You have a great design. You’re excited to get it printed. Then you send the file and hear back: “This isn’t print-ready.”
It happens more than you’d think – and it’s not your fault. Designing for screens and designing for print are two different things, and most people have only ever needed files that look good on a monitor. Print has its own set of rules, and skipping any of them can mean blurry text, colors that look nothing like what you expected, or white edges where your design should bleed all the way to the border.
This guide covers everything you need to know before sending your files to us. Read it once, bookmark it, and your next print order will go smoothly from day one.
Why “Print-Ready” Matters
When a file goes to press, there’s no monitor softening the edges or auto-correcting the color. What the file says is exactly what gets printed. A logo that looks crisp at 72 pixels per inch on your laptop will print blurry. A color that looks vibrant in RGB on screen will print muddy in CMYK. The margins that looked fine on your PDF viewer might get clipped by the cutting machine.
Print-ready means the file is set up to avoid all of those problems before ink hits paper.
File Formats We Accept
Preferred:
- PDF – This is our preferred format for almost everything. Export it correctly and it locks in your fonts, colors, and layout exactly as intended.
Acceptable:
- JPEG files
- PNG files
What we generally cannot work with:
- Word documents (.doc, .docx) or PowerPoint files (.pptx) – Most Microsoft products can be saved as a PDF, but we are unable to open these formats on our end. Save as PDF before sending.
If you’re working in Canva, ask us first. There is a print-quality PDF export option in Canva, but it requires specific settings to work correctly. Make sure the artwork is flattened, has crop marks, and includes bleed margins. Save as “PDF for Printing” and set the color mode to CMYK.
Resolution: The Most Common Mistake
Resolution is measured in DPI – dots per inch. The higher the DPI, the more detail is packed into every inch of your printed piece.
The rule: All images should be 300 DPI at the final printed size.
Here’s where people go wrong: they grab an image from a website, their email, or a Google image search. Those images are usually 72 DPI – fine for a screen, but it will print blurry or pixelated.
A quick way to check: if you zoom into your image in any photo editor and it starts looking blocky before you hit 200% zoom, it probably won’t print well.
Our standard minimum is 300 DPI at the final printed size.
Color Mode: CMYK vs. RGB
This one surprises a lot of people.
- RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is the color mode used by screens, cameras, and most design software by default. It produces a wide, vibrant color range.
- CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) is the color mode used by printing presses. It has a narrower color range.
When an RGB file gets converted to CMYK at the printer, colors can shift – sometimes dramatically. Bright blues tend to go dull. Vibrant greens can look olive. Neon colors often cannot be reproduced at all.
The fix: Set your file to CMYK before you design, not after. If you’re exporting from Adobe programs, look for the CMYK option in your color settings or export menu.
If your file is RGB and you’re not sure how to convert it, send it to us and we can advise.
Bleed, Safe Zone, and Trim Lines – Explained Simply
These three terms come up in almost every print order. Here’s what they mean in plain English.
Trim line – This is where the paper gets cut. Your finished piece is this size.
Bleed – If any part of your design (a background color, a photo, a pattern) goes all the way to the edge of the finished piece, you need to extend that element past the trim line. This extra area is called bleed. Without it, you risk a thin white edge where the cut lands slightly off.
Safe zone – Any text, logos, or important content that you don’t want cut off should stay inside the safe zone – a margin pulled slightly in from the trim line.
Our standard bleed is 0.25″ on all sides. Keep important content inside the safe zone – a 0.25″ margin pulled in from the trim line.
A practical example: you’re ordering a business card. Your design has a colored background that fills the card. You’d extend that background color 1/4″ past each edge of the card. Your phone number stays at least 1/4″ away from the cut line. Everything in between is fair game.
Most professional design templates already include bleed guides. If you’re working from a template you downloaded online, check that the bleed is set up correctly for our specs.
Fonts: Embed or Outline Them
If your file uses a custom font and we don’t have that font installed, the text may revert to a default font – or disappear entirely. This is one of the most common problems with files sent as native design files (AI, PSD, INDD).
Two solutions:
- Outline your fonts – In Adobe Illustrator, select all text, go to Type > Create Outlines. This converts the text to vector shapes, so the font file is no longer needed.
- Embed fonts in your PDF – When exporting a PDF, most programs have an option to embed fonts. Use it.
If you’re not sure whether your fonts are embedded, send us the file and we’ll check.
Black: There Are Two Kinds
This one is very specific to print, and it matters more than most people expect.
- Pure black (K: 100) – Use this for small text and fine lines. It’s clean and sharp.
- Rich black (C: 60 / M: 40 / Y: 40 / K: 100) – Use this for large black backgrounds, headers, and areas where you want a deep, saturated black. Pure black on a large area can look slightly grey or washed out in print.
Our preferred rich black formula is C: 60 / M: 40 / Y: 40 / K: 100.
Using rich black on small text will cause it to look blurry, because each ink layer has to register (align) precisely – and on fine text, any slight misalignment shows.
How to Send Us Your Files
You can send print-ready files to our artwork team by using our Upload Artwork form on our website. Head to printingngo.com and look for the yellow “Upload Artwork” button. From there, you’ll be taken to a form that you can use to properly send us your files.
You can also drop files off in person at our shop, but please call first to confirm any details. We aren’t able to handle small runs on demand.
Printing N Go
18008 Bothell Everett Hwy, Suite E
Bothell, WA 98012
Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 10am – 4pm
Friday: 10am – 2pm
Quick Checklist Before You Send
- File format is PDF, JPEG, or PNG (PDF strongly preferred)
- Resolution is 300 DPI at final print size
- Color mode is CMYK
- Bleed extends 0.25″ past the trim on all sides (if design goes to the edge)
- Important content is inside the safe zone (0.25″ from trim line)
- Fonts are outlined or embedded
- Black text uses pure black (K:100), large black areas use rich black (C:60 M:40 Y:40 K:100)
- File is named clearly (your name + product, e.g. “SmithLaw_BusinessCards.pdf”)
Still Not Sure? Just Ask.
File prep is one of those things that’s easy once you’ve done it a few times – but confusing the first time through. If you send us something and it needs adjustments, we’ll let you know exactly what to fix. Our goal is to get your project printed right, and that starts with the file.
Questions? Reach out before you order. It’s always faster to get the file right the first time than to catch a problem after you’ve submitted.