How to set up a print file.

1. The right shape

Build the artwork at the finished size of the thing you ordered, or at least the same proportions. A 3 x 6 foot banner is twice as wide as it is tall; a design made for a phone screen or a letter page is not, and scaled to fit it leaves empty space on two sides. This is the single most common reason a file comes back to its owner.

2. Enough resolution, at the finished size

Resolution only means something at the size it prints. The same photo can be sharp on a postcard and blurry on a banner.

• Held in the hand (business cards, postcards, flyers, door hangers, push cards): about 300 DPI at the finished size.
• Seen from across a room or a street (banners, yard signs): 100 to 150 DPI at the finished size.

A logo saved off a website is usually a few hundred pixels wide, which is fine for a business card and nowhere near enough for a banner. If you have the logo as a vector file (PDF, AI, EPS or SVG), send that: vector artwork prints sharp at any size.

3. Bleed, if anything touches the edge

Printed sheets are trimmed after printing, and trimming is never perfect to the hair. If color or a photo runs to the edge, extend it past the edge so a small drift cannot leave a white line:

• 1/8 inch on every side for cards, flyers, postcards and door hangers.
• 1/2 inch on every side for banners.

Keep anything that must not be cut, like text, phone numbers and logos, at least 1/8 inch inside the finished edge (an inch or more on banners, where grommets go).

4. Print color, not screen color

Screens mix light (RGB); presses lay down ink (CMYK). An RGB file is converted at the press, and the brightest blues, greens and oranges are the colors that shift. Exporting as CMYK lets you see the real color before it is too late to change it. If your software does not offer CMYK, send the file anyway and we will show you the converted color on the proof.

5. Type that cannot change

Fonts must be embedded in the PDF or converted to outlines, or the press substitutes a different one and your line breaks move. Most programs embed fonts automatically when you export a PDF for print.

Exporting from the usual places

• Canva: Share, then Download, then PDF Print, and tick Crop marks and bleed.
• Adobe Illustrator or InDesign: export a PDF using the High Quality Print or PDF/X-4 preset, with bleed set in the Marks and Bleeds panel.
• Affinity Designer or Publisher: export PDF (press ready), include bleed, and turn on Convert image color spaces.
• Word, Pages or a photo: send it as it is. We will tell you whether it works or what it needs.

Campaign and mailing pieces

Political pieces need the committee's "Paid for by" disclosure, and mailings over 200 pieces have their own rules about where it goes. See campaign printing. For Every Door Direct Mail, leave the top right corner clear for the postal markings; we confirm the exact space on the proof.

Questions