How to have pdfLaTeX output PDF/X-3:2002 format pdfs?

Question

I'm using Blurb to publish a manuscript, and they require PDF/X-3:2002 format pdfs. How do I get pdfLaTeX to output pdfs that match that specification? I'm using MiKTeX 2.9.

Answer 1

Googling for latex blurb reveals a template that apparently does some hackery to generate a conforming PDF/X-3:2002 document.

There is also the pdfx package that could be useful.

Answer 2

I've been struggling with blurb.com's PDF/X-3:2002 requirement, and their unhelpful automatic checking that doesn't tell you much about why your file is failing the preflight tests...

Eventually I learnt what I needed to do from the createspace package and this blog post.

This minimal example below went through the tests of blurb.com all right. I compiled with lualatex. If you want to use pdflatex, you'll have to set the font without fontspec.

\documentclass[10pt,twoside]{memoir}

\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont[Ligatures=TeX]{TeX Gyre Pagella}

\usepackage[cmyk]{xcolor}

%% On the front page, blurb.com displays rounded values of the page sizes. For example, it would say that pocket size is 5x8 in. However, during the upload process it will display accurate values

%% blurb.com pocket size:
%% 5.125 x 8.25 in
%% 369 x 594 pts

%% Use inches! Using pt somehow produces a pdf that blurb.com recognizes as different size.
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{
paperwidth=5.125in,
paperheight=8.25in,
inner=15mm
}
\setlength{\stockwidth}{5.125in}
\setlength{\stockheight}{8.25in}

%% microtype, for better justification, etc.
\usepackage{microtype}
\microtypesetup{
% babel=true,
final
}

\usepackage{lipsum}

%% PDF/X-3:2002 info
%% Replace the title, author, etc. information accordingly to your book.
%% The \pageattr values have to be in pt, compare with the page size settings above.

\pdfobjcompresslevel=0%
\pdfminorversion=3%
\pdfinfo{
  /Title (My Book Title)
  /Author (Mr Author)
  /Subject (biography)
  /Keywords (humans)
  /GTS_PDFXVersion (PDF/X-3:2002)
}%
\pdfpageattr{
/MediaBox [0 0 369.00000 594.00000]
/BleedBox [0.00000 0.00000 369.00000 594.00000]
/CropBox [0 0 369.00000 594.00000]
/TrimBox [0.00000 0.00000 369.00000 594.00000]
}
\pdfcatalog{
  /PageMode /UseNone
  /OutputIntents [ <<
    /Info (none)
    /Type /OutputIntent
    /S /GTS_PDFX
    /OutputConditionIdentifier (Blurb.com)
    /RegistryName (http://www.color.org/)
  >> ]
}%

\begin{document}

\chapter{Lorem Ipsum}

\lipsum[1-150]

% an extra page to make it an even number
\newpage\mbox{}

\end{document}

Answer 3

The wikipedia page on pdf/X standards says that PDF/X-3:2002 is based on pdf version 1.3. That should mean that a version 1.3 (or earlier) pdf will be acceptable. Put this in your preamble.

\pdfminorversion=3

Failing that, Adobe Acrobat Distiller has an option to create files that conform to PDF/X-3:2002. The Preview program that you will find on any Mac has an option to save as 'Generic PDFX-3' which might help. There is some more discussion of this issue here.