Built by an indie author, for indie authors
Stop getting rejected by IngramSpark.
BookReady runs 18 compliance checks on your interior PDF, auto-fixes what it can, and hands you a file that's ready to upload — with a plain-English report explaining everything.
Free diagnosis · See every error · Pay $9 only to get the fixed file · No account needed
✓ No account required
✓ Check is free
✓ Files deleted after 24hrs
18
Checks run
3
Issues found
3
Auto-fixed
ICC color profiles
3 ICCBased colorspaces found (RGB, CMYK, Gray)
→ Stripped and replaced with device colorspaces
Font embedding
All fonts fully embedded — no substitution risk
PDF/X compatibility
Transparency on pages 2, 7, 14 — not PDF/X-1a
→ Flattened, tagged as PDF/X-1a
Spine width
312 pages on white 60# = 0.7027" (17.85 mm)
Sound familiar?
✕
IngramSpark rejected your file with a cryptic error about ICC profiles or PDF/X — and you have no idea what that means.
✕
You paid a formatter $150 to fix something that turned out to be a two-line Python script's worth of work.
✕
Your book printed with wrong colors because a Pantone swatch snuck in from your designer's template.
✕
Your spine text disappeared because you ordered a cover before calculating the correct spine width for your page count and paper stock.
18
compliance checks
4
platforms supported
$9
vs $240/yr Acrobat
30s
average scan time
⚡ Professional-grade engine
We use Ghostscript.
The same engine print shops use.
Adobe Acrobat Pro charges $240/year to convert your PDF to PDF/X-1a. BookReady does it for $9 — using Ghostscript, the open-source engine that commercial print shops, publishers, and prepress bureaus worldwide rely on.
✓
True RGB → CMYK conversion at press quality✓
Full font embedding — zero substitution risk✓
Transparency flattened to PDF/X-1a:2001 standard✓
300 DPI image resampling via Bicubic interpolation✓
Layers removed, optional content strippedThe $240/year problem
Adobe Acrobat Pro
$240 / year
Enfocus PitStop Pro
$480 / year
Freelance formatter
$50–200 / file
BookReady
$9 per file
How it works
Three steps. Thirty seconds.
No account. No credit card to see your results.
📄
Step 1
Upload your PDF
Drag and drop your interior PDF — any size, any platform. No account or signup needed.
🔍
Step 2
We run 18 checks
ICC profiles, fonts, PDF/X, bleed, DPI, ink coverage — everything that causes rejections. Free to see every result.
✅
Step 3
Download the fixed file
Pay $9 only if you want the auto-fixed, upload-ready PDF. See every error for free before you decide.
Check my PDF free →
Free diagnosis · No account · Pay $9 only for the fixed file
What we check
18 checks. Every upload.
Every check that actually causes rejections or print disasters — not a generic PDF validator.
Critical
ICC color profiles
Embedded ICC profiles cause IngramSpark and B&N Press to reject the file outright.
Auto-fixed: replaced with device colorspaces
Critical
Font embedding
The #1 rejection reason. Unembedded fonts get substituted at press — your whole book prints in the wrong typeface.
Reports exact font names and every affected page
Critical
PDF/X compliance
Transparency, layers, and missing PDF/X-1a tags all trigger automatic rejection. BookReady uses Ghostscript — the same engine professional print shops use — to perform true PDF/X-1a conversion.
Auto-fixed: full Ghostscript PDF/X-1a conversion — fonts embedded, CMYK converted, transparency flattened
Critical
Spot / Pantone colors
Pantone swatches from a designer's template cause color shift or outright rejection on POD platforms.
Auto-fixed: converted to CMYK equivalents
Critical
Encryption & passwords
A locked PDF can't be processed by any platform. Happens more often than you'd think when exporting from certain apps.
Auto-fixed: encryption removed
Critical
Page count (even/odd)
Print books must have an even page count. Odd count means a blank final page or platform rejection.
Flagged with exact instructions to fix in your source file
Important
Image resolution (300 DPI)
Images below 300 DPI print blurry. Flags exactly which pages are affected and how far below spec.
Reports page numbers and actual DPI per image
Important
Bleed & margins
Wrong bleed width or missing TrimBox means content gets cut off at the trim line.
Auto-fixed: TrimBox corrected to platform spec
Important
Color mode
RGB images in a B&W interior get charged at color print rates — which can add $3–6 per copy to your printing cost.
Flags exact pages so you can fix at source
Important
Page size consistency
A single page pasted from a different template at a slightly different size causes binding failures.
Auto-fixed: outlier pages normalized to majority size
Important
Active hyperlinks
Clickable links are flagged by print platforms and don't function in a physical book anyway.
Auto-fixed: annotations stripped, URL text preserved
Important
JavaScript & forms
Interactive elements are invisible in print and cause automatic rejection on upload.
Auto-fixed: all interactive elements removed
Polish
Spine width calculator
Calculates exact spine width in inches and mm across all 4 paper stocks — before you order your cover.
Included in every scan report automatically
Polish
Crop marks
IngramSpark adds its own trim guides. Crop marks in the file cause double-marking and misaligned trimming.
Detected and flagged with re-export instructions
Polish
Overprint settings
Wrong overprint mode causes white halos around text on colored backgrounds and CMYK color shifts at press.
OPM auto-corrected where possible
Polish
Document metadata
Missing title/author metadata shows up in library catalogs. Trial app watermarks look unprofessional.
Reports what's missing and exactly how to add it
Run all 18 checks on my PDF →
Check is free · Pay $9 only to download the fixed file
Free for every author
Tools you'll use every time you publish
No account, no payment. Use them as many times as you need.
