spread lines up in indesign; not in print

Thank you so much everyone! You convinced me not to struggle with what I did wrong - but ask the printer. And my rep kindly noted that sometimes that press does get off-kilter.

It was so helpful to hear from you! What a great service!!

Your example of the job indicates that you presented the job as reader spreads which means that the printer would have been responsible for converting the pages to printer spreads which means that the printer had to have manipulated the job into what it is now. If your job was prepared correctly then there really is nothing you can do but reject the job until the printer makes good.

I agree with Willi; it's likely a problem with your printer and not with your InDesign or Acrobat PDF documents. You may want to double-check your PDF files to be sure, but I can't think of an instance where the digital InDesign files would line up and the Acrobat PDFs wouldn't across a reader's spread.

One thing you didn't mention is how your printer is reproducing your books. If they're being printed digitally with toner (e.g. DocuTech, high-speed laser printers/copiers, etc.) it's not unusual for pages to "float" as much as a pica/one-sixth of an inch horizontally and/or vertically when printing duplex sheets. It's on them to align/adjust their equipment to take that into account, and most high-end equipment has software/hardware tools to fix their problems.

In short, if they're trying to push a shoddy job off on you like it's your problem, don't let them. Refuse the job until they make it right, or take it somewhere else where the printer will make the effort to do it right.

Thanks! I was wondering about that. The difference is throughout the book. But they're printing off a pdf, so how could it be their fault? I'm new to indesign, so I'm wondering whether I've done something basic that's wrong.

If it lines up in the PDF and does not in print, it is the printer's fault, not InDesign’s.