The Complete Guide to Creating Press Ready Print Files

Even the best designers break out in a cold sweat when it comes time to send a project to a printer. There are a ton of moving parts, checklists and details to keep in mind when it comes to getting your project ready for commercial printing. This guide will cover the technical do’s and dont’s, give you tips and best practices and walk you through how to take a project from your computer to the printing press.

How to Plan For Perfect Color Printing

One of the most common issues with professional printing is sending your printer graphics files that is in the wrong color space. Here’s what you need to remember about color before you send your file to your printer.

CMYK not RGB

Your computer uses a color space called RGB to produce the colors you see on your screen. A printing press uses a color space called CMYK to produce similar colors using just four colors of ink: cyan, magenta, yellow and black, also know as 4 color process. When you send your files to a commercial printer, they must be in the CYMK color space.

This is so important that we have a whole page dedicated to RGB vs CMYK color space if you want to learn more.

Here’s how you change your color space in InDesign: When you create a new document, the color space changes based on your intent.

You can also change the color space in the Color Panel.

Spot Colors

Most of the colors produced in color printing are created by blending just 4 colors of ink: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. But sometimes you need a very specific color. Despite all of the advanced techniques and technology at a professional printer, matching the exact color from printer to printer and even from one order to the next can be a challenge. Consistent color-matching is what separates good printers from great ones.

When you need a very exact color, such as Coca-Cola’s trademarked red or John Deere’s famous green, you’ll need to use a spot color. A spot color is not created by mixing other types of ink, but rather it is made to order for the project at hand. This also means the printer must make an additional plate for the spot color, which usually makes using a spot color more expensive.

If you have to use a spot color, you’re likely using a color from the Pantone Matching System. It is a commonly used system of spot colors that helps press operators achieve the exact same shade, every time. Find a Pantone Color here.

Speciality inks like metallics, neons and unique colors will also have to be run as spot colors.

Spot colors can be expensive for short run orders, but become more economical if you’re doing larger quantities using offset printing.

Viewing spot colors that are blended with other colors, or are somewhat transparent, can be a problem in your page layout program. Make use of Overprint Preview when you’re working with spot colors.

Planning Image Quality for Professional Printing

Low quality and low resolution images produce terrible, ugly, hideous printing but many people don’t understand the relationship between quality and resolution. You must plan for your final output at the beginning of your design, otherwise you’ll be left with an unusable final product.

Print will always look better with higher resolution images. Let’s get clear on what we mean by resolution.

Image resolution is how much data is in a digital image, it is directly related to how many pixels are in the image. When you print an image, you must transfer that data into dots per inch (DPI) which determines the image quality of a printed piece. Usually, 300 DPI is what you’ll need. Most images on your computer are not at 300 DPI, but 72 DPI. This is because 72 DPI looks good on most computers and the files are much easier for the computer to store and display. Be sure to check your images for print quality and insure that they are 300 DPI or higher.

How to Resample Images for Printing

Resizing images can lead to problems when they are printed because the resolution can be unintentionally changed.

When you resample an image, you are changing the amount of data in the image. Downsampling removes data and upsampling adds data. When you make an image smaller than its original size, you are downsampling it, when you make it larger you are upsampling.

You should always avoid upsampling your images. Adding data to an image will usually result in a very poor printed image.

Sometimes you may want to resample an image to change the size that it will print. If you are downsampling, for example, resampling can make the image take up less space. In InDesign, make sure the Resample Image option is checked when you change the size of an image. It is checked by default. When Resample is checked, you change the data in the image when you up or downsample the image.

• Changing pixel dimensions changes the physical size but not the resolution.
• Changing resolution affects the pixel density but not the physical size.
• Changing the physical size changes the pixel density but not resolution.

Note, you can change the resampling method from the default bicubic automatic to other options to change the sharpness or smoothness of the resampled image. Bicubic produces the best results in most cases.

When you uncheck the Resample Image box, the amount of data in the image is unchanged even when you change the size of the image. This has the effect of changing the pixels per inch (PPI) of your image. For commercial printing, you want a rather high PPI value.

• For printing purposes you want 300 PPI or greater.

When sending press ready design files to a printer you should send your images in the highest quality (not fastest) image format possible. Different image formats compress image data differently. PNG and TIFF images work the best for most print projects. JPG images work Ok at 100% quality, but every time the JPG is saved it is recompressed, so the quality can drop quickly if it is saved often at less than maximum quality.

Most images are created using a bitmap, or series of dots, and are called raster images. Vector images are not made of dots, but a shape plotted by points along a mathematically generated path. Vector images can change to any size without losing quality. Popular vector image formats are AI, SVG and EPS formats. When you are printing commercially, vector images are very important.

