Now that a PDF produced via ID is open in Reader I do not see how one can preflight check this in Adobe Reader, the free version. Is it necessary to buy Acrobat X in order to do a detailed preflight check?

Also, under Properties in Reader, and then under Description, the PDF producer shows as Adobe PDF Library 8.0, and not Distiller as I think it should, according to the printer's recommendations.

Frankly, Distiller's function is not clear to me; I am merely followoing Ingram/Lightninig Source's instructions to the T, which print millions of books, literally, per year for smaller and larger clients (Harper Collins, Oxford Univeristy Press). Their instructions are below, and I'm quite sorry for the length here, but, and I'll leave it to you, the Adobe experts, to judge how misinformed they may be:

Exporting InDesign

In InDesign, first select FILE > Export

Select a location to save your PDF

Beside “Format” select Adobe PDF (Print)

Click “Save”

For “Adobe PDF Preset” choose PDF/X1a 2001

or PDF/X3 2002

Reviewing a PDF Before Submission

In the Acrobat menu bar select File > Properties

Select the “Descriptions” tab.

Near the bottom of the window, you will see a listing for

“Page Size:” followed by width and height dimensions.

Please, verify that the PDF document dimensions match

the dimensions necessary to comply with Lightning

Source requirements for the item you are uploading.

(My note: in their example, PDF Producer field shows Distiller)

Font Embedding

Within the same dialogue box select the “Fonts” tab.

Beside the name of each font you should see

(Embedded) or (Embedded Subset). If you do not see

those words your fonts are not correctly embedded and

Lightning Source will not be able to process your file.

Reviewing a PDF Before Submission

Color Mode And Resolution

In the Acrobat menu bar select:

Edit > Preflight (Acrobat 10)

Select the “Profiles” tab and scroll down to select “PDF

Analysis”.

• Click the arrow to expand the available options.

Select “List page objects, grouped by

type of object” and click “Analyze”.

A list of results will appear. Click on the triangle(s) next to

“Resolution of color and grayscale images” to view a

listing of all images present in the PDF.

For covers Lightning Source recommends CMYK 300ppi

images and for interiors recommends 1-bit black & white

line art at 600 ppi and 8-bit grayscale 300ppi continuous tone

images.

Checking for Spot Colors and Color Density

In the Acrobat menu bar select:

Windows > Tools > Print Production and select

Output Preview (v10)

This window will list all colors used in your document and

percentages of each color. The only colors that should be

present are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. If any spot

colors are used please return to the application used to

create your document and covert all colors to CMYK.

When the Output Preview window is open you can move

your cursor over the PDF and view the CMYK values in your

file. This is a good time to verify that the barcode used is

100% black only and that your cover does not have large

areas of color that exceed 240% Total Area Coverage.

If concerned about excessive color density you can select

the box at the bottom of the window labeled “Total Area

Coverage”, select a maximum limit and all offending areas

will be highlighted.