Exporting a Print-Ready PDF from Word: The Settings That Matter

To export a print-ready PDF from Word, use File then Save As (not Print to PDF), choose PDF from the file-type menu, click Options, and check ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A) so your fonts and graphics embed. Confirm the document page size already matches your book's trim, then open the finished PDF and check it page by page before you upload. Those four habits, the right export command, embedded fonts, a matching trim, and a real proofread of the file, are what separate a clean upload from a rejected one.

Your printer never sees your Word document. It prints the PDF you hand over, so the PDF is the only file that truly matters at the press. The good news is that Word already makes a professional print PDF when you use the right command and one small checkbox. Here is exactly what to do and why each setting counts.

Use Save As, not Print to PDF

Word offers more than one way to make a PDF, and they are not equal. The reliable path for a book is File, Save As (or File, Export on some versions), then pick PDF from the file-type dropdown. This route preserves your document structure, your fonts, and your exact page geometry.

Avoid the "Print to PDF" style printer drivers for this job. Printing to a PDF driver can quietly rescale your pages to a default paper size such as US Letter, flatten details, or leave fonts unembedded. Save As keeps you in control of the settings that a print vendor checks. Think of Save As as making a faithful copy of your book, and Print to PDF as taking a photo of your screen. For publication you want the faithful copy.

The PDF/A checkbox: your font-embedding switch

After you choose PDF in the Save As window, click the Options button. In that dialog, check ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A). This single checkbox tells Word to embed your fonts and graphics into the file so the press reproduces exactly what you designed.

Why this matters: if a font is not embedded, the printer substitutes a different typeface for it. Your line breaks shift, your spacing drifts, and a page that looked perfect on screen can arrive subtly wrong in the printed proof. Embedding removes that risk entirely. PDF/A is a widely accepted archival PDF standard, and print on demand vendors are happy to receive it. Click OK, then Save.

Page size must match your trim

A book's trim size is its finished page dimension, such as 6 by 9 inches, one of the most popular sizes. Your Word document's page size must already be set to that exact trim before you export, because the PDF inherits whatever the document says.

This is one of the quiet reasons a professionally built template saves you trouble. A template is already set to a specific trim, with matching margins and gutter, so its exported PDF lands at the correct size automatically. If you are working from your own setup, confirm the page size under Layout, Size matches your intended trim before you save. Common book trims include 5 by 8, 5.25 by 8, 5.5 by 8.5, 6 by 9, 7 by 10, and 8.5 by 11 inches. Mixing an 8.5 by 11 document with a 6 by 9 book is the most common cause of a vendor rejecting a file, and it is completely avoidable.

On a Mac, you may first need to create a custom paper size that matches your trim in Page Setup, then export. You only have to set that up once per trim size.

Check the result, page by page

Here is the step people skip and later regret. After you export, open the finished PDF and actually look at it. The PDF is the last place you can catch a problem before your printer or your readers do.

Walk through it with a short checklist:

• Fonts look right. If anything substituted, the type will feel off. Re-export with PDF/A checked if so.
• Page size is correct. Your PDF reader usually shows document dimensions in its properties or page display. Confirm the trim.
• Nothing is cut off. Scan the margins so no text or page numbers sit too close to the edge.
• Front matter and chapters flow correctly. Check that chapters start where they should and page numbers run cleanly.
• Images are crisp. Zoom in on any photos or figures to be sure they held their resolution.

A calm ten minutes here prevents a re-upload later. If you spot something, fix it in Word, re-export, and check again.

A note on higher-quality output

The Save As with PDF/A method produces a file that print on demand vendors accept and print well. If you own Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can optionally produce an even higher-grade press file in PDF/X-1a format, which some designers prefer for maximum consistency. It is a nice-to-have, not a requirement. For the vast majority of authors, Word's built-in PDF/A export is more than enough for a beautiful printed book. Many vendors now also accept a Word .docx directly and convert it for you, so check whether your vendor offers that before you convert anything at all.

If you would like your type and trim handled for you from the start, the Minimalist book template arrives pre-set to a clean trim with embedded-ready fonts, so your Save As export is correct by default.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use Save As or Print to PDF for my book?

Use Save As. In Word, go to File, Save As, choose PDF from the file-type menu, click Options, and check ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A). Print to PDF drivers can rescale your pages and leave fonts unembedded, which is exactly what you want to avoid for a print book.

What does the PDF/A checkbox actually do?

It embeds your fonts and graphics into the PDF so the printer reproduces your book exactly as designed. Without embedding, the press substitutes fonts and your spacing can shift. It is the single most important export setting for a print-ready file.

Why was my PDF the wrong size when I uploaded it?

The PDF takes its dimensions from your Word document. If the document page size does not match your book's trim, the PDF will be the wrong size. Set the page size to your exact trim (for example 6 by 9 inches) before exporting, which a properly built template already does for you.

Would you rather see a press-ready PDF built for you? Cantos, the AI book designer at BookDesigner.ai, exports an embedded, correctly-sized interior automatically, and you can preview 30 pages of your own manuscript free.