• Your text should always be in a vector format.
• Line drawings, such as plans or blueprints, should always be in vector format.
• Logos work best in a vector format.

Really, anything that isn’t a photograph will work better as a vector.

When possible, do the following:

• Do not upsample your images.
• Make sure your images are at least 300 PPI (or 300-600 DPI).
• Use vector formats for text, line art and logos.

Use image formats with less compression like PNG, TIFF and maximum quality JPG.

What Are Bleeds? Why are Bleeds Important?

A bleed is printed content that extends beyond the trimmed edge of your final printed piece. Bleeds are important because they allow your artwork to be cut without artifacts. If there is no bleed you may have a small white space around the cut edge. The bleed should be 0.25″ larger than the trim size (0.125″ on all sides). Learn more about bleed. You should design your project within the trim size and add bleed settings in InDesign.

How do You Design for Folds?

If you are printing brochures, catalogs, folded cards, or boxes you’ll need to plan for folds.

• Use guides and the ruler to measure exactly where the fold will happen. Plan your artwork and design accordingly.
• Consider the thickness of your paper and the types of coatings and effects on your finished product, you may need to adjust where folds happen to accommodate paper thickness.
• Balance form and function with your folds, think about how someone will unfold and refold the piece: what do they see first, last and how does it go back together? Learn more about folds.

How to Design Your Project for Binding

Binding is what holds books, magazines, catalogs or pamphlets together. There are many different types of binding, such as coil, wire-o, perfect binding and saddle stitching. When you’re creating a bound piece like a catalog, it is very important to understand pagination. Pagination is how the pages will be ordered in your document so they’ll be printed correctly.

Pagination can be very confusing because the way a document is printed is not exactly the way you look at it in your page layout program. InDesign allows you to switch to a printer spread view or a reader spread view. When you change your document to printer spread view the pages go crazy, and things appear out of order. This is the format that the printing press needs your document to be in so it prints the pages out and folds and binds them properly, a process know as imposition.

You might think that by changing your document to printer spread view that you’re doing the printer a favor. But you aren’t! Keep your document in a reader spread view at all times, modern prepress systems convert your documents correctly so there’s no need for a confusing printer spread.

• Remember to include blank pages so you have the right number of pages for your piece.
• Work with your printer when you’re printing books and catalogs to get the pagination correct.
• Each binding format has a minimum and maximum number of pages and a specific multiple of pages.
• Your printer should provide you with a template that works for your binding method.
• Always ask for a proof, especially with this type of printing project.

Planning for Custom EffectsEmbossing and Debossing

Embossed graphics, text and artwork are pressed upward, giving a 3D texture to a printed piece. Debossing is the opposite, where text or artwork is pushed down into the paper creating an indentation. Both of these custom effects can be created in single-level, multi-level or they can be sculpted. When you get a sculpted emboss/deboss, an artist actually sculpts your artwork out of clay and that is used to make a mold for the project. Sculpted embossing/debossing is more expensive, but can achieve a much higher level of detail.

If you’re using standard (single-level or multi-level) embossing/debossing, be aware that super fine details may not be visible. The thickness (weight) of the paper has an impact too. The thicker the paper, the less fine detail you can achieve.

• The thinnest detail should be twice the thickness of the paper.

Work with your printer to pick the right type of paper and embossing/debossing style to make your project look perfect. Learn more about embossing here.

Die cutting slices your paper up so you have a knocked-out design. Think of it as using a cookie-cutter on your paper to make your text, artwork and designs get cut out of the paper. A die cut uses a metal die that looks a lot like a cookie cutter. This is shaped by hand and because of the limitations of bending metal, standard die cuts must keep at least 1/8th of inch of space between designs. Sharp points may not work well and very small text can lose quality.

If you need finer die cutting that is less than 1/8th” you should consider laser die cutting.

Foil stamping is a very popular way to make text, artwork and logos pop. It is often used to make a seal or award burst off the paper with a golden sheen, but in the hands of a great designer, foil stamping can create true works of art.

There are two types of foil, metallic and matte. Metallic foil can achieve much more detail than matte foil because the surface is literally harder — it has metal flakes in it, giving it more strength. Even so, both types of foil can begin to bleed together and details are lost if you are doing very fine detail or tiny text.

When sending in artwork for foil stamping, try to use vector artwork, not bitmap files. For example, use an Adobe Illustrator EPS or AI file vs a JPG image. Using bitmap artwork can have a negative impact on foil stamping, making it look blocky and lower quality.

