In order for us to be able to print your project, you will be asked to provide a print ready file or print ready artwork.
A file is print ready if:
• It is a .PDF file
• The resolution is minimum 300 dpi
• It is in CMYK colour mode
• The artwork has 3 mm bleeds
• The file has trim marks
• The layers are flattened
• The fonts are outlined/ converted to curves/ imbedded.
• Has been checked for spelling errors and approved for printing.
If you are not a designer or a printing professional, you may not be familiar with the above specifications that your project has to follow in order for the end result to be to the best quality.
A good quality ready for print artwork is crucial for getting a good finished product.
But what does this mean exactly?
A PDF file
Pdf files are very common nowadays. Most creative programs give you the option to save the file as PDF or to export the file as PDF. This means that the file is transferable to other computers, can be viewed on other devices and can be printed. The rest of the file specifications apply to the ready for
Pdf files are very common nowadays. Most creative programs give you the option to save the file as PDF or to export the file as PDF. This means that the file is transferable to other computers, can be viewed on other devices and can be printed. The rest of the file specifications apply to the ready for print PDF file.
Resolution at least 300 dpi for an original image size.
Depending on the format of your file, you can find out your resolution in the document properties. Dpi stands for dots per inch and it refers to the number of pixels on a vertical or horizontal inch. the more dots/pixels per inch the clearer the image. For the artwork to be at 300 dpi, all visual elements in it – pieces of text or images – have to be at least 300 dpi.
A low-resolution image will be unclear, blurry or pixelated (you can see the dots).
Notes:
Programs such as PowerPoint and Word, although they allow you to design a simple project, are not created for professional printing. PowerPoint can only generate 92dpi which is perfect for displaying your project on a screen, but not good enough for good quality printing of images bigger than A4. Word can generate files that will be printed on standard sizes –generally A4 or smaller. Increasing the printing size will lose image resolution.
As a design hack, in order to see if an image is good enough, zoom in the project to 300-400% and check if you can see the pixels. If the zoomed image is still clear (especially at the outlines) then chances are that your image is at a good resolution to generate a good quality print-out.
Trim/bleeds:
Your printed projects will be cut by an automated machine (guillotine), stacking tens of copies at the same time. While cutting, the blade will generate micro movements of the paper. This cannot be avoided. That is why the design has to allow for this movement and prevent the blade from cutting into the important text, or leaving white margins on the sides. The movement is generally +/-2mm, but to be safe and, as standard we will require 3 mm of bleed on all sides of the artwork. That is: the finished image will be 3 mm bigger on each of the 4 sides and the important information will be placed inside the artwork allowing for 3 mm space from the finished size margin.
Bleeds are generally very confusing, but this example may help you understand:
If you would like to print square flyers of 10 cm (100 mm) on each side – finished size:
- your artwork should be 106mm on each side. (horizontally: 3mm on the left +100mm the finished size+3 mm on the right; vertically: 3mm on top+100mm finished size+3mm at the bottom)
- all important information (that you would not like to be cut off by the big and sharp blade) should fit entirely within the limits of 94mm allowing for 3mm all around in the finished product (100mm finished size minus 3 mm on the right, minus 3 mm on the left, 100mm finished size minus 3 mm on top, minus 3 mm on the bottom).
Notes:
• an easy way for a non-professional to create a design that allows for bleeds is to start with an artwork that is 3mm bigger all around and making sure that the information fits inside the guidelines set at 6mm inside all around. (6mm is for the 3mm bleed (outside the finished size) plus the 3mm of margins (inside the finished size)
Trim marks/ Crop marks: The trim is the imaginary line where the guillotine blade is set to cut. It is the margin of the finished size product. (in our example – at exactly 100mm) The artwork needs to have this line marked on all sides of the document (at the corners, outside) so that the person doing the finishing of your project can position the blade accordingly. Without trim marks, positioning the cutting blade is prone to errors.
Please note that only the marks have to be visible, not the entire trim line. Always think about that blade that will cut on either side of the trim line in the 6mm zone and your product should look perfect visually.
Fonts
The fonts you are using are the result of creative work, therefore most fonts will fall under copyright. Make sure that you have the right to use the fonts you would like to use in your design. But do not worry. if you do not own the rights to use fonts, you can always choose from free fonts available for download on numerous websites.
There are a few things that you need to be aware in relation to fonts regardless of copyright.
Fonts don’t like change: if you created a file using some special fonts and sent it over to someone else who uses a different computer, the fonts will probably look differently on their screen than what you can see on yours. In order to make sure that the people printing your work see the text in the same way as you do, you have a few choices.
The best way is when the fonts are completely embedded or converted to curves, converted to images. This means roughly that the pieces of text become images and the message can no longer be modified. This ensures that there will be no further modifications to your text, intentional or by mistake. Different programs do this differently and use different terms for the same action – imbedded, outlined, converted to curves, etc.
