Prep → PDF/X-1a vs X-4 and printer PDF rules

PDF/X-1a vs X-4 and printer PDF rules.

PDF/X-1a vs X-4: X-1a at KDP, X-1a or X-3 at IngramSpark, X-4 at Gelato and Cloudprinter, no flavour at Lulu: what each platform asks of a PDF.

Sources read 2026-10-19 · updated 2026-10-26 · next re-read due 2027-01-17

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What a PDF has to carry before the printer reads it

A PDF is a container, and the sources ask different things of what is inside. Book printers name a flavour: KDP prefers PDF/X-1a, IngramSpark recommends X-1a or X-3, Gelato wants X-4, and Lulu names none. Apparel platforms lean the other way: Printful says a PDF may carry hidden layers, blend modes and transparency effects that “render differently during production”.

RIPs and cutters read a PDF for a different reason. It is how a spot colour name reaches them: ONYX assigns a spot to an ink channel by name in PDF or EPS, and Fiery XF extracts cut contours from an EPS or PDF. Whether the file is flattened, outlined or kept live depends on which of those readers gets it.

No guide quotes a preflight tool, and none quotes the PDF/X standard itself. This guide only repeats rows the process guides already carry, each with the link it has there. The glossary entries for PDF/X-4, spot color, bleed and vector vs raster carry the same split.

What the sources state

Each row gives the file requirement a source states for a PDF, with the link it has in the process guide it comes from. “Not stated” is a valid cell.

IngramSpark and KDP PDF requirements: flavour and embedded fonts, book printers

Source guide: Books › file format, Books › colour mode and profile. Three book printers name a flavour, one names none, and Blurb says nothing on flavour either.

  • KDP (platform): “PDF/X-1a is preferred, but if you are submitting non-PDF/X files (for example, PDF/A)”; “Downsampling, or decreasing resolution, of images is disabled.” — KDP: Save Your Manuscript File
  • IngramSpark (platform): “We recommend that all PDF files are submitted as PDF/X-1a (2001) or PDF/x-3 (2002).” and “IngramSpark requires all fonts to be embedded in your files.” — IngramSpark: Understanding title processing (2025-11-24)
  • Lulu (platform): “Your PDF should be single-page layout.”; the cover is one piece with back, spine and front “in a single page spread”; “All fonts should be embedded or converted to outlines.” PDF/X and maximum file size: not stated — Lulu: PDF Creation Settings
  • Gelato (platform): “Files should be exported as PDF/X-4” with “output intent set to GRACoL 2006”; “Fonts should be embedded or converted to outlines” — Gelato: design requirements for PDF uploads
  • Gelato (platform): output intent GRACoL 2006 in PDF/X-4; the page adds that X-4 “supports both sRGB & CMYK objects” — Gelato: design requirements for PDF uploads
  • Blurb (platform): PDF flavour not specified; files “must have an even number of pages”; 13x20 and 15x23 books must be divisible by six — Blurb: PDF to book

PDF flavour: wall decor and mugs

Source guide: Wall decor › file format and size limits, Dye sublimation › file format. The same flavour, X-4, comes up again outside books, at Gelato and at Cloudprinter.

  • Gelato (platform, PDF route): PDF/X-4, output intent GRACoL 2006 — Gelato PDF rules
  • Cloudprinter (platform): “Save the file in PDF/X-4.” — Cloudprinter: Mug

Whether a platform takes a PDF: apparel and all-over print

Source guide: DTG › file format, DTF › file format, Dye sublimation › file format. Printful warns against a PDF for three processes and gives one reason each time: what a PDF can carry. Redbubble refuses it. Printify and the DTF shops take one.

Whether a platform takes a PDF: wall decor, phone cases, embroidery

Source guide: Wall decor › file format and size limits, UV flatbed and UV-DTF › file format, Embroidery › file format and digitising. Embroidery is the one process where two platforms give opposite advice on a PDF.

Vector PDF: screen printing

Source guide: Screen printing › file format. Four screen shops list a vector PDF among the files they take. Custom Ink lists .pdf in its general upload list but not in its screen-printing row.

Vector PDF: stickers and cutting

Source guide: Stickers › file format, HTV and vinyl cutting › file format. For a cut file the PDF carries the path. Two sticker RIPs read the cut contour out of it.

PDF into a RIP: DTF and UV

Source guide: DTF › file format, UV flatbed and UV-DTF › file format. Roland and Mimaki RIPs list PDF as an input. Mimaki says which jobs need one: colour replacement and a placed transparent TIFF.

