Knowledge Hub

• For litho printing we can print anything up to 1300mm x 1850mm
• For digital printing we can print anything up to 3200mm x 1600mm
• For large format printing we can print anything up to 3200mm wide by almost any length

Bleed is required for any image which extends right to the document’s edge. Simply extend any photo or graphic of this nature a further 5mm outside the trimmed paper size.

When preparing artwork make sure that the resolution of your photos and images is 300dpi. Any less than that may result in images looking pixelated.

All colour photographs should be saved in CMYK before adding them to artwork.

Colour photographs which are normally supplied in RGB will cause colour shifts on digital printing presses and even more severe problems on litho printing presses.

Spot colours are only available via litho printing and should be properly set up. Each additional spot colour will require a new printing plate (which will incur a plate charge).

In order to avoid any font problems when printing please embed fonts into artwork, or; vectorise fonts using the ‘outline fonts’ command in your design software.

To avoid printing problems after applying transparency effects* in artwork, a few guidelines should be followed:

• Avoid using transparency effects in conjunction with spot colours;
• Bring text to the top layer so it’s above any transparency effect;

Requesting and carefully checking a printed proof prior to committing to a full print run is recommended to catch any errors or technical issues not previously picked up. Doing so gives you one last chance to rectify things before it’s too late.

When preparing your final print-ready PDF file:

• Save your images in CMYK mode at 300dpi
• Add 5mm of bleed to your artwork, along with crop marks
• ‘Flatten’ your artwork using the ‘Medium’ setting
• Embed fonts or, better still, outline (vectorise) them
• Save your file with ‘PDF/X’ and ‘Press Quality’ settings