How to prepare files for print
Almost every prepress delay we see comes from five repeated mistakes. None is hard to avoid if you check before sending the file.
August 3, 2026
1. Bleed and safety margin
Three millimetres of bleed per side on anything reaching the edge, and five millimetres of safety margin inward for text and logos. Trimming has mechanical tolerance: without bleed a white line appears, and text sitting on the edge gets cut off.
2. Colour profile, not just CMYK mode
Converting to CMYK is not enough. What matters is which profile it was converted with. A file converted with a generic office profile arrives on press with blacks and blues shifted.
For coated stock we work with FOGRA39 or its equivalent. If your file carries a different embedded profile we respect it and flag the difference before printing, not after.
3. Text black versus area black
Small text should be pure black, K channel only at 100 per cent. In four-colour composite black, any minimal registration variation leaves the text with a colour fringe and it reads dirty.
Conversely, a large black area in K only looks washed out. There a rich black is right, typically 60/40/40/100.
4. Real resolution
300 ppi at final printed size. The key phrase is "at final size": a 300 ppi image scaled to double is really 150 ppi and it shows on press, even if it looks acceptable on screen.
5. Fonts and transparency
Send PDF/X with fonts embedded or converted to outlines. Live transparency and drop-shadow effects are the leading cause of a file flattening differently in our RIP than on your screen.
What we check on our side
Every delivery goes through prepress verification before plating: bleed, profiles, resolution, overprints and ink separation. If something does not add up we report it with a concrete fix. We never print a doubtful file without telling you first.