Supplying Artwork Files

Supplying an artwork file for commercial print is not quite the same as printing your file off on a desktop printer/copier. Please read through the information carefully before submitting your files for print.

File Formats

Please supply your artwork in .PDF format

Sizes

Whether you are ordering A6, DL, A5 or A4, please take note of the measurements we need for your artwork, allowing for 'bleed' as explained below. While we can resize your artwork to fit these sizes, this is especially important if you are ordering a folded leaflet where you need to make sure each folded 'panel' sits comfortably within the folded areas (i.e. a 6 page DL leaflet needs each panel to measure 99mm x 210mm or a 4 page A5 needs each panel to measure 148.5mm x 210mm).

Fonts

Please ensure all fonts are either converted to outlines/ curves or embedded - if this is not done, our system could substitute the missing fonts for others and your printed leaflet could look drastically wrong.

Images / Photos

Ensure all images used in your file are at least 300dpi (dots per inch). Using low resolution images (i.e. 72dpi images you might find on websites) will result in a 'Jaggy/ Pixelated or Blurred' look - even though a 72dpi image will look fine on your monitor it will look terrible when printed.

On your computer screen these images will both look good quality. When printed out you will notice that the image on the right is actually low quality.

Colours

The printing process is made up of four colours; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (known as CYMK) - these colours make up full colour photos etc. Please ensure your files are supplied in CMYK so you can be confident of getting the colours you expect. We will convert any RGB files to CMYK before print, but this will alter the colours slightly to what you see on your RGB screen and some colours may not print as vibrant.

Bleed

It is essential that there is a 3mm 'bleed' to all edges of your artwork. Bleed is when the background colour/image is extended 3mm past the 'trim edge' (the finished size) and stops any unsightly white edges showing around your leaflet when they are cut to size.

If you send a file without bleed we will automatically add a 3mm white border to all edges of your design without contacting you, this ensures nothing will be cropped off the text/images that you have designed to the very edge of your leaflet.

Safe Area

This is the space between the edge of your leaflet and any text or images that go near the edge of your design. Please ensure you leave 3mm 'safe area'. If you do not allow a 3mm 'safe area' on your design, any text/ images that are too close to the 'trimming edge' could get 'chopped' into. If we feel your file does not have enough 'safe area', we will add a 3mm white border to the edges of your leaflet and reduce the size slightly to allow this.

Imposition

Ensure you only send your files 1-UP (i.e. ONE leaflet in the centre of a page). Do not supply 2 or more leaflets on the same page - we print your leaflets batched with up to 16 others on larger B1 sheets and cannot separate your file otherwise.

Transparencies / Layers

Please ensure all transparencies or layers are flattened in the files you send us. If in doubt, convert your whole file into a bitmap (i.e. JPG)

Page Sizes

Please add a minimum of 3mm bleed on all edges.

A4 - 297 x 210 mm (303 x 216mm with bleed)

A5 - 210 x 148 mm (216 x 154mm with bleed)

A6 - 148 x 105 mm (154 x 111mm with bleed)