When you plan to print a project for commercial purposes, your ultimate goal is to achieve a flawless and professional-looking finished product. However, it’s crucial to understand that even the best printers have limitations. Your print won’t look professional if your file and design have errors. To guarantee that your commercial printing project has the best possible outcome, follow these four tips when designing your files.
Fonts
It is crucial to consider the type of fonts you use when creating documents in programs like Word, Publisher, or Adobe Suite, primarily if you use special or unique fonts. These fonts may not be available on the printer, and if not sent to the printer, it will not recognize them and may replace them with default fonts that may not give you the desired outcome. However, if you use a program like InDesign, you can package the fonts with the file and send them together, ensuring the printer has all the necessary files to produce your desired output.
Images Are Key For Commercial Printing
When using images in your project, it is essential to ensure they are high resolution for the best quality. A good rule of thumb is to use images with at least 300 dpi. If you are using a digital camera to take pictures, the images should be suitable for most projects. However, saving images as TIF or EPS files as JPG and GIF formats may compress and distort the images if you scan them. Additionally, if you intend to use an image as a background, it is crucial to ensure your text remains readable. You can use a photo editing program to lighten the image significantly so that the text stands out. It is important to note that smaller text sizes may be difficult to read even with the image lightened.
Color Conversion
When displaying colors on a monitor, the screen uses three primary colors, Red, Green, and Blue (RGB), to generate all the other colors on the screen. However, in printing, the inks used are Cyan (a blue color), Magenta (a red color), Yellow, and Black (CMYK). Combinations of these colors are used to produce all the remaining colors. This explains why products appear different when printed than they did on the screen. To get as close to the screen color as possible, it is best to design your file using CMYK so the colors don’t have to be converted by the printer.
Bleed
When printing sheets, they come out more significant than the final size and are then cut down. If you want any images or design elements to extend past the edge of the page, you must include a bleed in your file. This means that the bleed should extend 1/8 inch beyond the edge of the page on all sides. This will ensure that there won’t be any unwanted white borders if the cuts are slightly off.
Let Time Printers Assist You with Your Printing Needs for the Rest of 2023!
Whether you already know how your latest print products should look or want further advice, Time Printers is here to help! We service all of Baltimore, Hunt Valley, and Towson. Our team of professionals can answer all of your burning questions. Give us a call at 410-566-3005, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn for tips and see what we have been working on and what we can do for you. We hope to hear from you soon!