Planning for Trimming, Cutting and Shaping Your Printed Piece

Your printed piece is going to be cut and trimmed. Your printing company should help you plan your printing properly, so there isn’t much you need to do to prepare, but here are the industry terms so you can speak fluent printerese.

A bleed is needed when printing extends to the edge of the paper, so when the piece is trimmed or cut to the final size, the artwork goes all they way to the edge. A full bleed describes a print project that has artwork that touches every edge. When in doubt, include bleed in your document.

• Create a bleed that is 0.125″ on all sides.
• If you’re making multi-page InDesign documents add the bleed in document settings.

A margin is the space between the print and the edge of the page, sometimes called the Safe Zone. The margin should be a minimum of 1/16 or .0625″, preferably 0.125″. You just want to make sure your critical artwork or text has a bit of room so it isn’t in danger of being chopped off in the cutting process.

Margins become complicated when you print a bound piece like a catalog or booklet. The size of the margin changes on each page because of the wrap of the sheets of paper around the spine. Check with our printer to make sure you get the correct specs for this before laying it out.

Choosing Paper & Ink

You’ll need to work with your printer to choose the best substrate (paper) for your project. Paper comes in a variety of weights, finishes and coatings.

The paper type and weight can sometimes affect how you prepare your press ready files, especially related to folding and binding, so confirm your paper choice with your printer to make sure any considerations are accommodated.

Paper options can be daunting: here’s what you need to know to get started.

A paper’s weight is, more or less, a measure of its thickness. A higher weight will be sturdier, thicker and firmer. Higher weight papers are great for business cards, bottle-neckers, cards, tags and catalog covers. Lighter weight papers are ideal for brochures, envelopes, stationery and interior pages of catalogs. Higher weight paper is usually more expensive.

There are also premium papers that are made with a high quality texture. They feel great to the touch and are used for some stationery, formal invitations, artwork and important legal documents. Choosing a paper weight means thinking about how your piece will be used. Will it be held? Will it be abused in a wallet or purse? Will it be bound into a thick, hundred page catalog? Is it going to be folded?

Papers also come coated or uncoated. Coated papers have a gloss or matte finish that resists smudges and stains and displays the ink brighter and crisper. This also makes writing on the paper difficult. It’s best used for brochures, some business cards and marketing pieces that need to look higher end and aren’t being used for writing.

Uncoated papers lack this solid surface and are more porous. They are easy to write on, but can get smudged and stained more easily and the ink looks duller. There are also synthetic papers that are totally water and chemical resistant and spill proof. They are perfect for menus, industrial stickers or anything that needs to withstand the elements or outdoor use.

There are also specialty coatings that can be added after a piece is printed. These help protect the entire piece or are used to create eye-catching effects.

UV coating, Spot UV coating and varnish provide a high-gloss or matte look and offer protection and improved visual appeal.

Exporting Your Work for the Printer

If you’d prefer to supply the actual InDesign document to your printer – make sure you package the InDesign file. Zip the entire file and provide that to your printer. Your printer will need all of your images and fonts, so you’ll need to include the entire package not just the Indd file. When packaging, check the boxes shown below.

When exporting a PDF from InDesign:

• Include all pages
• Export the document in pages not spreads
• Either choose “no compression” or choose Bicubic Downsampling on Color and Greyscale images to 300 pixels per inch for images above 450. For Monochrome images set bicubic downsampling to 1200 pixels per inch for images above 1800.
• For marks and bleeds – don’t include any marks, but make sure you check “use document bleed settings” if you included the bleed in your settings. If not, you can specify the .125″ bleed here.

Exporting your press ready file for the printing company is very easy in all modern page layout and design programs. Usually you’d export everything into a PDF but sometimes you may export the entire project including images, fonts and other elements. Here are some tips to keep in mind, many that have already been mentioned:

• Make sure your images are the right DPI (300 or higher) for printing.
• Use vector for text, drawings and logos when possible.
• Don’t export a PDF with security settings and password protection unless your printer is prepared for and can work with that security.
• When in doubt, always choose the highest quality file possible.
• If your project file is too big for email, consider using Dropbox or Google Drive to host the file or see if your printer has a solution for handling large files.

Following these tips will save you time and trouble and make your printer happy, insuring the best possible outcome for your project.

The Basics of Professional Printing

Print isn’t going anywhere.

Think about it: at the end of an exceptionally long day of work, do you feel compelled to get on your computer and read articles online or cozy up on your couch with a book? Have you ever felt sick from staring down at your tablet too long, or squinting into your phone?

