How to set up artwork for print: bleed, CMYK and resolution
Print-ready artwork has four things sorted: 3mm bleed, CMYK colour, images at 300dpi, and fonts outlined or embedded. Get these right and your job prints exactly as you designed it — miss them and you risk white edges, colour shifts or blurry images.
Bleed (3mm)
If your design has colour or images running to the edge, extend them 3mm past the trim line. Printers cut through a stack of sheets, and that little extra means no thin white slivers if the cut moves a hair. Keep important text about 3–5mm inside the trim too — this inner margin is called the safe zone, and it stops logos or phone numbers being clipped. So an A5 flyer with bleed is set up at 154 × 216mm, trimming back to 148 × 210mm.
CMYK colour
Screens use RGB light; printing uses CMYK ink. Design (or export) in CMYK so the colours you see are close to what prints. Bright RGB blues and greens are the usual ones to shift if you leave a file in RGB — a vivid screen blue can print noticeably duller or more purple. If brand colour is critical, quote the Pantone reference or the exact CMYK build so we can match it. Solid blacks are worth a mention too: for large black areas use a “rich black” (for example C40 M30 Y30 K100) rather than plain K100, which can look washed out.
Resolution (300dpi)
Images should be 300dpi at the final print size. A picture that looks crisp on screen can print blurry if it is low-resolution — screens only need 72dpi, so a web image dropped straight into a flyer often prints soft. The catch is that scaling a small image up does not add detail; it just spreads the existing pixels. For large posters, 150dpi at size can be enough because you view them from further away. Logos and line art are best supplied as vector (AI, EPS or PDF) so they stay razor-sharp at any size.
Fonts
Outline your fonts (convert them to shapes) or embed them in the PDF, so your typefaces do not get substituted on our end. Outlining is the safest route because it locks the type in place regardless of what fonts we have. The one downside is you can no longer edit the text once it is outlined, so keep an editable master copy for yourself.
Exporting the file
A press-ready PDF is the format we prefer — it packages the layout, images and fonts into one reliable file. In most design programs, export as PDF using a print or “PDF/X” preset, with bleed switched on and crop marks optional. Avoid supplying artwork as a Word document or a low-res JPEG where you can; those are the files most likely to reflow or print soft. If you only have a Word file, send it anyway and we will advise.
Common mistakes we catch
- No bleed on a full-colour design, leaving white edges after trimming.
- RGB images left in the file, so colours shift on press.
- Low-resolution logos pulled from a website.
- Text too close to the trim, risking a clipped line.
- Spelling and phone numbers — we cannot proof your copy, so read it twice before sending.
Colour proofing and expectations
The colour on your screen will never match print exactly, because a backlit monitor shows more vivid colour than ink on paper ever can. Designing in CMYK gets you close, but if an exact colour is critical — a brand blue, a corporate red — ask for a printed proof before we run the full job. A proof shows the real colour on the real stock, and it is far cheaper than reprinting a whole run that came out a shade off. Bear in mind coated and uncoated papers take ink differently too: the same file prints slightly richer on coated stock and a touch softer on uncoated.
Supplying a multi-page document
For booklets, flyers with a front and back, or anything multi-page, supply the pages in reading order as a single PDF — page one, page two, page three and so on. Do not try to impose or pair up the pages for folding yourself; we handle that at our end. If you send pages as separate files, number them in the file name and flag which side is the front. Getting the order clear up front saves a round of back-and-forth.
Artwork FAQ
What file format should I send?
A press-ready PDF with 3mm bleed is ideal. We also accept native files and high-resolution images, and will tell you if anything needs adjusting.
Do I need crop marks?
They help but are not essential — as long as the bleed is there and the page is the right finished size, we can add trim marks our end.
What if my images are only 72dpi?
We will flag it. Sometimes a higher-resolution original exists; sometimes the design can be adjusted so the low-res image prints smaller and stays sharp.
Can you fix my file if it is not print-ready?
Minor fixes, yes. For bigger issues we will explain what is needed. Either way, nothing goes to press until it is right.
The easy option
Not confident with any of this? Export a PDF and send it over — we do a free artwork check on every job and will flag anything that needs fixing before we print. See our quote page to upload your file, and browse our digital printing services to get started.