Cover Dimension Calculator
Get exact pixel dimensions for your full wrap cover — front, spine, and back — based on your page count and trim size.
Calculate dimensions →
Spine Width Calculator
Know your exact spine width before ordering your cover. Wrong spine = rejected cover. Works across all paper stocks.
Calculate spine →
Word Count → Page Count
Estimate your page count before formatting is done. Useful for briefing your cover designer on spine width early.
Estimate pages →
KDP vs IngramSpark
Answer 4 questions and get a personalized recommendation — including whether you should use both platforms.
Get recommendation →
Trim Size Guide
Which trim size is right for your genre? See what romance, fiction, and nonfiction authors use — with platform support notes.
View guide →
Cover Builder NEW
Build your full wrap cover in the browser. Upload your art, pick fonts and colors, auto-calculate spine, download print-ready PDF.
Open cover builder →
ISBN Barcode Generator
Generate a print-ready ISBN barcode with optional price code. Download as high-res PNG ready to place on your back cover.
Generate barcode →
Book Description Formatter
Format your book description with bold, italic, and line breaks that actually work on Amazon KDP and other retailers.
Format description →
RGB to CMYK Converter
Convert your PDF from RGB to CMYK color space for IngramSpark and B&N Press. Handles font embedding and transparency flattening too.
Convert PDF →
Cover PDF Checker
Upload your cover PDF and verify dimensions, bleed, spine width, resolution, and color space before submitting to your printer.
Check cover →
New feature
Check all 4 platforms at once
One upload. IngramSpark, KDP Print, B&N Press, and Draft2Digital — simultaneously. See exactly which platforms pass and which need fixes.
Pricing
Pay once or subscribe
One file to fix? $9. Publishing a series? $9/month gets you everything unlimited.
Pay as you go
$9
one-time · per file
Fix one file, pay once. No subscription, no account. Files delivered, then deleted.
- All 18 compliance checks
- ⚡ Ghostscript PDF/X-1a conversion
- Fixed PDF — upload-ready
- Plain-English report
- All 4 platforms
- Cover builder & Pro dashboard
Most popular
Indie author
$9
per month · cancel anytime
Everything unlimited for less than a coffee. Perfect for authors publishing a series or multiple titles.
- Unlimited PDF compliance scans
- ⚡ Ghostscript PDF/X-1a on every scan
- 🔧 Tool-specific fix instructions (Atticus, Affinity, Word, InDesign...)
- 🎨 Unlimited cover builder downloads
- Cover builder included — no extra charge
- 5 stored reports — access anytime
- Priority email support
- All 4 platforms — IngramSpark, KDP, B&N, D2D
- Personal Pro dashboard
HIGHEST ROI
Formatter / Agency
$79
per month · unlimited files
Charge clients $25–50 per compliance check. At 5 clients/month you make $125–250 from a $79 tool.
White-label included. Your clients see your business name and logo. They never know BookReady exists. You look like you have a full prepress workflow.
- White-label reports — your brand, your logo
- Unlimited scans — all 4 platforms
- ⚡ Ghostscript PDF/X-1a on every file
- 🔧 Tool-specific fix instructions
- Unlimited cover builder downloads
- Priority support
ROI pays for itself on your first client.
First scan always free · No account · $9 one-time · $9/month Pro unlimited · $79/month Formatter with white-label
From authors
Built by someone who lived it
★★★★★
"BookReady redeemed my frustration with three rejected files in a matter of minutes. The creator of BookReady is a genius and my hero."
★★★★★
"I had no idea what an ICC profile even was. BookReady found it instantly and the fixed file uploaded to IngramSpark on the first try. Wish I had this six rejections ago."
★★★★★
"IngramSpark rejected my file three times before I found this. It caught the ICC profile issue in 10 seconds that I'd been fighting for two days."
Questions
FAQ
Is my PDF kept private?
Your file is uploaded, scanned, and deleted. We don't store your manuscript, log its contents, or retain anything after the fixed PDF is downloaded. Files are wiped from our servers after 24 hours regardless of whether you download.
Does this work for cover files too?
BookReady checks interior files for compliance. For covers, use the free Cover Dimension Calculator to get exact pixel dimensions before briefing your designer, or build your cover directly with the Cover Builder — upload your art, set your trim size and page count, and download a print-ready full wrap PDF.
What if my font can't be auto-fixed?
Font embedding is the one check we detect but can't auto-fix — we'd need your original font files to re-embed them. Instead we tell you exactly which fonts are missing and which pages they appear on, so you can re-export with embedding enabled from Atticus, InDesign, or Affinity Publisher.
Will this guarantee IngramSpark accepts my file?
BookReady catches every technical compliance issue we know of. If a fixed file is still rejected, contact us — we want to know about it so we can add the check. We've never had a file rejected after passing all 18 checks.
Do you support KDP Print and Draft2Digital?
Yes — all four major platforms are supported. Each has different specs (KDP doesn't require PDF/X-1a, D2D targets ebook output at lower DPI) and BookReady adjusts all 18 checks accordingly when you select the platform.
I'm a formatter — can I resell this?
The Formatter plan ($79/month) includes white-label HTML reports branded with your business name and logo. Charge clients $25–50 per compliance check — at 5 clients a month that's $125–250 in revenue from a $79 tool. Your clients see your branding. They never know BookReady exists. You look like you have a full professional prepress workflow behind you.
Your next upload shouldn't get rejected.
See every error for free. Pay $9 only if you want us to auto-fix it and hand you an upload-ready file.
Check my PDF free →Security
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🚫Never used for AI training
👤No account required
🛡️How we protect your manuscript →