How to Size Your Print Files

The first thing to consider before designing for print is the size of your layout. We will use a Business Card (3.5" x 2" ) for size in this example but you will learn how to size your design regardless of the finished trim size.

The absence of bleed is the number one factor that causes incorrect print files sizes. Submitting your art without bleed may require additional set-up and therefore additional cost.

Bleed Defined:



As the image to the left demonstrates, a printed piece is said to bleed if it has ink (design) that touches the edge of the paper. So a printed piece bleeds if the image extends all the way to the edge of the paper.





Safe Area Defined:

This card does not bleed. There is no design that touches the edge of the card. However, the text and critical design elements need to be a safe distance away from the edge of the paper. The blue dotted line is not part of the design, but is a marker for the Safe Area. The Safe Area in any of our spot or 4 color products is exactly 1/8th of an inch (0.125") in from the trim line.



Adding Bleed to Design:

If your design has bleed you need to add an 1/8th of an inch (0.125") on all sides. This adds 1/4" to the height and 1/4" to the width. In this example the business card design needs to be 3.75" x 2.25". Here the Red dotted line represents where the business card will trim. Anything outside of the red dotted line will get cut off in the printing process.




Bleed & Safe Area Simplified:

The red area is bleed area all the way around the card. The blue area is the safe area all the way around the card. To figure the dimensions for your piece the formula is as follows:

Bleed Size:

• (Width + 1/4") x (Height + 1/4")

Safe Area:

• (Width - 1/4") x (Height - 1/4")

In the example of the business card the dimensions would be as follows:
Finished Size: 3.5" x 2"
Bleed Size: 3.75" x 2.25"
Safe Area: 3.25" x 1.75"







 

Why Your Documents Color Mode is Important

Before you submit your print files for production you need to double check that your documents color mode is set to CMYK and not RGB.

If you do not know how to check your documents color mode please contact us. Please note that as you upload art to our "Upload and Preview" tool will actually check the your documents color mode for you and tell you before you can approve it.

What is CMYK:



CMYK is also called 4-color Process. Colors in CMYK images are composed of varying amounts of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. This is the way a printing press prints color, so it is vital that your image be in this color mode. For 1-color Process it needs to be grayscale or bitmap (which only use Black).









What is RGB:

RGB is an abbreviation for Red, Green, and Blue. This is a color system commonly used for monitors, digital cameras, televisions, etc. This color system works well for DIGITAL items but not for printing ink on paper. You MUST convert your files from RGB to CMYK prior to uploading your files. You will notice that some colors (especially fluorescents), will convert to a much darker color. It is important you handle the conversion on your end so have a realistic idea of what can print, and choose your colors accordingly. Even better is to begin your new document in CMYK to avoid having to convert later.











Using "Rich" Blacks with Process Black:

When designing for printing, it is good form to set all of your black elements (except for black text on white) to process black instead of just 100% K. This will give your finished piece the darkest blacks achievable in one press run.









Why you dont design in RGB:

When designing in RGB for print you may get unexpected results from what you see on your screen to what actually comes out in print. For Example, the blue on top is in RGB and will look very blue on your screen, however, when it is converted to CMYK it will be very high in Cyan, and Magenta. Almost 100% for both, and as everyone knows when you mix red and blue you get purple. So because your piece was not designed in CMYK your finished printed piece may result in looking purple. This is not the only example of color shifting but is probably the most common. This is not an issue with the printing but an issue that needed to be addressed when the piece was being designed.






 

Set your fonts so they dont change on you.

Most computers have a similar set of "core" fonts. Arial, Verdana, Tahoma and Etc... However, most designs do not consist of these common fonts and even if they do they may be named differently on your system than on another computer system. When you have designed a piece and send it to your printer, the printer will open up your file and may see an entirely different layout than you intended. This is because of a discrepancy in fonts. If you have different font types or have differently named fonts our system will substitute the type with a different font, unintentionally changing the layout.