Screen time drains our mental resources faster than looking at printed content, and screen content can actually make it harder to consume information in an “intuitive and satisfying way”, according to the Scientific American.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a marketer hoping to stand out from your competition or a business owner looking to reach new customers on a different channel: printed content will always appeal deeply to people from every walk of life.

Here’s a primer on what to expect from (and how to get the most out of) the professional printing process.

The Wide World of Printers

There are a lot of printing options and they can seem overwhelming at first. Some printers, like the old dot matrix, had a short time in the spotlight before being replaced by more attractive options. Meanwhile newer inventions, like 3D printers, may be a bit too expensive for mass use just yet — cool as they are to read about.

We’ve boiled the list down to four main types of printing. Here’s a bit on how each of these methods works, along with which projects they’re best suited for.

Desktop Printing

Chances are you’ve used a desktop printer before. Desktop printers include simple consumer grade printers all the way up to larger, feature-loaded office printers that can crank out thousands of copies at breakneck speed. Desktop printers come in three variations: inkjet printers, laser printers, and photo printers.

Desktop printers are usually small to medium-sized devices that connect to a wireless network or through a cable to receive print jobs from local computers. Most home printers are inkjet printers, which create images on paper by squirting tiny drops of ink onto paper.

Desktop printers are best for simple, one-off projects that can be completed quickly. However, if you need professional quality, a huge volume of content, or custom work, desktop printing isn’t going to cut it. Also, desktop printing can get very expensive — especially if your printer uses one cartridge for all colors, meaning the whole cartridge has to be replaced when one of the colors runs out.

Commercial Digital Printing

Digital printing is like desktop printing on steroids. You can produce just about anything with a modern digital printer, from simple postcard-sized flyers to complex three-dimensional promotional pieces.

Digital printers create printed images using a very similar process to that of a desktop printer. The printed image starts as a digital file, and then the printer deposits toner onto the surface of the paper.

If you need variable data printing or a rush job, digital is the way to go. It’s both fast and cost-effective, since there isn’t much equipment to set up to prepare for a print job. Each piece of a digitally printed run can be different. If you’re printing luxury or high-quality materials, however, digital printing simply won’t look as refined as traditional ink-based printers.

Offset Lithography

An offset lithography machine is what most people imagine when they think about an industrial printing press. It came about in the 1950s and endures today as the most widely-used industrial print process.

In this process, printed images are transferred, or “offset,” from a metal printing plate to a rubber blanket and then rolled onto the printing surface like a stamp. The printing surface is usually, but not always, paper.

Offset lithography can produce enormous volumes of materials that have exceptional quality. It takes longer to set up than digital printing, however, and the process can be very expensive if you’re doing a short print run. This style is best suited for ongoing, large-scale projects that require the best quality.

Dot pattern used in offset lithography to reproduce colors.

Engraving

Engraving is one of the oldest printmaking processes still in use. You may have seen engraving used on wedding invitations or other formal print materials.

Engraving uses finely-carved plates of steel or copper to print an image into paper or another substrate using extreme pressure. This creates a “bruise” on the back side of the printed sheet, serving as a symbol of how genuine the engraving was.

This type of printing is much slower than other processes and is relatively uncommon. It’s best reserved for top-end quality artwork, or for fine typography.

Beyond these four examples, there are plenty of other types of printing processes, including gravure, flexography, thermography, and screen printing.

Professional Printing and Paper

If your print job was a rock concert, your paper would be the lead guitarist. Sure, you could put any old musician up there — but if you want to go down in history, you need your leading player to be a standout.

Don’t skimp on the paper. Here are the main choices you’ll have to make when working with a professional printer:

The weight of the paper measures how thick it is. A high number for weight means you’re looking at thicker paper, and thick paper reacts to ink differently than paper with a lower number for weight.

Thicker, higher weight paper is often called cover stock and can get be as thick as cardboard. Thinner paper, sometimes called text stock, is more like the paper you find in a novel — and can even run as thin as the paper in a phonebook.

Paper can be coated or uncoated. Coated paper tends to make colors more vibrant and produces a sharper look. It’s also glossy and spill-resistant, which makes it a great choice for printed materials that’ll be exposed to the elements — self-mailers, door hangers, and postcards, for example.

Uncoated paper has a matte finish and can be written on. It’s great for business cards, trade show handouts, or other materials that you may want to make notes on. During printing, the ink or toner seeps into uncoated paper, which gives its colors a warm and soft feel.

Color Options: CMYK, RGB, and Pantone

Though CMYK or RGB may sound like the latest acronyms in text-speak, they’re actually two ways of describing color in professional printing.

CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (or black). These four colors make up most print colors, and they’re the main color cartridges you’d buy for a home desktop printer.

