Why was my book rejected?
What the check looks at
Rejection emails are famously vague. "Cover does not match specifications" or "fonts not embedded" tells you something is wrong but not why, or what to do. The Rejection Check reads your file with the same instruments a print vendor uses and translates each result into an actual sentence.
For a cover, it checks:
- Size vs the required wrap for your trim, page count, printer, and paper, using each printer's verified spine math.
- Bleed on the outer edges, so the artwork does not leave white slivers at the trim.
- Color and ink — RGB where CMYK is needed, and total ink over the 240 percent limit.
- PDF/X press-ready standard and font embedding.
For an interior, it checks:
- Embedded fonts — the number-one interior rejection, listed by the exact font names that are missing.
- Page size vs your trim, and whether images are grayscale for a black-and-white book.
- PDF/X and page-count sanity.
Then you get an honest path forward
We do not pretend every file can be patched. What can be safely fixed, we fix. What cannot, we tell you plainly.
One price, $49.99, repairs the interior, the cover, or both for one book. An interior is corrected in place — the same pages and the same words: color turned to grayscale for a black-and-white book, the press-ready declaration restored, the trim box stamped at the size of your page, the link annotations a press file may not carry taken out, and an odd page count closed with one blank leaf. A cover is rebuilt at the exact size your printer asks for, with proper bleed, CMYK color, capped ink and a press-ready PDF/X file, plus two refinements. We measure the repaired file against your printer's own checks before it reaches you, so it is guaranteed to pass your printer's file check, or your money back — and if it does not come back clean, nothing is charged at all. How the Print File Fix works
And what it cannot repair, it names. Three interior problems are out of reach, and the diagnosis says so instead of taking the money: a font that was never embedded, pages that are not the trim you ordered, and a book that is only pictures of pages. Fonts and scans go out through PDF to Manuscript, which gets the editable manuscript back out of the PDF; a page size that is not your trim calls for a fresh interior from your manuscript, with a 100% money-back guarantee for 30 days. Margins are the fourth, and we do not measure them on purpose: a margin refusal is a re-layout, not a file repair.
How it works
- Upload your rejected PDF or PDFs. Tell us whether it is the interior, the cover, or both, and your printer, trim, and page count.
- Read your diagnosis. Every finding comes with what the printer's error meant and why it happens.
- Fix it. Buy the Print File Fix for whichever files we can put right, or start a fresh interior from your manuscript. Your call.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account to see the diagnosis?
No. The diagnosis is free and shown right on the page. You only create a free account if you decide to buy the Print File Fix, so we can securely hold your file and deliver the repaired one.
Can you repair the interior as well as the cover?
Yes, and one price covers both halves of one book. Send the interior, the cover, or both in one go. An interior is corrected in place, the same pages and the same words; a cover is rebuilt at your printer's exact size with proper bleed and press-ready color.
What happens if the repair does not work?
You are not charged. The repaired file is measured against the printer's own checks before delivery, and if it does not come back clean the credit goes back on your account and nothing is spent. If a printer still refuses a file we repaired, write to us and you get your money back.
Is my manuscript safe?
Yes. Your file is used only to run these checks and to build your repair if you buy one. Nothing is ever used to train a model, and nothing is shared.
Upload your rejected PDF and get a free, plain-English diagnosis in seconds. From there, the Print File Fix is one click, it repairs the interior, the cover, or both, and it is charged only when the repaired file passes its own re-check. BookDesignerAI is built by the team behind BookDesignTemplates.com, with 15+ years of print files and 70,000+ authors.
Sources: Amazon KDP published cover and interior specifications; IngramSpark File Creation Guide (5.11.26); Lulu file specifications. Related: Print File Fix · IngramSpark cover rejected? · KDP cover rejected? · Spine width calculator · All guides