Fonts: outlined for the screen shop and the cutter

Source guide: Screen printing › minimum line and text size, Embroidery › file format and digitising, HTV and vinyl cutting › text and outlines. The book printers’ font rows are in the first section above. Outside books the sources ask for outlines, not embedded fonts.

Transparency and flattening: book printers

Source guide: Books › transparency and alpha. Flatten before export; every book platform that speaks to it says so. IngramSpark names one specific trap, a spot colour under transparency.

Transparency and flattening: wall decor and UV

Source guide: Wall decor › transparency and alpha, UV flatbed and UV-DTF › transparency and alpha, UV flatbed and UV-DTF › file format. Wall prints are full coverage, so the labs ask for flat files. A UV RIP is the opposite case: ONYX needs the transparency to survive, in a PDF of the right version.

Trim, bleed and marks in the PDF: book printers

Source guide: Books › print area and trim size, Books › bleed and safe zone. The page size of the PDF carries the bleed, and it differs by platform. No source in the guides names a PDF page box (trim box, bleed box, media box).

  • KDP (platform): “(Trim width) +(0.125” (bleed)) = Page width with bleed”; “(Trim height) + (0.125” x 2 (bleed)) = Page height with bleed”; “For example, if your trim size is 6 x 9 inches (15.24 x 22.86 cm), set the page size to 6.125 x 9.25 inches (15.54 x 23.46 cm).” — KDP: Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins
  • Lulu (platform): “Include the bleed dimensions of 0.125 in for your document.” and “a 6 x 9 in book requires a PDF with pages sized 6.25 x 9.25 in.” — Lulu: PDF Creation Settings
  • IngramSpark (platform): “If your text or artwork isn’t intended to bleed, you may submit your file at the trim size.” — IngramSpark: Understanding title processing (2025-11-24)
  • Gelato (platform; page covers PDF uploads including perfect-bound books and PDF photobooks): “We require a 4 mm bleed area to be provided on all sides”; for PDF photobooks the bleed is 3 mm — Gelato: design requirements for PDF uploads
  • KDP (platform), interior: “Even if just one page in your interior requires bleed, then your entire file should be set up with bleed.” Pages are trimmed by cutting 0.125” (3.2 mm) from the top, bottom and outside edges — KDP: Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins
  • IngramSpark (platform): “Covers require a 0.125” (3mm) bleed on all four sides.” Case laminate: “they require a 0.625” bleed on all four sides for wrapping purposes”. “Interior files require a 0.125” (3mm) bleed on the three outer edges.” Spines 0.35” and larger: 0.0625” safety area each side; smaller spines 0.03125”. Bleed is not added to the bind side — IngramSpark: Understanding title processing
  • Lulu (platform): “Allow a 0.50 in Safety Margin for all content.” (interior); cover “a minimum 0.25 in Safety Margin for all content (0.75 in for Hardcover Casewrap).” “Do NOT include trim or bleed marks in your PDF.” — Lulu: PDF Creation Settings
  • PublishDrive (distributor), cover: under “Cover specifications”, “Add 0.125” (3 mm) bleed to all sides.” — PublishDrive: print-on-demand requirements
  • PublishDrive (distributor), interior: under “Interior/content specifications”, “No bleed support for interior” — PublishDrive: print-on-demand requirements

Trim and bleed in the PDF: wall decor and RIP settings

Source guide: Wall decor › print area and pixel size, Wall decor › bleed and safe zone, Stickers › RIP cut-file settings, UV flatbed and UV-DTF › file format. Gelato asks for the bleed inside the PDF page size. Fiery’s bleeding setting is the RIP’s own, for the cut file, and Mimaki’s rotary guide drops marks and margins.

  • Gelato (platform): a 300 × 400 mm poster needs a 308 × 408 mm PDF — Gelato formats
  • Gelato (platform): 4 mm bleed all sides, safe area 4 mm inside trim — Gelato PDF rules
  • Fiery XF 6.2 (RIP): “Bleeding The default setting is 0. This setting should be applied only to level1 cut contours that are based on the bounding box.” This is a RIP setting for the cut file’s bounding box, not artwork bleed — Fiery XF: cut contours
  • Mimaki Kebab (maker, rotary attachment): create EPS data in Illustrator; registration marks, cut lines and margins are not necessary, the RIP can rotate the data, JPEG, PDF and TIFF also work, and the circumference is the diameter x 3.14 mm — Mimaki: How to, Easy name printing (UJF + Kebab + RasterLink6)

Single pages, spreads and page counts

Source guide: Books › file format, Books › print area and trim size. Lulu, in the first section above, asks for single-page layout inside and one cover piece. Blurb, in the same section, asks for an even page count.