Sometimes called a four-color process, CMYK describes the range of colors you can get from combining just these four colors. Though the range you can get from CMYK is pretty impressive, you can mix in Pantone colors to get a five- or even six-color process. CMYK is the gold standard for printing colors and it by far the most common color process.

RGB color is what you see when you look at your computer screen. It’s an additive color model that uses red, green, and blue light to make any combination of colors. While you may create a design in RGB, when it comes time to print that design, you’ll need to convert it to CMYK.

Certain RGB colors cannot be replicated with CMYK inks, which is why people often use the four color printing process (CMYK) to avoid RGB conversion issues. If you have a special color in your logo, you may need to use the Pantone Matching System to meet your specific color requirements.

Pantone^® is a patented, standardized color matching system. Instead of combining variations of CMYK to make a color, the Pantone system features unique colors on their own.

Because the colors are standardized, different manufacturers in different locations can make sure two colors match perfectly by referencing a Pantone number. The result for your brand is ultimate consistency no matter where you print.

With offset printing, you usually need four color plates – one for each color in the CMYK model. With a Pantone system, you may only need one or two plates, which saves you some money.

On the other hand, there are some colors that don’t have Pantone hues to match and may require a combination of CMYK. While the Pantone solid palette consists of an impressive 1,114 colors, CMYK can make almost any color you can imagine.

Because printing offers so many options, it’s a good idea to connect with a company that understands the full suite of possibilities. When you discuss printing, be clear about three things:

If you discuss these concepts clearly with any printing company, they will be able to give you a detailed explanation of your options and potential costs.

Pantone Matching System color swatch book

Customizing and Personalizing Your Printed Materials

No matter what kind of company yours is, printing is one of the most effective methods to display your brand personality and creativity. One way to do that is by printing materials with personalized, variable data.

What’s variable data? Imagine feeding a lead list with names, contact information, and job titles into a printing process so the materials you print have personal names and info on it. You’ve probably seen these pieces in your own mailbox. The personal touch catches your eye and sticks in your memory.

There are other options to make your printed pieces stand out, including:

• Die-cutting, to get a unique shape
• Large format text
• Hot foil stamping
• Embossing
• Specialty inks (glow in the dark, anyone?)
• Specialty papers
• Custom folds
• Custom binding

A combination of several custom print effects can have powerful results, such as a fold out map with personalized directions from your prospect’s home to your store.

Mailing and Distributing Printed Materials

Your print design isn’t worth much if you don’t get it out to customers! The next step is understanding how a printing company can help you actually get the message out.

A commercial printer usually offers various distribution options, including:

• Targeted direct mail
• EDDM, or Every Door Direct Mail
• List management

Think of content distribution like the old “tree falling in the forest” metaphor (if no one’s around, does it make a sound?) In other words, you want to produce beautiful, attention-grabbing content that’s printed cleanly and customized for your prospect — but if you do all of that work and the content never reaches your audience, does it make an impact?

Of course not. That’s why it’s essential that you partner with a printer who can help you deliver your materials to the right people at the right time.

Why Printing Is Important a Marketing Strategy

Consider some of the main approaches that marketing consultants are pitching to clients these days:

• Social media
  The reach is potentially spectacular, but over-saturation is causing organic reach to decline, meaning you’ll have to pay to get people to see your posts. Connection to a company is often weak, and while people may remember the idea of a campaign, they’re not necessarily going to remember the company or what they sell.
• Email marketing
  You might get a message directly into someone’s inbox. Then again, your emails might get lost or sent to a spam folder. Even when email marketing is done right, average open rates are usually only 20% and average click-through rates are 2 — 3%.
• Advertisements
  It can be expensive to buy digital ads, and traditional advertising like commercials and radio don’t offer the same targeting capabilities of other channels.

Printing is a fantastic complement to these digital channels. It gives you flexibility, it’s cost effective, and the end product is a real, tangible thing that people can hold in their hands and remember — even pass on to other potential customers.

Printing has staying power you just won’t find in digital message. Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between the two, and they’re best used in tandem to create clever and effective marketing campaigns.

For more information on print effects, direct mail marketing, and graphic design, check out our Knowledge Center .

Printing for Less has been an industry leader and provider of high-quality, unique printing services since 1996. Though we are a large company with customers across the globe, we treat our customers with the attention and care you’d expect from a luxury printing boutique. From business cards and banners to letterhead, flyers, and beyond — Printing for Less knows printing like no other.

Let’s talk about your project! Our print consultants are available 8am-5pm MT Monday through Friday at 800-930-7978.