Designing for printing
(also see How to Prepare for Printing)

Files that are placed into documents are typically JPG, RGB, TIFF and EPS.

In general stay away from JPG's they compress files and in doing so distort images, image colors and the quality of text. If you are designing for our on-demand or posters JPG's are accepted but we cannot guarantee their quality.

RGB is one format that you can choose for colors. If you are designing for our on-demand or posters RGB is accepted but we cannot guarantee the colors will look like anything you see on screen.

When supplying RGB images we find it necessary to send you a proof before printing.

TIFF format is one of the most accepted image formats, the only thing you have to watch our for is saving it as RGB (see above) or a resolution below 300 dpi. On-demand or posters can accept RGB (see note above).

EPS files are the second most accepted format. But be forewarned they can contain text that require fonts and they may be set up in the wrong color mode (RGB for example). When saving an EPS file make sure to convert fonts to paths (best option) or include the font(s) in the EPS file.

EPS files also contain color information and can create additional printing plates if you are not careful.

EPS files placed into a Desktop Publishing files or Microsoft Word must be included with those files.

Bleed or no Bleed

When ink prints to the edge of the paper it is called a bleed. If your design calls for a bleed, in general it is better to create a 1/4" (0.25 inches) bleed. In the example below the line you will notice goes outside of the page. The reason for this is quite simple, when printing you cannot print to the edge of the paper. The way we get the image below to print off the page is to print on a larger sheet and then cut the sheet down so the line (or graphic) appears to print to the edge of the paper.

To create a proper bleed make sure that whatever prints to the edge goes over that edge by 1/4" (0.25 inches). Never set a bleed below 1/8" (0.125 inches) or the sheet may need additional trimming. Business cards are a perfect example of only needing 1/8" bleed.

Edge of the sheet

When is too close? The closer you print to the edge of the sheet, the more likely your text or image may get cut off.

Typically a safe distance is a 1/4" (0.25 inches), but depending on the type of printing (for example PVC signs require a 1/2" - 1" of non printing up to the edge).
Business cards can handle 3/16" (0.1875 inches).

Letterheads require a 1/4" and envelopes are best at 3/8" or more from the edge (of course bar codes on Business Reply have to print to the edge).

Resolution/Quality of Images

DPI stands for dots per inch, that is how many dots the file contains to describe the image that will be sent to the image setter or printer. The higher the number of dots per inch the better the quality as shown in the images below. The top image was saved at 300 dpi while the bottom image was saved as 72 dpi. The image and the text quality of the top image is obviously cleaner and not as fuzzy, you will also notice that the small text is nearly impossible to read on the 72 dpi image.

Just like you can have too low a resolution (dpi) your resolution can be too high. The image will not degrade if the image is too high, it makes the file much bigger on disc and requires that the computer take much longer to send the data to the printer or image setter.