By offering our customers printing services along side our graphic design we often get presented with artwork in a wide variety of formats. We get a mixture of puzzled faces or long pauses when we talk about converting their artwork to a ‘print ready’ format.

So, in this short blog post I thought I would clear up what the term – ‘print ready artwork’ actually means, and why it’s so important to printers these days.

Print ready artwork – a definition

Let’s start by defining what we would call ‘print ready artwork’. A file is considered to be print ready if it meets the following criteria:

• Is in PDF format
• Has the required bleed allowed
• Contains crop marks set at whatever is required – usually this is 3mm
• Has fonts embedded in the PDF or has fonts outlined
• Contains hi-res images 300dpi or above
• Text and images is sufficiently clear of the bleed area

As you can see, a file needs to be thoroughly prepared in order to be able to be considered ‘print ready’. The list above is not exhaustive and individual printers will have their own guidelines for what they consider to be ‘print ready’.

Now you have a basic undertsnaing as to what the term ‘print ready artwork’ means you are now ready to understand why it is important to a printer that the files they receive meet their criteria.

Why does it matter?

With the ever increasing need to be competitive and bring costs down for customers printers need to find ways of eliminating human input in the print process.

More human input = more cost to the consumer.

So by installing a standard  file format into the whole process a printer can improve it’s workflow to improve efficiency. This means when you submit files to a printer, and they are in the correct format they will simply whizz through their system without the need to be manually dealt with.

Of course, this can present it’s own problems. A file that doesn’t meet the specific criteria will either be rejected, or you will get some unexpected results.

But don’t worry, that’s why we’re here!

All this may sound daunting, but that’s why we’re here, to make your life easier and take the stress out of worrying about getting your artwork in the right format for printers.

If you’ve wondered why a printer will charge you for sending them a Word file with your artwork in it, it’s because they’ll need to convert your Word document into a print ready PDF format. The same goes for Photoshop files, JPEG’s, Publisher files etc.

Don’t be surprised when you get asked for a small fee from the printer to convert your files, the process to convert a file that isn’t print ready into one that is can take anything from a few minutes to up to an hour depending on the file and how you’ve set it up.

Use the right tools for the job

If you insist on creating your own artwork, then there’s really only a few tools that will produce the results you’re looking for. Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw. Sure, your can use Photoshop, Publisher, Word etc. Just don’t be surprised when your printer calls you up and asks for a ‘print ready pdf’.

In summary

We would obviously recommend you use the services of a graphic designer for your print work. They will ensure the files are print ready for you. The result will be a job that you’ll be proud of, delivered in a timely manner because the printer hasn’t had to reject the file.

If you have any questions about this article and the points raised, feel free to call me on 07849 020558 or email me at steve@demoncreative.co.uk and i’ll be only to happy to answer them for you.