Artwork specifications
Send us whatever files you have. If anything needs adjusting, we'll come back to you.
The specs below are what print software prefers. If your file doesn't quite match, don't redo it on your own time — most issues we can fix on our end faster than you can fix them on yours. Send what you've got and we'll tell you if there's a problem.
This page exists for the people on your team who are preparing the file (your designer, your printer, your in-house production lead) and want a single page they can refer to.
Recommended specifications
- Format: PDF. The Adobe preset PDF/X-1a:2001 is our preferred output target — it bakes in colour and font handling that produces consistent results across our presses.
- Resolution: 300 dpi minimum for any raster (photo) content.
- Colour mode: CMYK only. RGB images convert before print, but managed conversion at the file end is more predictable than ours.
- Bleed: 2mm minimum for digital and offset print. 10mm minimum for large-format and signage.
- Total ink coverage: 240% maximum for full-colour photos converted to CMYK; dot gain set for 30%.
- Text: outlined to curves (or supplied with all fonts).
- Layers: single, flattened.
- Spot colours: none, unless explicitly requested for a Pantone job.
- Multi-page documents: supplied as single-page-per-page PDFs (one logical artwork per PDF page).
If your file isn't a PDF
We can work with most other formats — InDesign, Illustrator, Word, image files. Each has its own quirks. Word documents in particular tend to render slightly differently on different systems, so when we convert one to print-ready, we'll send you a proof to sign off before anything goes to press.
Sometimes a supplied file needs us to ask follow-up questions:
- Could you send the original editable file (not just a flattened export)?
- Could you send the original images at full resolution?
- Could you send any custom fonts used in the layout?
- Could you re-check and approve the print-ready version we generate?
This is normal back-and-forth, not a sign anything is wrong. Most jobs go through one round of clarification before they print.
What happens if a file genuinely won't work
Rare, but it happens — usually because the source artwork was originally screen-only (a website graphic, a social-media image) and was never built for print. When that's the case, we'll tell you directly, explain why, and suggest the smallest possible fix: sometimes a redraw of one element, sometimes a request for a higher-resolution source image, sometimes a small re-layout.
Why PDFs, why CMYK, why 300 dpi — short version
PDFs store text and vector elements in a way that scales without quality loss. They've been the print-supply standard for two decades because they survive the trip from your computer to ours without rendering surprises.
CMYK is the four-ink colour model presses actually print with (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). Files in RGB (the screen colour model) need conversion, and managed conversion in your design tool is more accurate than our default conversion.
300 dpi is the resolution above which the human eye can't reliably distinguish individual dots at typical reading distance. Below that, photographs start to look soft. Above that, file sizes balloon for no visible benefit.
Still got questions?
If you're staring at a file and not sure whether it'll work, send it. We'll look, and reply with a plain answer. Better five minutes of our time now than a printed run that needs reprinting.