File Preparation: How to Set Up Files For Best Print Results
To achieve a professional finish, your artwork must be configured correctly before it reaches our presses. Follow this technical guide to ensure your images and text remain sharp and colour-accurate.
The quality of your final print is directly determined by the resolution of the images within your file.
Standard Resolution: We recommend a standard of 300 dpi (dots per inch).
Low Quality Warning: Using images at 72–96 dpi (standard for websites) will result in pixelated or blurry prints.
File Optimisation: Any files provided at more than 450 dpi will be automatically reduced to 300 dpi during our production process to ensure efficient processing.
Pro Tip: Always ensure your images are at the correct size or larger before placing them into your design.
Printing uses a four-colour process that differs significantly from how colours are displayed on a screen.
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black): This is the required colour mode for printing. Tiny dots of these four inks combine to create your images.
RGB (Red, Green, Blue): This mode is for screen use only.
Colour Shifts: We strongly suggest using CMYK mode from the start. Any RGB images submitted will be converted to CMYK automatically, which may result in a noticeable colour shift.
To keep your text legible and prevent "missing font" errors, please adhere to these typography standards.
Minimum Font Size: We recommend a minimum font size of 5pt.
Small Text Sharpness: For very small text (between 5pt and 7pt), set the colour to 100% black to ensure it remains sharp and readable.
Outlining and Embedding: To ensure your text looks exactly as intended, you must either embed all fonts when exporting your PDF or convert them to paths/outlines.
