Lulu

Lulu's "print ready" process (which happens automatically after uploading your graphics) causes deterioration in graphics, and unfortunately, the people at Lulu just don't want to admit this (or they don't see it, which would actually be worse). My book's front and back covers have gradients on them, and Lulu's automated "print ready" processing caused severe banding in the gradients. I pointed this out, and instead of acknowledging it and telling me I just needed to work around their limitation (which I would have done - I'm a flexible, reasonable person), they told me that my original supplied graphics (PNG) had banding in it. I posted to a forum of graphic designers asking if anyone saw banding in my original supplied graphics, and everyone said the gradient was perfectly smooth. I also got proofs from a couple local printing companies using the same original PNG cover that I uploaded to Lulu, and there was virtually no banding. (I say "virtually" because a tiny, negligible amount of banding is to be expected since professional printers are apparently well-known to have trouble with gradients. The printing companies explained to me that although my supplied graphics have no banding, I have to expect banding to occur during the print process when taken to professional printers. Lulu was unaware of this - or worse, they were aware of this but withheld the information from me through many exchanges of e-mails.) The banding in Lulu's proofs was severe. Additionally, I made a video just for Lulu (recording my PC desktop) that empirically proved there is no banding in my PNG: I measured RGB values of 100 horizontal pixels in a row in my original PNG and Lulu's generated PDF. The RGB values in my PNG each changed independently of each other, they only changed by 1 value at a time, and they changed in a "scattered" fashion (toggling back and forth between two neighboring values for a while before finally switching for good to the new value). This is as smooth as a digital gradient can possibly be without actually being analog (i.e. real life brush strokes on physical paper). In the video, I created a table in Excel that contrasted this with Lulu's generated PDF (the software-produced "print ready" file that results after uploading the PNG), and the RGB values of Lulu's processed graphics did not change independently of each other, there was no "scattering" when they did change, and the values stayed the same for 50 or 100 pixels at a time. SEVERE banding. After all this, one of the high-up print professionals at Lulu (Cary) said he still saw banding! I asked him to forward my e-mail to others in his department to view on their own computer monitors. He said he would to see if he was "missing something." Ne never got back to me. Again, I would have been willing to adjust my graphics - I may have even been willing to get rid of the gradients and try something totally different. It wasn't the gradient that was the issue. It was how Cary handled this very simple problem, blaming me for it and failing to acknowledge that their print-ready process absolutely obliterates gradients. When faced with overwhelming evidence that does not support their position, they ignore it. I would have given this feedback directly to Lulu instead of posting it here, but I am way beyond that with Lulu. They had their chance and they blew it. I should note that the girl who first answered the phone was always very nice, but unfortunately she had limited technical knowledge to comment on my issue - she passed my issue on to others, and to my knowledge, I don't think anyone other than Cary handled it.
1 7 years ago (10-12-2017)

Rude people. Overcharge and give poor customer service.
1 7 years ago (26-02-2018)

I've ordered a handful of books from their online store on 2 or 3 different occasions and have had no problems. The book prices are great, the shipping prices are reasonable, and they arrive in good time. The only complaint I would have is that I've noticed 1 or 2 duplicate postings of the same book where the prices were different, but from what I could tell they were the same binding/edition.
4 9 years ago (18-04-2016)

I used an outside vendor to deal with the book publishing side (Publish Wholesale) and the mechanical and printing side went smooth. I ordered a few test copies through both Lulu AND Amazon and they arrived promptly and were fine. HOWEVER, efforts to communicate with customer service have been difficult and VERY frustrating. Getting a response from someone with a pulse has been impossible. I'm committed to two more projects with Publish Wholesale, but need to explore other print options, or switch to Create Space.
2 9 years ago (19-05-2016)

Lulu 3101 Hillsborough St, Raleigh, NC 27607, United States I uploaded the WORD version of my doctoral research on Literary Tourism to Lulu to produce a hardback colour version of my book. Lulu's wizard made it straightforward and they delivered within the 9 business days quoted to the UK. The book is excellent, too. I am very pleased and recommend them wholeheartedly. It is the perfect way to produce theses and academic books for libraries to purchase alongside your individual e-Book sales.
5 10 years ago (16-09-2015)