Spot colours named for the RIP

Source guide: UV flatbed and UV-DTF › white and varnish channels, UV flatbed and UV-DTF › layer order and white position, UV flatbed and UV-DTF › file format. Each RIP finds white and varnish by its own swatch name, or builds the plate itself. Ask which RIP runs the job before you name a swatch.

Embedded profile in a PDF for colour replacement

Source guide: UV flatbed and UV-DTF › colour mode and profile. A PDF that carries an embedded profile loses a Mimaki RIP feature.

Spot colours named for the cutter

Source guide: Stickers › cut line: path form, colour, name and layer. The cut line is a spot swatch in the PDF, and its name is the RIP’s switch. If you do not know the shop, expect the name to change.

  • StickerApp (platform): “Color: spot color, 100% magenta”; “Name it “die cut”.“; “Stroke: 1 pt”; “Save as PDF or AI.” — StickerApp: make your own cutlines. File-setup page (Illustrator): “Draw the cutline as a path on a separate layer and give it a spot color named “die cut” with the values CMYK 0, 100, 0, 0.” — StickerApp: file setup
  • StickerGiant (platform): layers named “Cutline”, “Artwork”, “White Ink Layer”; “Set the stroke color to 100% Magenta to clearly mark it as a cutline.” — StickerGiant: clear stickers. “It is outlined in 100% magenta during set up (this line does not print).” — StickerGiant: setup
  • Roland DG VersaWorks (RIP; blog post dated January 11, 2010): “Adding a hairline stroke using CutContour as the Spot Color around your design will tell VersaWorks that you have added a Cut Line.” and “VersaWorks will cut this hairline instead of printing it.” Not confirmed for VersaWorks 6 or 7 (manual pages returned 404) — Roland DG: VersaWorks installation info
  • Mimaki RasterLink 7 (RIP): ‘The spot color prefixed by “CutContour”’; “Other characters can be included after “CutContour” (like CutContourCut1 and CutContourHalf).“; “Single-byte alphanumeric characters must be used for the characters added after “CutContour”.” — Mimaki: RasterLink7 reference guide, cut contours
  • Fiery XF 6.2 (RIP; the document refers to Fiery XF 6.2 and carries no date): “The following default names are supported in Fiery XF: • Regmark • Crease • Kiss Cut • Laser Cut • Pen plot • Router Cut • Score • Through Cut • CutContour • Die line”. Its Illustrator procedure: “Open Pathfinder and click Unite to make sure you have a closed contour.”, “Enter a stroke thickness of 0.25pt.”, “set the fill color to None”, “Open Attributes and select Overprint Stroke.” — Fiery XF: cut contours

Spot colours in screen separations

Source guide: Screen printing › Pantone and spot colours. Separation software treats a spot swatch as a 100% solid and fails on some swatch names.

  • Freehand AccuRIP Emerald (RIP): swatches from colour libraries, or process colours converted to spot, give a 100% solid swatch instead of a mix of process values — Freehand: spot colours in AccuRIP Emerald
  • Freehand Separation Studio NXT (RIP): symbols such as ! $ @ / in swatch names can cause errors opening the PDF; keep spot colour names to letters and numbers — Freehand: naming colour swatches

Spot colours converted: book printers

Source guide: Books › colour mode and profile. The opposite rule: a book printer prints process ink only, so a spot colour has to be converted before export.

File size limits

Source guide: Books › file format, Books › resolution at print size, Wall decor › file format and size limits. Only KDP states a limit for a PDF. The other caps are for image uploads on all products and are listed because a PDF sent to the same upload form may meet the same check, which no page confirms. Lulu states none.

Where the sources disagree

PDF/X-1a vs PDF/X-4: which flavour

KDP says “PDF/X-1a is preferred” (KDP). IngramSpark recommends “PDF/X-1a (2001) or PDF/x-3 (2002)” (IngramSpark). Gelato says “Files should be exported as PDF/X-4” and adds that X-4 “supports both sRGB & CMYK objects” (Gelato); Cloudprinter says “Save the file in PDF/X-4.” for mugs (Cloudprinter). Lulu names no PDF/X (Lulu).

