Few things are more frustrating than opening a box of freshly printed leaflets and finding the logo is fuzzy, the colours look muddy and someone’s phone number has a typo in it. Five thousand copies of a mistake is an expensive way to learn about print. Getting print artwork right first time is mostly about preparation.
The good news is that most print problems come from a small number of causes, and they’re all avoidable. You don’t need to become a designer to prevent them. You just need to know what printers need and what to check before you approve anything.
This guide covers the essentials for print and signage artwork, from business cards to shop signs, written for the person who has to sign off the job rather than the person using the design software. Autumn is a busy time for printed materials ahead of the final quarter, so it’s worth getting the process straight before the rush.
Start with the printer’s specification
Every printer and sign maker has their own requirements. Before any design work starts, get their print artwork specification. It will usually tell you:
- The finished size of the item.
- How much bleed they need.
- The safe area to keep text inside.
- The resolution required for images.
- The colour mode and any colour profile.
- The file format they want, usually a print-ready PDF.
Setting up print artwork to the wrong specification is one of the most common causes of delays. It’s far easier to set up a file correctly at the start than to adjust it later.
Understand bleed and safe areas
Printers don’t print on exactly the right size of paper. They print on larger sheets and trim them down. The trimming isn’t perfectly precise, so print artwork needs some margin for error in both directions.
- Bleed is extra artwork that extends beyond the trim line, so if the cut is slightly out, there’s no white sliver at the edge. A few millimetres is common, often 3mm, but check your printer’s specification.
- Safe area is a margin inside the trim line where important content like text and logos should stay, so nothing gets clipped.
If your design has colour or images running to the edge, it needs bleed. If your text is right up against the edge, it’s at risk.
Get image resolution right
Screens are forgiving. Print is not. An image that looks sharp on your website may look soft or pixelated when printed.
For most small printed items viewed up close, such as leaflets, brochures and business cards, images are typically needed at around 300 pixels per inch at the size they’ll be printed. Large format items like banners and signs are viewed from further away, so they can often use a lower resolution. Your printer will advise.
A few practical rules:
- Don’t take images from your website or social media for print. They’re usually too small.
- Don’t enlarge a small image to make it bigger. It won’t add detail.
- Ask your photographer for full-resolution originals.
Use vector logos
Your logo should be supplied as a vector file, usually in formats such as AI, EPS, SVG or a vector PDF. Vector artwork can be scaled to any size without losing quality, which matters enormously for signage and vehicle graphics. If you only have your logo as a small JPEG or PNG, ask whoever designed it for the original files. If they’re lost, it’s worth having the logo redrawn properly.
Understand colour
Screens display colour using light, in a mode called RGB. Most printing uses four inks, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, known as CMYK. Some bright screen colours, particularly vivid greens, blues and oranges, simply can’t be reproduced exactly in CMYK. They’ll look duller on paper.
Things that help:
- Print artwork should be set up in CMYK, or supplied in the way your printer’s specification asks.
- If exact brand colour matters, your brand guidelines should include CMYK values and, ideally, Pantone references for spot colour printing.
- Different paper stocks change how colour looks. Uncoated paper tends to make colours appear softer than coated paper.
- For important jobs, ask for a printed proof rather than relying on your screen.
Your screen is not a reliable guide to printed colour. If colour really matters, see it on paper before approving the full run.
Handle fonts properly
If the printer’s computer doesn’t have your fonts, text can change or disappear. Print-ready PDFs should have fonts embedded, or text converted to outlines. Your designer will know how to do this. Also watch small text: very fine or small type can fill in or become hard to read, especially on textured paper or when printed in several colours.
Signage has its own rules
Signs are read quickly, at a distance, often by people who are moving. That changes how artwork should be designed.
- Keep it short. Name, what you do, and one way to contact you is often enough.
- Size text for the viewing distance. Text that works on a leaflet is invisible across a road. Your sign maker can advise on sensible letter heights.
- Use strong contrast. Dark on light or light on dark. Subtle colour combinations disappear in bad weather or low light.
- Consider materials and lighting. Colours can look different on vinyl, acrylic, metal or illuminated panels.
- Check the rules. Some external signs, especially illuminated or larger ones, may need advertisement consent from your local council, and listed buildings or conservation areas have additional controls. Check before ordering.
For signage and vehicle graphics, measure carefully and ask the supplier to survey the site or vehicle if you can. A sign designed for the wrong dimensions is a costly mistake.
Proofread like it’s going to cost you money
Because it will. Before approving any print artwork:
- Read every word, slowly, ideally printed out.
- Get someone who didn’t write the text to read it too.
- Call every phone number and type every web address.
- Check prices, dates, opening hours and addresses against the source.
- Check logos and certification marks are current and used correctly.
Once you approve a proof, errors are usually your responsibility, not the printer’s.
Print artwork and signage checklist
- We have the printer or sign maker’s artwork specification.
- The artwork is set to the correct finished size.
- Bleed is included where artwork runs to the edge.
- All text and logos are within the safe area.
- Images are high enough resolution for the printed size.
- Logos are supplied as vector files.
- Colour is set up as the printer requires, with brand CMYK or Pantone values used.
- A printed proof has been requested for colour-critical jobs.
- Fonts are embedded or outlined.
- Signage text is short, high contrast and sized for viewing distance.
- We’ve checked whether signage needs council consent.
- Measurements for signs and vehicles are confirmed.
- Every word, number and web address has been checked by two people.
Leave it with us
If you’d rather not worry about bleed and colour profiles, our print design team prepares artwork to each supplier’s specification, and our signage service covers design, production and installation.