If, however, you would like to allow another person to make modifications to your design and text, then you have to make sure they have the fonts you used installed on their computers. Otherwise, the text font will be automatically transformed into the nearest similar font available in that computer or even to a plain generic font. This means that your beautiful design may be badly affected. So when you send artwork where you used special fonts, send over the fonts too. (fonts are files that can be sent as attachments, can be uploaded or even saved in the same folder with your artwork)
Colour mode: CMYK
CMYK. RGB, FOGRA39, etc are colour modes.
Understanding the basics of colour will allow you to get better prints.
Have you noticed that a picture looks brighter and more vibrant on your screen and duller when printed? Apart from the printer, the ink, the paper, the image resolution that influence the end result immensely, the colour mode also impacts the way a colour is transferred from screen to paper. In a nutshell – screens use light while printing uses ink. The light makes an image brighter while paper absorbs the ink and makes it a bit duller.
Also, you should always keep in mind that the same image will look differently on different screens, and the same file printed in different printers, with different ink quality and on different paper will generate a different finished result. So if you are a perfectionist, this area of design will give you headaches, as it is almost impossible to make the print result look identical to what you see on the screen or to what you printed on your desktop printer at home.
As a designer, it is essential to know when to use RGB vs CMYK:
– CMYK: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (In the printing press days when plates were being used the black plate was typically call the “key” plate because it carried the important key information relating to the artistic detail.),
– RGB: red, green, blue colours on projects.
A good rule of thumb is anything that is to be displayed on a screen or for the web should always be in RGB while printed material should be in CMYK. But very few designers and clients know why this is the standard.
Here’s why…
Back in the printing press days, to achieve colour, each ink (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) had its own plate. First the printer would lay down one colour, wait for it to dry, lay down another colour, wait for it to dry and so on. Printing presses still work on that same theory to this day with the exception that offset printers can use a “spot” colour which can be added to achieve a specific colour swatch (usually a Pantone colour). As the printing age has progressed, the digital printer has come a long way, allowing to print in RGB as well. But the colours will still look differently in different formats. Therefore, the standard still stays the same – use CMYK on all printing needs.
On the other end, computer monitors give off coloured light known as RGB (CMYK is coloured ink). Computer monitors have a larger colour gamut than printing, which is why a computer can display a million more colours than what can be achieved with printing. Printing deals with absorption and reflection of wavelengths of which we perceive as colour (CMYK). Printing also has its own limited colour gamut.
RGB CMYK
To summarize what has been discussed, if your design will be printed, CMYK is usually the standard and the best option.
Notes:
– Generally, you will have to set your design as CMYK from the start. It is harder to transform an RGB image into CMYK without losing the colour quality. Also, when you start the design in CMYK, you can adjust the colours to look closer to your expected printed result.
– PowerPoint is designed for making presentations that will be displayed on a screen. It is RGB and cannot be set to use CMYK.
Flattened layers:
If you are using a software that works with layers (Adobe Suite for example), you have to make sure that you flatten the final version of your artwork. Adobe will offer you the command “flatten image”.
Flattening occurs when you reduce all Photoshop layers to one background layer. Layers can increase file size, thereby also tying up valuable processing resources. To keep down file size, you may choose to merge some layers or even flatten the entire image to one background layer.
In a ready for print file, it means that the file will not be accidentally modified by the mere transfer to a different device or a different version of the design software.
If you are working in a program that does not have clear layers (the Corel Suite) then your final version of the artwork should be converted to curves and grouped.
Regardless of the program you use and how the commands are called, make sure that you limit the possibility that someone else alters your final artwork.
Please note, though, that flattening should be the last thing you do and you should always keep an un-flattened version of the artwork in case you will need to make modifications to the file in the future. Just send the final, print approved, flattened file to the printers.
Spelling and Typographical errors:
Before submitting your artwork, make sure that all texts are correct. You are responsible to make sure that the spelling is correct, that your grammar is correct and that the information printed is accurate. Please do not expect anyone else, including us to proof read.
On the other hand, it is just as important for you to check the spelling, the grammar and the information in an artwork submitted to you by somebody else, may it be a designer, a consultant, a copy writer, or even somebody representing the printers.
Spelling and typographical errors can be anything from comic to disastrous to your company image, so do take it seriously.
In rare and smart occasions your typos can be intentional.
Please note that once you have submitted the artwork or you approved the artwork for print, any mistakes that can happen are yours.
We hope this post helped you understand some of the elements that are so important in printing. We tried to explain them to an imaginary reader that is unfamiliar with the printing industry. If you know better, please excuse our simplistic approach.