To avoid this font issue altogether it is important to "Set your Fonts". (your program may call it Type or Text or Fonts)
To do this you will want to do the following:

1. Open your Art File in your Design Program
2. Unlock all of your design elements and layers
3. Select only your Type / Text / Fonts, make sure to select all of them.
4. Set your fonts.

"Setting your Fonts" means different things in different programs. It can mean "Converting to Outlines" or "Converting to Shapes" or "Converting to Curves". In Illustrator or InDesign it will be called "Converting to Outlines". In Photoshop it will be called "Converting to Shapes" or "Rasterizing Text". In Corel it should be called "Converting to Curves". If you are not using one of these programs to design for print you are probably going to have problems with the majority of our 5 "Print Ready" guidelines.




Here you see some examples of what text might look like in your program. In examples A & B you are able to edit your text. Save this file so you alway have a version that you can go back to and edit. Once your "Editable" file is saved, proceed to select all type and convert it to outlines. Once you have done this save this as a different "Non-Editable" file. This will be your print file.

Setting Your Fonts in Adobe programs:
(If you do not see your design program here please call in for instructions. *If you are using any kind of Microsoft Program at all you will not be able to prepare your file for print and you will require set-up by our staff.)

• Illustrator
• InDesign
• Photoshop

Type Tip for Designers:

Its important to maintain legible type in your finished printed piece. A common mistake in design is the use of type or hairlines that do not print clearly and end up being illegible. To avoid this issue, stay away from type sizes smaller than 6 pts and lines (rules) thinner than .25pt. Type smaller than 6 pts is difficult to read anyways and finer details will be difficult to hold on press. Typical body copy should run between 9 and 12 pts in size for maximum readability. Use caution when using "reversed out" copy ( text that is a light color running across a darker area) because the darker area tends to bleed into the lighter text area on press. It is recommended that you use at least 6 pt type and sans serif fonts in these instances.




Set your Fonts in Illustrator:


1. When your document is complete and it is ready for printing you need to convert all type to outlines.

2. Before doing this make sure to save a seperate editable verison of the document without all of the type in outlines. Just in case you need to come back and edit it or revise it later.

3. In your document select all text objects. Or simply Select all.

4. Go to type. Then to Create Outlines.


To the left is a before and after image of how the the appearance of the type will change. When the type is not outlined it is simply underlined indicating it is editable. When it is outlined the blue line outlines the curves of the text and it is no longer underlined.













Set your Fonts in InDesign:


1. When your document is complete and it is ready for printing you need to convert all type to outlines.

2. Before doing this make sure to save a seperate editable verison of the document without all of the type in outlines. Just in case you need to come back and edit it or revise it later.

3. In your document select all text objects. Or simply Select all.

4. Go to type. Then to Create Outlines.


To the left is a before and after image of how the the appearance of the type will change. When the type is not outlined it is simply underlined indicating it is editable. When it is outlined the blue line outlines the curves of the text and it is no longer underlined.










Setting your fonts in Photoshop:

There are two methods of "Setting your Fonts" in Photoshop.

1. Rasterizing Type
2. Converting to Shapes

Rasterizing Type:
1. When your document is complete and it is ready for printing flatten/rasterize all of the type in the document.

2. Before doing this make sure to save a seperate editable verison of the document without all of the type in outlines. Just in case you need to come back and edit it or revise it later.

3. In your document select all text objects. Or simply Select all.

4. To do this select the type layer to be rasterized. Go to Type > Rasterize > Type.


To the left is a before and after image of how the the appearance of the type will change in the layers palette. When the type is not flattened it will look like the highlighted blue layer with the capial T. This indicates that it is editable. When it is flattened the text longer has the capital T.








Converting to Shapes:(Recommended)
1. When your document is complete and it is ready for printing please convert all of the type in the document to Shapes.

