Artwork guide
Send a file that prints right first time.
Five minutes here saves a day of back and forth. We check every file anyway, but these are the things we look for.
- 3 mmbleed
- 300dpi
- CMYKcolour
Trim, bleed and safe zone
Trim is the finished size, where we cut. A blade can move a fraction of a millimetre, so two more lines keep your design safe.
Bleed: carry backgrounds and images 3 mm past the trim on every side. We cut through it, so colour reaches the very edge with no white line.
Safe zone: keep text, logos and anything important at least 3 mm inside the trim, so nothing gets clipped.
An A5 flyer is 148 × 210 mm trimmed, so your file should be 154 × 216 mm with bleed.
File types
- PDF
Preferred. Export as PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 with bleed and crop marks off.
- AI · EPS
Fine for logos and vector artwork. Outline your fonts.
- TIFF · PSD
Good for photo-heavy designs. Flatten layers.
- PNG · JPG
Accepted. Check the resolution at the printed size first.
Files up to 500 MB upload directly.
Resolution
| Product | Minimum at printed size | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Business cards, flyers, stickers | 300 dpi | Seen up close, in your hand. |
| Banners and signage | 100 dpi | Seen from a few metres away. |
Quick maths: an image 2,480 pixels wide prints at 300 dpi across an A4 page (210 mm). The same image on a 1 metre banner is about 63 dpi, which will look soft.
Colour
Presses print with four inks: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Screens use light (RGB), which can show brighter colours than ink can reach. Design in CMYK so there are no surprises; if you send RGB we convert it, and vivid greens and blues may print a little duller.
Before you upload
- The page size matches the product, for example 210 × 297 mm for A4.
- Artwork runs 3 mm past the edge on every side.
- Text and logos sit at least 3 mm inside the trim line.
- Images are 300 dpi at printed size (100 dpi for banners).
- The file is in CMYK, with fonts embedded or outlined.
- Double-sided jobs have one page per side, in order.
Ready? Price your job, then upload your file.
Upload after choosing your options and you see quick checks straight away, with your artwork on the product.