Nearly every reprint traces back to one of five file problems. None are difficult once you know they exist. We preflight everything free and flag these before printing, but understanding them saves a round trip.
1. Bleed
Presses cannot print reliably to the exact edge of a sheet, so anything meant to run off the edge is printed oversized then trimmed. Bleed is that extra margin, and the standard is 0.125 inches on every side.
A 3.5 x 2 inch business card is built as a 3.75 x 2.25 inch document with the background extending to that larger edge. Without it, small variations in cutting leave a white sliver.
2. Safe margin
The inverse. Keep text and anything you cannot afford to lose at least 0.125 inches inside the trim, preferably 0.25. Cutting has a tolerance, and text against the edge looks off-centre on some pieces in the stack even when the cut is within spec.
3. CMYK, not RGB
Screens emit light and mix red, green and blue. Presses lay cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink onto paper. The two do not cover the same range.
The colors that suffer most are bright saturated blues, vivid greens and neon oranges. Converting to CMYK yourself before sending means you see the shift and can adjust, rather than being surprised.
If exact color matters, such as a brand color that must match across a card, a banner and a storefront decal, ask about a Pantone spot color or request a hard copy proof on the actual stock. A digital proof on your screen cannot show you what ink will do on paper.
4. Resolution
Images need 300 DPI at final printed size. That last part is what trips people up: a 300 DPI image is perfect at 2 inches wide and falls apart stretched to 8, because the pixels spread thinner.
An image pulled from a website is typically 72 DPI and a few hundred pixels across. No software genuinely adds detail that was never captured.
Large format is the exception. A banner viewed from twenty feet can be built at 100 to 150 DPI at final size, because your eye cannot resolve the difference at that distance.
5. Fonts
If we do not have your font, the file may open with a substitute and the layout shifts. Either outline the type, which converts letters to vector shapes, or embed the fonts on export. Outlining is safest, but keep an editable copy.
What to send
- PDF is best: exported with bleed and crop marks, fonts embedded or outlined, 300 DPI images, CMYK.
- AI, INDD and PSD are fine. Package the file so links and fonts travel with it.
- EPS for vector logos.
- High resolution JPG or TIFF for photographic work with no text.
- Please avoid Word, PowerPoint and screenshots.
A note on Canva
Canva is fine for design, but export properly: choose PDF Print, tick crop marks and bleed, and select CMYK if your plan offers it. The default export has no bleed and will need rebuilding.
If any of this is unfamiliar, send the file anyway. Checking it is a normal part of the job.
Need this printed? We are at 40 Wall Street, and we deliver free anywhere in Manhattan.