2. Before doing this make sure to save a seperate editable verison of the document without all of the type in shapes. Just in case you need to come back and edit it or revise it later.

3. In your document select all text objects. Or simply Select all.

4. Go to layer then select "type" option.From here you select the "Convert to Shape" option.






 

Keep your Images Clean

Any images that you include in your design need to be high resolution. A resolution of 300 dpi is perfect for printing. Anything lower than 300 dpi will print poorly and anything too much higher than that will make your file size heavy. As a rule never use images from the web unless you have measured them and they are a very high resolution. Almost all images from the web are low res and print around 72 dpi. DPI stands for dots per inch. This can also be written as PPI or pixels per inch, however in the printing industry we use DPI because pixels are typically reserved for computer screen monitors and web development.

Image Resolution:



1. Resolution: Be certain to use image resolutions 300 dpi (or ppi) or better for color and grayscale images, and 1,200 dpi (or ppi) for bitmap images. Never use images from the web as they will print poorly 95% of the time due to the resolution being set at 72 dpi.

2. Image quality: Use non-compressed file formats such as TIFF, EPS or native Photoshop files when possible (without compression settings). If you need to use a compressed file format like JPEG in your design, make sure the image is saved with "Maximum Quality" settings. This will prevent loss of image quality during the compression process.









Embed Your Images:

Embedding your images is absolutely crucial. If you have images or files that are "linked" to your file instead of being actually embedded inside your file then those images will not print. In the illustration to the right the image of the surfer at the top has a red X through the image. This is an indication that the image is linked to the art and is not embedded. The second image shows only the bounding box that the image is selected. This indicates that the image has been embedded into the art file. If you use Adobe InDesign or Adobe Illustrator please make sure that all linked images or linked files are embedded before submitting art.










Raster Vs. Vector Art:

Raster Art are images made of pixels. Each pixel is given a position and a value for its color. The larger the image the larger the number of color values necessary, which is why high resolution raster art always makes for big files. JPG, BMP, TIFF, PNG, and GIF are all examples of Raster Art. The Adobe Photoshop program produces for the most part raster art.

Vector Art are images made of lines. These lines are given a position as well however their shape is determined by mathematical equations and since each shape is only one closed line there is only one color value for each shape. This typically reduces the amount of digital imformation required to make the same looking file, in comparison to Raster Art. Furthermore Vector Art files always have sharper edges and clearer text, and it is for this reason that we prefer Illustrator and Indesign to Photoshop. However, Photoshop is a great program, and regardless of your chosen program just make sure that your images are minimum 300 dpi resolution. The difference in your printed product will not be noticeable to the layman.

The image to the right is an extreme close up of the border surrounding it. The top is the actual image saved as raster art for the web, while the bottom is the same thing zoomed into Illustrator. If you were printing obviously the bottom would be preffered.







 

One file for the front and one file for the back.

The easiest of the 5 Guidelines is to make sure that you only have one file for the front and only one file for the back. If your designer has given you an art file where the front and back are in the same pdf then you can simply seperate them out. This rule only applies for two sided documents. (ie. business cards, brochures, postcards, pocket folders etc.) If you are printing an 8 page Catalog, Booklet or above then you may supply a multipage pdf. Nevertheless, here is how to seperate out the front and back file of a multipage pdf.

Open the PDF in Acrobat:



1. Open the pages Tab: As the blue #1 to the left illustrates there should be a little pages icon that expands in and out. Expand it out.

2. See Pages: When the pages tab opens you will be able to see the front and back images of your pdf.

3. Select the Backpage: Use the cursor and click on the image named 2. Then hit the delete button on your keyboard.

4. Confirm: When the dialog box opens asking "Are you sure" click on "OK" to proceed with the deletion.

5. Save File: After you have deleted the back part of the pdf save the file BUT MAKE SURE TO SAVE IT WITH "FRONT" in the name of the file. You DO NOT want to save it over the original pdf. Repeat this process for the back file.