Setting up for Print
Mistakes you need to avoid
Bleed & crop marks
When setting up files for print it essential to have ‘bleed’ and crop marks as explained below:
Most printing presses cannot print right up to the edge of a page – they need an edge to grip the paper on.
So, if we want to print the above photo to fill A4 landscape, (A4 is delineated here by the white line (not printed), we must print it on a page larger than A4.
So the photo extends beyond the A4 box
And then we trim it down to A4 after it has been printed. Crop marks show where to cut.
Image resolution too low
Image resolutions for print need to be between 300 pixels per inch (ppi) and 400 ppi. It really depends on the print service that is to be used. Setting the ppi too high can cause problems, but the major error some people make is setting the resolution too low. The common mix-up is using a 72 ppi (pixels per inch) image instead of one that is 300 ppi or higher. Another common mistake is using a 72 ppi image that originated on the internet, and using it for print by enlarging it. No! No! No!
The only exception to this is if an image that was initially intended for the web was four-times the size as what is required for print. This could then be reduced to one-quarter file size dimensions. However, this wouldn’t solve the colour problem, which is outlined next. Images for web will use an sRGB colour space. When converted to a CMYK colour space, a lot of data will be lost and the colour conversion may not go well – it depends on the image used. If you have the copyright permission to use an image in this way, though, just be careful that its converted professionally.
Quiet borders
A quiet border is a sort of “buffer” area, where no text or defined elements (such as logos) should be located. In general, a quiet border should be at least 5mm (nearly 1/4 inch) from the edge of the document. In the examples below, the edge of the document is shown in black.
Convert all colours to cmyk
If you don’t know the difference between RGB and CMYK, you shouldn’t be sending anything to print at all—learn the basics before making an expensive error. You should make sure that you don’t forget to convert images to CMYK. Yes, modern PDF standards do convert RGB to CMYK automatically upon saving (or should), but the conversion may throw your colour all over the place. To be sure, convert profiles after either working in RGB or if you’re using digital photos.
Using .gif or .png file formats
Don’t use the gif file format for printing.
.gif and .png files are on-screen-only file formats.
They are not intended for print and will not print well, so no wonder this is one of the major printing mistakes that can be made. This is because they have been developed to handle 72 ppi, whereas images for print need to be in the 300-400 dpi range. For very small images in print, you may get away with it, but get into the practice of using .tiff images when designing for printed material. You may be able to get away with using .jpeg files for print (if they are saved at very high quality), but every job is different and requires varied image-standards depending on application.
A guide to paper sizes
Standard paper sizes go from A10 to A0. As the number goes up the size goes down e.g. A7 is half A6, which is half A5, which is half A4 and so on. The graphic below gives you a visual idea of size and scale.
A4 is 210mm x 297mm and is the standard size for magazine pages, letterheads etc. A3 then is double that at 297mm x 420mm and so on. The table below gives you the dimensions of the more common A sizes in millimetres
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