The print-ready file checklist for trade orders
Bleed, safe zone, resolution, colour and fonts: the six checks that keep a job moving from proof to press without a resubmit.
Most delays on a trade order happen before the press ever turns: a file arrives without bleed, an image is low resolution, or a font is missing. Every file we receive is checked and proofed, but the cleaner it arrives, the sooner it prints. Run through these six checks before you send it.
1. Bleed on every edge
Anything that touches the edge of the finished piece must extend past it. Add 0.125 in (3 mm) of bleed on every side, so a 3.5 × 2 in business card is built at 3.75 × 2.25 in. Without it, a slight shift in cutting leaves a thin white line on the edge.
2. A safe zone inside the trim
Keep text and logos at least 0.125 in inside the trim line. Cutting has a small tolerance, and anything right on the edge can be clipped.
3. Images at 300 dpi
Photos should be 300 dpi at the size they print. An image pulled from a website is usually 72 dpi: it looks fine on screen and soft on paper. Large format is the exception: banners and signs viewed from a distance print well at 100 to 150 dpi at full size.
4. CMYK, and Pantone only where you mean it
Presses print in cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Convert RGB images to CMYK before you export so there are no colour surprises. If a brand colour must match exactly, specify the Pantone colour in the quote request so it runs as a spot colour, rather than a CMYK build.
5. Rich black for large areas, plain black for text
For large black backgrounds use a rich black (for example C60 M40 Y40 K100) so it prints deep rather than grey. Keep small text in plain 100% K, so it stays sharp.
6. Fonts outlined or embedded
Export a PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 with every font embedded, or convert type to outlines. A missing font is the most common reason a proof comes back looking wrong.
Sending the file
Put the PDF in a shared folder (Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer or your own server) and paste the link into your quote request in the dashboard. Our prepress team checks it and replies with a proof or with anything that needs fixing.
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