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This platform allows publishers to deliver the digital pre-press version of their works, thereby completing their legal deposit.

File formats

This platform accepts any pre-press file format. However, to facilitate the long-term preservation of works, the recommended format is a PDF that does not contain references to external files (with embedded fonts). Ideally, a PDF/A.

Regarding DRM protection, files must be deposited unprotected in order to preserve them in the BNE repository.

Considering the number of digital files that are sent, the works can belong to one of these four categories:

  1. Complete work contained in a single digital file.
  2. Complete work divided into parts (cover and body; chapters; volumes), each of which is contained in a single digital file.
  3. Complete work made up of several interrelated digital files (a layout file with its types and images).
  4. Complete work divided into parts, each one made up of several interrelated digital files (a layout file with its types and images).

In the first case, the name of that single file must identify the the work following one of the conventions described below. For example, the file could be named 9788420404967.pdf.

In the second case, the name of each part would be added to the previous name. For example, 9788420404967_01-cover.pdf and 9788420404967_02-body.pdf. The alphabetical order of the filenames will be used to rebuild the work. We recommend the use of numbers (preceded by zeros) to ensure that the parts are in the correct order.

In the third case, the work must be delivered as a ZIP compressed file. In this way, it will not be necessary to change the name of the digital files that make up the work. It is the ZIP file that must follow the naming conventions established in the following section. For example, 9788420404967.zip.

In the fourth case, the work will be delivered as a set of ZIP files. For example, 9788420404967_01-cover.zip and 9788420404967_02-body.zip.

Naming Conventions

In order to determine which works are being deposited, a series of file naming conventions have been established. These names contain the ISBN, ISSN or legal deposit number (DL) of the work in order to recognize it.

Monographs

For monographs delivered as a single digital file (including the case of a ZIP file), the name of that file will be the ISBN or legal deposit number of the work. The ISBN can be 10 or 13 digits and can contain hyphens: 978-84-204-0496-7.pdf or (preferably) 9788420404967.pdf. The DL number is made up of the abbreviation of the province, a space, the deposit number, a hyphen and the year: M 4410-2010.pdf

For multi-part monographs, an underscore (_) and the name of the part are added to the names above: 978-84-204-0496-7_01-cover.pdf or (preferably) 9788420404967_01-cover.pdf

Serials

The deposit of digital files prior to printing (pre-press) of serials requires that the publication be assigned an ISSN number (International Standard Serial Number).

You can check if your publication has one by consulting the catalog of the National Library of Spain or the ISSN Portal. If your publication has not been assigned an ISSN number, please contact the Spanish National ISSN Center.

For serials issues, the name must follow the following pattern:

IIII-IIII_YYYYMMDD_N_E.S

Where:

  • IIII-IIII is the ISSN of the publication written in the usual way: 1889-786X
  • YYYY is the year, MM is the month, and DD is the day of publication for this issue. This date should be the one printed in the cover, and may not include the day or month if they are not necessary. For instance, monthly publications may omit the day, and yearly publications may omit both the day and the month. The year of publication is mandatory.
  • N is the issue number, expressed as a number of up to 5 digits.
  • E is an optional label that can be added, separated by an underscore, in the case of special or extraordinary numbers that require it.
  • S is the file extension (pdf or zip).

In the case of a combined number comprising two numbers and/or two dates, it is possible to duplicate the date and/or numbering by using a hyphen as a separator, according to the following pattern: IIII-IIII_YYYYMMDD-YYYYMMDD_N-N_E.S

Examples:

  • Number 1, of January 2, 2023, of the publication with ISSN 1234-5678: 1234-5678_20230102_1.pdf.
  • Monthly publication, no. 50 (January 2023): 1234-5678_202301_50.pdf.
  • Annual publication (2023 issue): 1234-5678_2023.pdf.
  • July 2023 Summer Extra: 1234-5678_202307_Summer Extra.pdf.
  • Motor Supplement number 52005 of October 11, 2023: 1234-5678_20231011_52005_Motor Supplement.pdf.
  • Issue 6-7 (July-August 2023): 1234-5678_202307-202308_6-7.pdf.
  • Issue of the fisrt quarter of 2023: 1234-5678_20230101-20230331.pdf.

Deposit Automation

It is possible to automate the deposit of items thanks to the functionality offered by the web interface of the platform. This allows, by means of two simple requests through the HTTPS protocol, to open session in it and automatically deposit, in a secure way, the files that you want, as long as they meet the format and naming conditions mentioned in the previous sections.

For more information about this possibility you can contact the technical services of the BNE: