Format Your Print Files Like A Pro (With These 10 Tips)
1. Start with the right program
The ideal format for creating your print files is a vector file. Software programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Inkscape can be used to create vector files. Alternative programs such as Photoshop and InDesign are great for putting together photos and setting up layouts for booklets; however, the preferred method for creating vector files is through Illustrator or Inkscape.
2. Check your color mode
There are two color modes that are used to design: CMYK and RGB. When creating graphics for print, you should use CMYK. When creating graphics that will be used digitally, you should use RGB.
3. Make it bleed
Seriously, though. Bleed is the additional portion of your image that goes outside of the finished size of your design. It is important to have bleed for a few reasons:
1) because when your design is being cut, bleed will help eliminate white or empty spaces at the edges of your design.
2) because of human error. Running a press can be tricky, especially when the design is intricate or very detailed. Bleed helps minimize the mistakes that may occur during finishing.
3) because the in-house designer will thank you. 9 times out of 10, the files received for print have to be edited to meet pre-press checks. Without bleed, it will take longer for your design to be produced.
Ideally, you should have at least 0.25″ of bleed. If you are designing a banner or a complex decal – be sure to ask the in-house designer how much bleed they will need.
4. Include your spot colors
If your design has to meet a specific guideline for your brand, be sure to list your spot or Pantone colors. Production artists use the Pantone Matching System (PMS) colors to ensure that your design prints as vibrantly as possible. If for any reason there is a change or the color doesn’t match, listing your spot colors will help your printer make sure everything is produced correctly.
5. Outline your fonts
Every designer has a library of fonts (and some they just have because they look nice but never use). When you send your files to print there is no guarantee that your printer will have the same fonts that are in your system. So, the easiest way to make sure that your text and content will look the same when it prints is to convert your fonts to outlines.
Step 1: Select the text you want to convert.
Step 2: From the menu, choose Type > Create Outlines.
You can also press Ctrl/Command (Windows/Mac) + Shift + O for this.
6. Design your die lines
A die line is the part of your design that shows where your art “dies” so to speak. Just kidding – but not really. The term actually comes from the process of creating a steel rule die that printers would use to cut a design to shape before the creation of automated routers. For designers, it signifies to the printer where your design should end. Die lines can vary from simple to complex structures – it can be square for business cards or even multidimensional for cartons and boxes. Either way, make sure your die line is clearly indicated when sending your design to print.
7. Use high-resolution photos
As a standard, your photos should be 300dpi for high-resolution prints. If you want to keep your photos at a high-resolution, there are a few ways you can submit them to your printer:
Put them on an external thumb drive
Use a your printer’s FTP
Send the photos through WeTransfer
It’s important to avoid compressing your photos – which is what happens when you send them from your phone or through email. Depending on the size of your image, a lower resolution may be acceptable. In any case, it’s better to make sure you have the highest quality possible for your images to make sure they print clearly.
8. Send multiple formats
As a general rule, it’s better to have something and not need it than need it and not have it. The same goes for your print files. If you send just your print file as a pdf or ai, then that’s fine. But if you send both, then its a win-win for everyone. Sending multiple formats helps the in-house designer troubleshoot if necessary. Say for instance, you forget to embed a link (it happens to the best of us) and it doesn’t appear on the print. Without an additional file to reference, there isn’t a way for the printer to check or verify that your design looks the way it is supposed to during production.
9. Communicate with the in-house designer
I cannot stress this tip enough. Communication is key to understanding one another. If you have a question or if you are unsure about how to design your layout for production, do not be afraid to speak to the in-house designer and make sure that your files are formatted correctly.
10. Request a sample
When you send a design off for production, you can ask the printer for a press proof in addition to a digital proof. A press proof can be a great way to make sure that your design looks the way you want it to before the final print run.