"Printing" to PDF Questions

[Woody44]

I self-publish books through Amazon KDP. The preferred upload to Amazon is a PDF with fonts embedded.

I just tried to create a PDF from a third-party program (app) using the FlexiPDF virtual printer. The page size of the document is 6 inches by 9 inches (a standard book size in the U.S.). FlexiPDF put the document in the correct type size, but on 8-1/2-incj by 11-inch pages. How do I set the correct page size in FlexiPDF?

Also, there was nothing to indicate whether or not fonts are being embedded. Obviously, my system has the fonts I use already installed, but how can I verify that the fonts are embedded in case Amazon's system doesn't have one or more of the fonts I use? (Which would be likely, since I have Megafont NOW and I use some of those fonts in my books.)

[Jossi]

If FlexiPDF's virtual printer doesn't meet all your needs, you could try eDocPrintPro (https://www.pdfprinter.at/en/). This is a free, highly flexible virtual printer which allows you to embed fonts and define page sizes. It hasn't let me down yet.

[Woody44]

I have doPDF, but since I bought FlexiPDF I would really like it if it would do what needs to be done.

On the page size issue: I went through the exercise of creating a custom page size. It didn't work. I set the page size for 6" x 9", and it created am image of the text formatted as it should appear on a 6" x 9" page -- but on an 8-1/2" x 11" page.

Frustrating.

[SuperTech]

For the page size issue: make sure your custom 6"x9" size is saved and selected in the virtual printer's properties, and that the source app's page setup matches before printing. Sometimes the printer defaults to the source document's paper size.

To check font embedding in FlexiPDF, go to the ribbon: Document | Extras | Fonts dropdown | Document Fonts. That panel will clearly show each font used and whether it's embedded or subsetted.

[Woody44]

This is an old discussion, but I am reviving it because I am getting a couple of new books ready for print (through Amazon, which involves uploading a PDF of the formatted manuscript) and going through the process revives the shortcomings of the FlexiPDF virtual printer.

Example: I have a book that is set up for print on a (U.S.) 5-inch x 8 inch page. When I use the Export to PDF function in TextMaker 2026, the resulting PDF is set to a 5" x 8" page size, and the outer and inner margins are correct (1/2" inner and outer, plus 0.2" for the gutter).

When I used FlexiPDF to "print" the same file to PDF, instead of automatically capturing the page size and margins, the resulting PDF had a page size of 5.5" x 8.5". The inner and outer margins are incorrect, and the bottom (footer) margin is also incorrect.

Is it possible to have the virtual printer in FlexiPDF automatically detect and reproduce the page size and margins of the document that is being printed?

Obviously, since TextMaker handles this correctly I can use the export function when printing text documents to PDF. But I use virtual printing for more than text documents. For example, I also use it to "print" architectural plans from AutoCAD LT, and the "print" graphics files from Windows Paint. The Paint graphics do not have a page size defined, but AutoCAD plans do have a page )sheet) size, and printing the PDF to the correct size is vitally important so that people who view the PDF in Adobe Acrobat or Bluebeam can use the software to make accurate measurements.