How to set up print-ready files

1. Resolution: aim for 300 DPI at final size

Images should be about 300 DPI at the size they will print for anything viewed up close (business cards, brochures, flyers). Large-format pieces like banners and yard signs are viewed from farther away, so 100 to 150 DPI is usually plenty. Enlarging a small web image almost never works. It just gets soft.

Not sure if your image is big enough? Run it through our image resolution checker. Enter the pixel size and finished print size and it tells you the effective DPI.

2. Bleed & safe area

If color or images run to the edge of the page, extend them about 1/8" past the trim (that is the “bleed”), and keep important text and logos a similar distance inside the trim (the “safe area”). This covers the tiny shift that happens when paper is cut. Our bleed & safe-area calculator gives you the exact build size from your finished size.

3. File format & color

• PDF is best

  A high-resolution PDF with fonts embedded (or outlined) is the most reliable format. We also accept native files from common design apps.

• Use CMYK for color

  Print uses CMYK inks, not screen RGB. Designing in CMYK keeps colors closer to what you see. We always proof so there are no surprises.

• Outline or include fonts

  So your type prints exactly as designed, embed or outline fonts before exporting.

Print-ready file setup specs, by product

The rules are the same everywhere; only the numbers move, and they move with how close someone stands to the finished piece. Build to this table and your file will clear pre-flight.

Two things the table cannot say in a cell. Borders sit closer to the trim than anything else on a piece, so hold them at least 3/16" inside the trim or the cut shift shows on one side. And large-format art is often built at a fraction of final size: a banner drawn at 1/10 scale needs 1500 DPI in the file to land at 150 DPI once it is enlarged. Our enlargement scale calculator gives you the scale percentage, the image resolution checker tells you whether an image still holds up at final size, and the bleed & safe-area calculator turns any finished size into a build size.

Booklets are the one row that breaks the 1/8 inch habit. Folded sheets nest inside one another, so the inner pages push outward and lose margin at the trim edge. That is why our binding methods guide asks for 1/4 inch, and nearer 3/8 inch on thick books. Perfect binding adds a second problem at the other edge: glue swallows the inside margin, so leave extra gutter at the spine.

Not sure? Send what you have.

You do not need to be a designer. Send whatever you have, even a rough idea, and our graphic design team will set the file up correctly and send you a proof to approve before anything prints. Get a free quote to start.

Exporting a print-ready PDF from Canva, Word, and PowerPoint

Plenty of good print jobs start life in Canva. When you export, choose Download, then PDF Print (not the standard PDF), and tick the crop marks and bleed box so your background art extends past the trim. If your design uses photos, make sure the originals you uploaded were large to begin with; Canva cannot add sharpness that was never in the image.

Word, Publisher, and PowerPoint can work too, with one catch: set the page size to the finished print size before you design, not after. A flyer built on a letter-size page prints cleanly at letter size, but a business card drawn inside a letter-size page does not. Export to PDF rather than sending the working file, and your fonts will usually embed automatically.

Better yet, start from a file that is already set up correctly. Our free print templates include the right document size, bleed, and safe area for common products, so the technical part is finished before you type a single word.

Common print file mistakes we catch every week

Thin borders near the trim. Paper cutting can shift by a hair, and a border sitting 1/16" from the edge makes that shift obvious: one side looks thicker than the other. If your design needs a border, keep it at least 3/16" inside the trim, or consider skipping it entirely.

Logos saved from your own website. The logo on your site was sized down so pages load fast, and a screenshot or right-click save is smaller still. Ask whoever designed your logo for the original vector file. It is worth the extra email, and you only have to track it down once.

Tiny or ultra-thin type. Text below about 7 pt, delicate script fonts, and small white text reversed out of dark backgrounds all tend to fill in or break apart in print. And for small black text, stick with plain 100 percent black instead of a four-color black build. It stays noticeably crisper.

A five-minute pre-flight checklist before you send your file

Run through this list before you upload or email artwork. First, confirm the document size matches the finished size you are ordering: a 4" x 6" postcard should be a 4" x 6" file plus bleed, not a letter-size page with a postcard floating in the middle. Second, if your piece prints on both sides, make sure front and back are in one PDF, in the right order, and facing the same direction. An upside-down back is one of the most common fixes we make.

Third, proofread everything out loud, then double-check the details people actually use: phone number, website, address, hours, and prices. A typo in body copy is embarrassing; a wrong digit in a phone number makes the whole run worthless. Have a second person read it too. Fresh eyes catch what yours skip over.

Finally, export your PDF, close the design app, and open the PDF fresh. Zoom to 200 to 300 percent and inspect photo edges, logo edges, and small type. If it looks soft on screen at that zoom, it will look soft on paper. If a term trips you up along the way, our print glossary explains bleed, trim, safe area, and the rest in plain English.

Vector vs. raster: why your logo file format matters

There are two kinds of graphics files. Raster files (JPG, PNG, most Photoshop files) are grids of pixels with a fixed amount of detail. Enlarging them past that point just makes bigger, blurrier pixels. Vector files (AI, EPS, SVG, and many PDFs) are built from math instead of pixels, so they scale to any size with perfectly clean edges.

For a business card, a high-resolution raster logo usually holds up fine. For yard signs, banners, and especially vehicle graphics, vector art is the difference between razor-sharp lettering and fuzzy edges you can spot from across a parking lot. Quick test: zoom way in on your logo. If the edges stay smooth, it is vector; if they turn blocky, it is raster.

Only have a JPG? Do not panic. In many cases we can redraw a logo as clean vector art as part of the design process. It is usually a modest one-time design charge that we quote before any work starts. Once the redraw is done, you own a master file that works at every size, from a business card to a banner, so it is a fix you only pay for once.