Creating a print-ready design is exciting, but looking at the design specifications can look overwhelming. To get you started, this article will cover the basics for preparing your file for printing.
- Start with checking the print specifications, guides and templates: Please note that specific printing requirements may vary for each product. You can download our guides and templates at the top of the product page. Following these specifications will ensure your design gets perfectly printed.
- Use high-quality images: Delivering high-resolution images and graphics in your file is essential. The standard quality for most commercial print and stationery is 300 dpi. Outdoor products and formats bigger than a meter must be at least 150 dpi. If you opted for solid colours or laser engraving, your file should be submitted as a vector graphic.
- Use CMYK colour mode: RGB colour mode is reserved for digital media and requires a conversion that may result in muted printed colours. By designing in CMYK, you ensure that your printed product closely matches your intended design.
- Adjust your design to fit the template: Resize and reposition the artwork to match the template's dimensions, layout, and orientation. Also, make sure your page count matches what you ordered and remember prices are shown per design. You will need to add units individually to your cart for multiple designs.
- Verify and adjust bleed and margins when applicable: A correct bleed and safety margin ensures that no essential elements are cut off and no white lines appear after trimming.
- Manage your fonts, texts and small elements: We recommend embedding or outlining the fonts on your design to avoid any issues. If your design contains small black text, make sure it is 100 % black (Cyan: 0, Magenta: 0, Yellow: 0, Black: 100). Ensure thin lines and small text meet the minimum size requirements for legibility in the final product. Note that we don't check spelling or typographical errors.
- Delete the template layers: Always delete any template layers before exporting your file. These layers are meant to guide your design process and should not be included in the final print.
- Export to PDF: The best approach is exporting to print-ready PDF format. If you already have a design, no worries; we accept other file formats, including JPEG, PNG, or EPS. For instance, high-resolution JPEGs are an excellent option for photographic content.