No source says what X-1a, X-3 or X-4 permit; no guide quotes ISO 15930. On the floor: a file exported as X-4 for Gelato is not the file KDP prefers, so ask which one the printer expects (Books guide).

PDF accepted, discouraged or refused

Printful says a PDF may carry hidden layers, blend modes and transparency effects that “render differently during production” (Printful) and, in its graphics guide, “Avoid using PDF format when uploading your designs” (Printful). Redbubble says “TIFF and PDF files won’t work correctly.” (Redbubble). Printify lists “PNG-24 (or approved PDF, TIFF, or vector)” (Printify). For embroidery, Gelato recommends “AI EPS SVG PDF” (Gelato) and Spring “highly recommend” vector PDF for hats (Spring).

The same container is a risk at one platform and the route at another. Printful gives its reason, what the PDF can carry; Redbubble gives none.

Fonts: embed, embed or outline, outline only

IngramSpark: “IngramSpark requires all fonts to be embedded in your files.” (IngramSpark). Lulu: “All fonts should be embedded or converted to outlines.” (Lulu). Gelato: “Fonts should be embedded or converted to outlines” (Gelato). Stahls’ asks for “Convert all fonts to outlines or curves.” (Stahls’). Printful lists “embedded fonts” among what a PDF “can contain” that goes wrong (Printful).

Outlining satisfies Lulu, Gelato and the cutter shops. IngramSpark is the one page read that says embed, with no outline option (Books guide).

Flatten, or keep the transparency

KDP: “Flatten transparent objects and layers in the native file before publishing.” (KDP). IngramSpark: “Spot colors paired with transparency can result in unexpected, or disappearing, printing results.” (IngramSpark). ONYX, as the UV guide records it, rasterizes a transparency bounding box in an EPS and drops the specialty ink inside it, while a PDF of version 1.4 or higher keeps both (ONYX).

Book printers want the transparency gone before export. ONYX wants a PDF that holds it. The two rules sit at different ends of the workflow, a book printer’s intake and a signmaker’s RIP (UV guide).

Convert the spot colour, or name it

IngramSpark: spot colours “must be converted to CMYK before exporting PDF” (IngramSpark). Blurb: “Do not use spot or registration colour.” (Blurb). Epson’s V-Series page wants the white or varnish area to be a spot colour named “White” or “Varnish” (Epson/Grimco), and StickerApp wants a cut line named “die cut” (StickerApp).

This is not one conflict. A book press prints process ink, and a UV or cutter RIP reads a named swatch as an instruction. The name also changes per RIP: Roland, Epson, ONYX and Mimaki each want a different one (UV guide).

Spreads: not a conflict, one gap

Lulu asks for “single-page layout” inside and a cover “in a single page spread” (Lulu). PublishDrive says “Submit a single-page PDF, not a spread or 2-up.” (PublishDrive). Read together, interior pages go one per PDF page and a cover goes in as one piece. PublishDrive’s row does not say whether its rule covers the cover (Books guide).

What fails on the floor

No case below comes with a photo or the file’s properties; all are text descriptions from the maker’s or shop’s own page.

Specialty ink missing inside a transparency box

Symptom: white or varnish does not print in some regions. Cause in the file: an EPS where a spot object crosses a transparency bounding box; the box is rasterized and the specialty ink does not print there. The remedy per the source is a PDF of version 1.4 or higher — ONYX: Designing with white specialty ink

Source guide: UV flatbed and UV-DTF.

Solid block under a transparent TIFF

Symptom: the special-colour plate covers the whole rectangle of a placed TIFF instead of its shape. Cause in the file: a transparent TIFF placed into an illustration and exported as EPS or PS instead of PDF, so the TIFF rectangle is treated as the data portion — Mimaki: RasterLink7 reference guide, Special plate - Operations

Source guide: UV flatbed and UV-DTF.

White and metallic swapped

Symptom: white ink prints where metal is expected and the other way round. Cause in the file: a separations PDF whose spot names are not Spot1, Spot2; Illustrator lists spots alphabetically (Metal before White), so ONYX maps them to the wrong channels until Color Order is set to Custom. “If the default options are used, white ink will print where metal is expected and metal will print where white is expected.” — ONYX: Designing with white specialty ink

Source guide: UV flatbed and UV-DTF.

