Print-ready file checklist: bleed, safe area, 300 DPI and CMYK
Avoid blurry photos, white edges and cut-off text. A step-by-step checklist for sending a print-ready PDF: size, 3 mm bleed, safe area, 300 DPI, CMYK and fonts.
Most printing problems are file problems: a white line at the edge, a phone number cut in half, a logo that looks blurry. Go through this list before you send your design.
- Exact size. Make the page the finished size of the product (for example A4 = 210 × 297 mm).
- 3 mm bleed. Extend backgrounds and photos 3 mm past every edge. An A4 page with bleed is 216 × 303 mm.
- Safe area. Keep text and logos 5 mm inside the finished edge.
- 300 DPI images. Photos should be 300 pixels per inch at their printed size. A photo copied from WhatsApp or a website is usually too small.
- CMYK colour. Printers use cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink. Bright screen colours (RGB) can look duller in print; see our CMYK guide.
- Fonts outlined or embedded. Export to PDF with fonts embedded, or convert text to outlines, so the printer sees exactly your letters.
- Black text in pure black. Use 100% black (K) for small text, not a mix of all four inks, so it stays sharp.
- One PDF, pages in order. For booklets and calendars, send one PDF with every page in the right order.
Exact sizes for every product
Every product page lists the exact sizes under “For designers: file setup”: the size with bleed, the cut size and the safe area, with the pixel size for 300 DPI. Give these numbers to your designer before they start.
Not sure? Upload it and see
When you upload artwork on our website, we check the size, proportions and resolution instantly and show it on the product with the cut line, so you can see problems before you order. PDF, JPG, PNG and WebP are previewed; AI, EPS, PSD, TIFF and CDR files are accepted too and checked by our team. Your original file is always kept unchanged.
Whatever you send, a person on our team checks every file before printing and will WhatsApp or email you if anything needs fixing.