Design for Print

Design for Print

If you’re a designer who focuses on the digital platform but received a job that will need to be set up print-ready, have no fear. I am here to guide you through it.

I have been a designer in the print industry for a little more than 2 years now. If you’re thinking it’s simple, after all, you have been designing for some time, you’re wrong.

As a designer for printing, I have maybe once or twice in my career received actual print ready files from designers. There are a different set of rules accompanying designs for print. All designs that are meant for printing will be run through a software program that will preflight your work and check if it will print fine at a print factory.

There are various elements within a design that must pass the check, otherwise some things may go wrong with the printing process and the final product.

Here are the simple steps to remember when setting up for print:

  1. Forget your pixels and start thinking in mm. This is the unit used at the print shop when quoting and printing.
  2. Adding a safe zone within your artwork is just as important as adding a bleed – 3mm (per side) outside the final document size for bleed, and 3mm within the document. This makes sure that nothing important is cut off or no white will be on the edges of the final product.
  3. CMYK is your friend. No printer will accept RGB coloured artwork.
  4. Transparencies can result in the printer not reading it, and therefore not printing it.  A PNG image is fine; however, an image added onto the document withany thing less than a 100% opacity will run the risk of not printing. To combat this, you will have to select the transparent object and rasterize it. Better safe than sorry.
  5. Gradients in the artwork are a mixed bag. Personally, I would rather rasterize it as well. The preflight software will have an issue with it; however, I have sent it in to print without that step with no issues. Check with your printing company. 
  6. Convert your font to curves/outlines. Not all printers have the font you use and that will be problematic, save time and convert it. 

These are the basic tips for anyone who needs to send anything in for print. There are more aspects to print such as Pantones, overprinting, and quick setup in Adobe Acrobat but those will usually be circumstantial.