Discussions: Technical Problems

Oliver

Firefox and Ubuntu – good work! Thats the setup I run for developing the site.

Regarding your problem, unfortunately we have had a few technical issues with the publishing process since updating. The publishing process update brings with it a much more powerful set of tools for creating print ready documents.

The problem with the new system is caused by our pre-flight (before print) PDF correction system. This takes the uploaded file and checks the page size and margins. It will also resize the document if the page size is wrong or the margins are too small. The system then saves the file as the correct type of PDF (PDF/X:2001-a) ready for printing. The problem was with the process which converts the input file to the correct PDF format ready for manipulation.

We managed to fix the problem on Friday afternoon but did not have time to test it properly so rather than release it and have users with potentially incorrect files we decided to leave it offline until we can test it properly on Monday morning.

So it should be up and running in all its glory tomorrow afternoon. I really hope the downtime hasn’t caused too much inconvenience, if you are running on a tight timeline feel free to get in touch and I will upload your document for you.

Hope all’s well,

Oli

Karen

Hi Oli,

Thanks a lot for your reply. It’s no inconvenience, I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t just me being incompatible or, more likely, incompetent. :)

Karen

Hi again,

I see things are up and running now but I’m still having problems getting my manuscript uploaded. My main file is an Open Office document and these are the errors I’m getting:

If I try to load the Open Office document as is I get a message saying the file format cannot be converted. I get the same message if I try to upload it as RTF.

If I use Open Office to export to PDF I get a message saying the PDF is not suitable.

If I upload as a .doc or a .docx it goes all the way through to the converting to PDF stage then the following problems occurred:

Last night I downloaded the PDF to check it but it had converted my 228 page manuscript to a 218 page PDF and all of the pages were blank.

This morning I tried again and it went through to the same stage, but when I tried to download it to check it I was redirected to a page that said ‘Not Found’.

I also tried getting the document formatted to PDF on the Adobe site but it came back as 218 pages (instead of 228) and the formatting was nothing like the original. When I export as PDF from Open Office the formatting is exactly the same as my original document.

Sorry for the long ramble but I wanted to be as specific as possible.

Can anyone offer any advice please?

Thanks,

Karen

Harry

Hi Karen,

I do not know about open office but Word is ok. I use XP and while partway through an error message states that things are not all they should be it adds that it is trying to rectify the problem…and then succeeds.

The PDF format is Adobe I am given to understand. A while ago when first uploading I tried docs in both Cute PDF and Docudesk which I use extensively and which are great in themselves with high quality [far better than Open Office even for the Cute free version ] but neither is compatable with the format for printing etc unfortunately.

Formatting to the acceptable parameters is a pain isn’t it, I had to alter two books of well over 500pp each …time consuming. However, all worked out eventually.

If you cannot get any joy with Open Office then put all into Word and you will be ok…be prepared for a load of checking format again however along with loads of other things that will jump about…

Cheers

Harry

Bryony

Karen, what dimensions are you using for your page setup (i.e margins etc). I know when I uploaded a the PDF excerpts for Mystery, Deceit and a School Inspector due to the formatting used by the publisher CN didn’t like it. I had to adapt the excerpts by copying them in to a new document under Open Office 3.2 with page setup of 2.3mm margins all round (Anna suggested these) and then recreated the PDF. The file loaded up without issues after that.

Bryony

Oliver

Hi Karen,

Just wondering how you’re getting on. Everything should be working for PDF files and MS Word docs.

If you’re having trouble still let me know and I’ll take a closer look.

Cheers, Oli

Karen

Thanks for all of the replies. I’ve had a bit of time away from the computer and the manuscript so I’m ready to tackle it again. I’ll check the margins then try again. Failing that I’ll see if anyone I know uses Word.

Thanks again,

Karen

Toni

Hello all,

I just found this and I’m having some problem. I’ve attempted to upload a pdf twice but I get an http error (not that I know what that means).
I’m using the flock browser.
Having read this I’ll have a try with Firefox and an .odt file.
The failure might be because the file is quite big as it contains a lot of images.

Oliver

Hi Toni,

The error is probably due to a conflict between how your flock browser sends files and how our upload meter monitors it.

I would try a using firefox and your pdf or if you have it in word, uploading it as a word doc.

Hope that helps, any other trouble let me know!

Oli

Karen

Sorry, this is going to be a long one again.

Hi there,

I initially had issues getting my manuscript to upload but eventually I got it right. I ordered a copy of the book to check it out and I noticed a couple of errant apostrophes and the odd typo which I wanted to correct.

I changed them in the original document, converted it to PDF and tried to upload it again. It got as far as the format stage and I got the message “The dimensions of your manuscript are not correct.” even though I haven’t changed the dimensions since the original upload.

To test if I was somehow converting the PDF to a different size I tried uploading the original PDF that I’d successfully put up before but I got the same message.

I then uploaded it as a .doc and it said it had successfully converted it but when I download the printable book all I get is a blank document with the message “Wrong operand type.”

My main concern now is that, although I haven’t gone past this stage, every time I try to amend the book it says “You have successfully uploaded a manuscript. Please download and check the printable PDF before continuing. As the file is larger, this may take some time.”

Does this mean that if someone orders my book they will receive just the blank pages or will my original manuscript with the mistakes still be up there?

And does anyone have a solution to the problem of being unable to upload the new manuscript?

Thank you for any help you can give.

Karen

Vincent

Hi Karen,

I’ve already seen this error (white pages) once with another manuscript, we ended up converting it manually.

In term of the PDF upload, did you set up the size of the file to 144mm * 222mm as mentioned before you did export it? Anyway, I have converted the DOC file to a PDF on my computer and will send it to you in few minutes. I did an upload test and it worked properly.

As long as you don’t publish a new version of your book (last step), the new manuscript uploaded will not be available, you can work as much as you want on it.

Let me know if you have any other issue (hopefully not ;) or question !
Vincent

Karen

Hi Vincent,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I received the PDF you sent but there are a couple of issues.

The drop caps are missing at the beginning of the chapters and a the end of a couple of chapters the last sentence seems to have force justified, leaving big gaps between the words.

This may be because I originally used Open Office for the manuscript and then converted it to .doc from there. I may need to find someone who has MS word and reformat it using that.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. I tried a test upload of the PDF you sent from my computer and I get the same error message that the dimensions are not correct.

Would I be better off trying to find someone with MS word before I try anything else to resolve this?

Thanks, K.

Vincent

My mistake, I did format it for CPI but you picked up LSI as a printer, I will send you another file (which as gone through properly in your project).
I know it can be a mess when you switch from one software to another and break up most of your style. I’m using MS Word on a MAC that’s probably why some of your styles are not present in the PDF I sent you.
But you should try to export your document as a PDF with the following sizes : 144mm * 222mm, and it should go through properly (so you can check the formatting etc.)!
If you want our document converter to convert your DOC file, you should probably try to remove all the formatting (clean it completely) and format it again to avoid conflicts between MS Word and OpenOffice.

Karen

Thanks again, Vincent. I got the new PDF but there are still a couple of formatting issues. I’ll have another go at it when I can get hold of someone with MS Word and then try again.

Thanks for your help.