When opening an account, we will ask you for a few pieces of information. We will never sell or share this information with anyone. We ask that you give us an email address for a login, a password, your name and phone number (in the event we need to call you about your work), and whether you are a publisher, author, or micro-publisher (an author printing a number of their own titles). We also ask you to read and digitally sign the short terms and conditions. That's it. Do that and you are ready to print. There is no cost for opening an account.

You can open your account here: http://app.snowfallpress.com/users/newUser.html

Step 2: Identify the files you want to transfer into your Snowfall Press account

The purpose of this tool and the following instructions is to give publishers an easy and efficient way to transfer files into a secure Snowfall Print Network account.

Each of the files will need to be renamed for the system to recognize and place the files accurately. Each file should be named:

isbn_cover.pdf

or

isbn_body.pdf

The system looks for this specific naming protocol during the upload process. The ISBN naming system will allow the system to pick up meta data directly from ONIX feeds using the ISBN as the matching component between files and data.

Step 3: Set up your FTP tool

It doesn't matter which FTP tool you use. If you do not have a tool, a simple option is to use your Windows File Explorer tool. To use File Explorer for FTP browsing, implement the following steps from IE (Internet Explorer). Note: File Explorer is the same as My Documents or My Computer.

Try the following settings from the Internet Explorer (IE) to setup the settings for File Explorer. This may sound a little bit counter intuitive but the "Internet Options..." option which is sometimes available within File Explorer, but and is always available in Internet Explorer. This process should work for all recent versions of Windows.

To set the FTP settings in File Explorer or Internet Explorer:

• Open Internet Explorer from the Start Menu or command line.

  On the Internet Explorer menu, click Tools to open the Tools menu.

  On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.... A new Internet Options window will appear on the screen.

  In the Internet Options window, click the Advanced tab.

   

  First, find the setting called Enable folder view for FTP sites (located near the top of the list of settings). Ensure this feature is enabled (checked). Passive FTP mode in Internet Explorer will not work unless this feature is enabled.

   

  Next, find the setting called Use Passive FTP (located approximately halfway down in the list of settings). Disable the Passive FTP feature by clearing the checkmark in the box next to the Use Passive FTP setting.

   

  Click OK or Apply to save the settings.

Step 4: Upload your files using your FTP tool

To use FTP:

• Open File Explorer from the Start Menu.

  In the address bar at the top type "ftp://gateway.snowfallpress.com"

  When prompted for a user name and password type in your Snowfall Press user name (email address) and password.

  Open the publisher file folder.

   

  Open the publisher file folder. The next folder you see will have a number…this is your account number. Open this file folder.

   

  The next folder you will see is the 'add_book' folder. Open this folder. Now you are ready to drag and drop your files from your Documents folder directly into this FTP tool. [Important! Make sure the files you are transferring into the FTP tool are set up as instructed in step #2] The Snowfall system will automatically import your files into your Snowfall Print Network account.

   

  The files in the add_book folder SHOULD disappear if everything is working correctly. The FTP folder is a hot folder and once the files transfer to your account they should no longer appear in the FTP folder. In fact, if a file stays behind, it is likely named incorrectly. In that case, delete it, rename the file on your hard drive and try again.

  One additional feature in this system – the cover file and body file both have to be resident in the add_book folder in order to allow the book to upload to your account. If you have a cover file still sitting there, you simply may need to paste the body file into the add_book folder and see if it uploads the book.

   

Step 5: Proof your files

Now that you have completed the importing process, it is still critical to check your files in your Snowfall Print Network account. Open your account and view your new editable files and check for the following:

• Make sure the body file is centered in the template as desired, using the arrows at the upper right and left corners.

  If the body file needs to be reduced slightly, use the toolkit in the upper right hand corner by clicking on the '+' sign, and use the reduction tool.

  Check the cover file template to make sure the cover file fills the entire pink bleed area to make sure there are no trim issues.

  If you have crop marks still visible, you should upload new files to make sure none of the crop marks inadvertently print on your finished product. (both cover and body files)

  Make sure the spine design matches the spine width in the template.

For more information about printing a proof, please click here:

Step 6: Print your proof

Follow the instructions to print your proof to ensure that it is what you want.