A brilliant leaflet can still disappoint if a logo is clipped at the edge, a photograph prints soft or the colours arrive looking different from the screen. Knowing how to prepare print files gives your job the best chance of moving through production cleanly, keeping your deadline and looking as polished in print as it does in your plans.

You do not need to become a print technician. Most issues come down to a handful of checks made before you send artwork over. Get those right and business cards, brochures, posters, menus and exhibition graphics are far less likely to need amendments.

Start with the finished size, not the artwork size

Before opening your design software, confirm the product’s finished dimensions, orientation and whether it is single- or double-sided. An A5 leaflet is 148 x 210 mm once trimmed; an A4 folded leaflet may be supplied as an A3 flat sheet, depending on the fold. These details affect the document setup from the outset.

For booklets, ask whether the page count includes the cover. It usually does, and it normally needs to be divisible by four for a stapled booklet. A booklet with 10 pages, for example, generally needs two additional pages or a different production method. It is much easier to resolve this at layout stage than after every page has been designed.

Also think about how the item will be used. A roller banner needs safe space at the bottom because part of the graphic sits inside the base. A folded menu needs content positioned away from fold lines. Presentation folders have panels, pockets and creases that require a cutter guide rather than a simple rectangular page. The right template is worth requesting for any shaped, folded or large-format item.

Add bleed and keep vital content safely inside

Commercial print is printed on a larger sheet and trimmed down. The cutter is highly accurate, but a tiny degree of movement is normal. Bleed prevents an unwanted white sliver appearing at the edge where a background colour, image or pattern runs to the trim.

For most standard products, add 3 mm of bleed to every edge. That means an A5 file with bleed should measure 154 x 216 mm, not 148 x 210 mm. Extend all edge-to-edge backgrounds and images into this extra area.

Bleed is not the same as a safe margin. Keep logos, contact details, page numbers and important text comfortably inside the finished edge – around 3 mm as a sensible minimum for straightforward work, and more where a fold, staple or banner mechanism is involved. A business card may be small, but crowding its edges makes it feel less considered and leaves no room for trim tolerance.

Be careful with borders

Fine borders placed close to the edge can expose even very slight trimming variation. A border may look evenly spaced in the file but appear marginally heavier on one side after trimming. If the border is central to the design, make it noticeably wider or bring it further in. Otherwise, a full-bleed background is often the safer choice.

Set colour for print, then manage expectations

Screens create colour with light using RGB. Printing uses inks, generally CMYK: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. They are different colour spaces, so a vivid fluorescent blue or bright green on screen may not reproduce exactly in ink.

Where possible, create artwork in CMYK from the beginning and use a recognised print PDF setting when exporting. If RGB images are left in the file, they can be converted during production, but checking the conversion yourself gives you more control over the result.

Brand colour deserves a quick conversation before the job is produced, particularly if you have exact corporate shades or are matching existing stationery. Some colours can be specified as spot inks for greater consistency, while others will be reproduced in process CMYK. The best route depends on the product, quantity, material and how closely the item must match previous print. A short-run digital leaflet and a larger litho run do not always behave in precisely the same way.

For small black text, use 100% black rather than a mixture of all four CMYK inks. Four-colour black can be useful for large dark areas, but on fine type it can create a coloured edge if registration shifts slightly. Likewise, avoid setting pale text too small or too thin, especially on a dark background.

Use images that will hold up on paper

A sharp image online is not automatically sharp enough for print. For most brochures, flyers and stationery, aim for images at 300 dpi at the size they will appear in the finished piece. Enlarging a small image in the layout does not add detail – it simply spreads the existing pixels across a bigger area.

Do not judge image quality solely by how it looks on a high-resolution screen. Check the effective resolution in your design software, especially where photographs have been enlarged, cropped heavily or supplied from social media. Images taken from websites are commonly low resolution and can print soft or blocky.

Wide-format work is slightly different. Posters, window graphics and banners are viewed from further away, so the appropriate resolution depends on their final size and viewing distance. A file for a large exhibition wall does not necessarily need the same resolution as a postcard, but it still needs to be built at the correct scale. If you are unsure, send the image early rather than spending time on a file that may need replacing.

Make fonts, lines and transparency dependable

Fonts are a common source of unexpected substitutions. The safest approach is to export a high-quality PDF with fonts embedded. Converting text to outlines can also prevent font problems, although it means text can no longer be edited easily. Keep an editable working file separately, then outline only the final version if needed.

Very thin rules and tiny reversed-out text need particular care. What looks elegant at 200% zoom can disappear or fill in once printed. As a practical rule, avoid hairline strokes and test delicate type at actual size. If a key message relies on being readable from a distance, such as a poster headline or roller banner call to action, give it more weight and contrast than you think it needs on screen.

Modern PDF export handles transparency well, but complex effects such as shadows, blend modes and transparent gradients can occasionally produce surprises if a file has been built across several applications. Use a current PDF standard, inspect the exported PDF closely and flag any special finishes, white ink, metallic stock or spot varnish before production. These are all achievable, but they need purposeful artwork setup.

Export a print-ready PDF

A PDF is normally the most reliable file format for commercial printing because it holds the layout, images and type in one place. It is preferable to sending a Word document, PowerPoint file or a collection of loose image files.

When you export, select the intended print preset rather than a screen or smallest-file-size option. Include bleed and crop marks only if requested. Crop marks can be helpful on a standard sheet, but they are not needed for every product and should never sit inside the bleed area.

Before sending, open the PDF itself. Do not assume the artwork file and the export are identical. Scroll through every page, check the page order, zoom into photographs and logos, and look for accidental blank pages, missing elements or unexpected white boxes around transparent graphics.

A final file check before you send it

Use this short check for almost every job:

• The file is set to the correct finished size, orientation and page order.
• Bleed is included where backgrounds or images reach an edge.
• Important text and logos sit inside a safe margin and away from folds.
• Images have enough effective resolution for their printed size.
• Colours are intentionally set for print, with brand-critical colours discussed where necessary.
• Fonts are embedded or outlined, and the final PDF has been checked page by page.

Proof the message as well as the artwork

Technical accuracy matters, but it cannot rescue a wrong phone number, an outdated price or a QR code that points to an old page. Read the file slowly, ideally with fresh eyes, and ask a colleague to check names, dates, URLs, contact details and offers. Print a desktop copy at 100% scale where practical. It is one of the quickest ways to spot type that is too small or a layout that feels cramped.

For folded pieces, make a rough paper dummy. Fold it, hold it as a customer would and check that the front panel is genuinely the front, that content does not disappear into a crease and that the reading order makes sense. For large displays, view the proof from the distance it will be seen rather than only from your desk.

A print-ready file is not about ticking boxes for the sake of it. It is about protecting the work you have already put into your brand, campaign or event. If a detail feels uncertain, ask before approving the job. A straightforward conversation with an experienced print team can save time, budget and a great deal of avoidable stress.