trim sizes.
• Vellum (Mac), Adobe InDesign, Affinity Publisher, and similar layout apps work well if you already use them. Export PDF with fonts embedded, and turn off printer's marks unless the template specifically asks for them.

Canva and other social-design tools can produce a front cover, but they often struggle with a correct spine and bleed wrap. If you start there, place the art onto a Quilltips or Lulu template before you upload.

Hire a formatter or cover designer

You do not have to learn print production. Book formatters prepare the interior PDF (and often the wrap) so it matches a named trim, paper, and printer. Cover designers can deliver a do-it-for-me wrap if you give them the page count and template.

• Ask authors you trust for a referral to someone who already formats paperbacks for KDP, Ingram, or Lulu.
• Hire on demand through Fiverr or Upwork. Search for paperback formatting, print-ready PDF, or Lulu / KDP wrap cover.
• Marketplaces such as Reedsy list professional formatters and cover designers if you want a curated option.

Tell whoever you hire: paperback, your exact trim, black & white or color, cream or white paper, page count after the interior is final, and that the printer is Lulu (0.125" bleed on all four sides). Send them the Quilltips cover template once the interior page count is set so the spine lands in the right place.

What Quilltips can fix for you

After upload, Quilltips checks common issues and can automatically handle several of them: adding Lulu's 0.125" bleed when the file is trim-sized, padding an odd page count, adapting a KDP three-sided-bleed interior, and placing a front-only cover onto Lulu's wrap. We ask before shrinking a Letter or A4 interior onto a smaller trim, or before placing or shrinking a cover that is the wrong size. We never enlarge artwork — that can look soft in print.

Crop marks, password protection, and unembedded fonts still need a new export from your layout tool. When the files look right, use Validate with Lulu. Both files must pass before you can activate the product.