Spot colour ignored or garbled in RasterLink7

Symptom: colour replacement does not run, the spot name shows as garbled characters, or the job will not import. Cause in the file: a PDF saved with an embedded profile, a spot name with multi-byte or non-alphanumeric characters, or a white vector object set to C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=0 or 0% density. “The density must be set to a minimum of 1 % for objects subject to color replacement.” — Mimaki: RasterLink7 reference guide, Color Replacement - Functions

Source guide: UV flatbed and UV-DTF.

Spot colour knocks out the design underneath

Symptom: the white or varnish area cuts a hole through the colour design under it. Cause in the file: the White or Varnish spot swatch is not set to Overprint Fill or Overprint Stroke in Illustrator. “If the spot color is not set to “Overprint Fill” or “Overprint Stroke”, then the spot color will cut through the design under the spot color” — Epson/Grimco: V-Series best practices

Source guide: UV flatbed and UV-DTF.

PDF fails to open in separation software

Symptom: errors opening the PDF in Separation Studio NXT. Cause in the file: spot colour swatch names containing ! $ @ or / (Freehand: naming colour swatches).

Source guide: Screen printing.

Preflight before you upload

  • Ask the printer which PDF/X flavour it expects: X-1a preferred at KDP, X-1a or X-3 at IngramSpark, X-4 at Gelato and Cloudprinter, none named at Lulu — KDP, IngramSpark, Gelato, Cloudprinter, Lulu
  • Check that the shop takes a PDF at all: Printful and Redbubble warn against one for apparel and all-over print, Printify and Transfer Kingdom list one — Printful, Redbubble, Printify, Transfer Kingdom
  • Embed fonts for IngramSpark, embed or outline them for Lulu and Gelato, outline them for a cutter or a screen shop — IngramSpark, Lulu, Gelato, Stahls’, Oregon Screen Impressions
  • Flatten transparency for KDP, Lulu, Gelato and SAIC — KDP, Lulu, Gelato, SAIC
  • For ONYX, keep spot objects out of an EPS transparency box, or send a PDF of version 1.4 or higher — ONYX
  • Save a transparent TIFF bound for RasterLink7 as PDF, not EPS or PS — Mimaki
  • Save a PDF for Mimaki colour replacement without an embedded profile — Mimaki
  • Set the PDF page size to trim plus bleed for the platform: 6.125 x 9.25 in at KDP and 6.25 x 9.25 in at Lulu for a 6 x 9 in book, 308 x 408 mm at Gelato for a 300 x 400 mm poster — KDP, Lulu, Gelato
  • Leave trim and bleed marks out of a Lulu PDF — Lulu
  • Send interior pages one per PDF page, not as spreads or 2-up, and the cover as one piece at KDP and Lulu — PublishDrive, KDP, Lulu
  • Make the page count even for Blurb — Blurb
  • Convert spot colours to CMYK for IngramSpark and use none for Blurb — IngramSpark, Blurb
  • Name white, varnish and cut-line swatches for the RIP that runs the job; Freehand and Mimaki want letters and numbers only — Roland, Epson/Grimco, ONYX, Mimaki, Freehand
  • Keep a KDP PDF under 650MB — KDP

Sources, checked on 2026-10-19, 2026-10-21 and 2026-10-24

Every source below is already listed in one of the process guides, where its read date stands: DTG, DTF, sublimation and wall decor on 2026-10-19; screen printing, embroidery, UV and HTV on 2026-10-21; books and stickers on 2026-10-24. The guide’s asOf is the oldest of those dates.

Could not check

  • ISO 15930 (PDF/X): no guide quotes the standard, so nothing here says what X-1a, X-3 or X-4 permit beyond the quoted platform pages.
  • Preflight tools and profiles (Acrobat Preflight, PitStop, callas, Ghent PDF Output Suite): no guide row names one.
  • PDF page boxes (TrimBox, BleedBox, MediaBox, ArtBox): no row names a box; the rows give page dimensions only.
  • Embedded or outlined fonts at KDP, Blurb and PublishDrive: the pages read for the books guide do not say.
  • Lulu and Blurb file-size limits: not stated on the pages read. Only KDP states a PDF limit.
  • Whether the Printful, Printify, Redbubble and ArtStation caps apply to a PDF: they are stated for image uploads, not for PDF.
  • What Printify, Gelato and Fourthwall do with embedded fonts or live transparency in a PDF for DTG, DTF or sublimation: no row says.
  • No forum threads were collected for this guide, so it has no “what shops ask” section; two threads per question are needed first.

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