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How to prepare your designs for print | Quality Printing London
18 January 2018
Designing an item for print is not always as simple as just putting an image file together in photoshop. There are a number of additional factors to be considered when designing for print and that is where we are here to help! Follow our tips below on how to ensure your files are print-ready and become your printer’s new favourite client…
Set up your colour for print
Computers use an RGB colour display system but printers do not print in RGB. This means that if you are setting up your files for printing your first step should be to convert your artwork document from RGB to CMYK.
Often we are asked why printed colours appear different from colours when viewed on screen and this is part of the reason why!
Make sure you have the correct bleeds
The artwork for your printed items will require a bleed added to each side. The amount of bleed will be dependent on your printer but it is likely to be at least 3mm. The bleed is added to allow for a tolerance of 1 – 2 mm when the items are cut down. All good design software should allow you to easily incorporate a bleed to your artwork but if not your printer should be able to help.
Ensure your images are high-resolution
Your printer will ask you to supply your artwork for printing in high resolution. To check the resolution you need to pay attention to the dpi (dots per inch) setting. The standard setting for high-quality print is 300dpi so it is probably worth setting your design software to 300dpi as default.
Note that whilst files may look okay on screen they can come back blurry after printing if the resolution is not high enough.
Provide your file in the correct format
It is best to ask your printer what format they would like you to supply your artwork files in. Although they may be able to convert the files for you, artwork can display differently in different software programmes and sometimes details can slip off when converting files between different formats. If you supply the files in the format requested you can be sure your artwork will be printed as you want it.
To enquire about our printing services please call us today on 020 7582 6500 or email us at sales@solways.co.uk. We would also be delighted to meet you and discuss your project in person, please contact us to make an appointment.
Solways Printers offers print processes away from the mainstream. Our specialties encompass specialist print processes: duplexed (THICK) business cards, triplexed (EXTRA THICK) business cards, watermarking, foil blocking, embossing, digital embossing, Indigo digital, die-cutting, thermography, lithography, Book production and Magazines.
