Bleed is the extra area extending beyond the final trim size of a design. It ensures that no unwanted white edges appear when the printed piece is cut. We recommend a 0.25″ bleed on all four sides to account for slight variations in the trimming process during manufacturing.
Bleed ensures that the final print doesn’t have any white edges, your design will cover the entire print surface, even if the trimming process is slightly off-center.
To add bleed, simply extend your design 0.25″ on each side. For example, if your final print size is 8.5″ x 11″, your exported design should be 9″ x 11.5″ (0.25″ bleed on the top edge, 0.25″ bleed on the bottom edge, 0.25″ bleed on the left edge, and 0.25″ bleed on the right edge). This extra space ensures the design reaches the edge after trimming, preventing unwanted white borders.
Note: Anything outside the bleed area will be trimmed off during production. The bleed is intended only for non-essential design elements like background colors, patterns, or images that extend to the edge of the page. Avoid placing important content such as text or logos within the bleed area, as it may be cut off.
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) is the color model used for print, as it reflects how colors are created with ink. RGB (Red, Green, Blue), used for screens, is not suitable for print because it cannot replicate certain print colors.
Always convert RGB files to CMYK before exporting your print files, to ensure the colors will print accurately.
Proofing allows you to verify how your design will look when printed. Soft proofing involves checking your design on-screen with color simulation tools, while hard proofing provides a physical print sample to review; both methods help ensure that colors match your expectations before the final print run.
We use soft proofing for most projects, allowing you to review colors and designs digitally before printing. If needed, you can request a hard proof for a more accurate preview of the final result—just ask our team. Our goal is to ensure your final print meets your expectations with the highest accuracy.
DPI (dots per inch) refers to the number of tiny dots a printer places within one inch of a printed image. Higher DPI means more detail and sharper images. For high-quality prints, 300 DPI is the standard because it provides crisp, professional results.
For the best print quality, use PDF, SVG, EPS, or AI file formats, as they preserve sharp details and color accuracy. Avoid using JPEG for final print files because it compresses the image, reducing quality and potentially causing blurry or pixelated prints.
Our team prefers PDFs as they are the most common choice since they maintain resolution, fonts, and layout exactly as intended.
To avoid font-related issues during printing, embed fonts in your PDFs or convert text to outlines. This ensures the text appears correctly, even if the font is unavailable on the printer’s system, preventing unwanted substitutions or formatting errors.
For readability, it’s important to follow minimum font size guidelines. For body text, a size of 6-8 pt is recommended, while headings should be larger for better clarity. For wide-format, we recommend a minimum of 8pt for the wide-format department. Keep in mind that very small fonts may become difficult to read, especially in print, so always test the legibility before finalizing your design.
When creating deep black areas in your design, use rich black (a mix of CMYK values like 60% Cyan, 40% Magenta, 40% Yellow, and 100% Black or 75% Cyan, 68% Magenta, 67% Yellow, 90% Black) for a deeper, more consistent color. Pure black (100% Black) can sometimes appear dull or flat, especially on large areas. Using rich black helps achieve a richer, fuller black in your print materials.
Common “rich black” color mixtures:
1: 60% Cyan, 40% Magenta, 40% Yellow, and 100% Black
2: 75% Cyan, 68% Magenta, 67% Yellow, 90% Black)
