Artwork Do and Don’ts
Need help creating press ready artwork and avoiding common mistakes? You are in the right place!
Below we have highlighted the most common artwork mistakes that our customers make. Please read through these Artwork Dos and Don’ts and you will be well on your way to creating press read artwork every single time.
Artwork Guides
- The red guide is the external bleed margin. All background images, colours, patterns and artwork elements which extend to the trim edge must also extend to the external bleed margin.
- The black guide is the trim edge. This is the line along which your printing will be trimmed.
- The magenta guide is the internal bleed margin. All text, logos and important graphics must be kept within the internal bleed margin. Any text or images that extend beyond the internal bleed margin risk being trimmed off during finishing.
Internal bleed
Make sure all your text, logos and important elements are within the internal bleed margin, otherwise they may be trimmed off.
External bleed
Make sure all elements/ backgrounds that meet the trim edge also extend to the edge of the external bleed margin (so you won’t have any white edges).
Artwork Size
Make sure your artwork is the right size (or it may be automatically resized which may distort your artwork).
Image Resolution
Make sure all images and rasterized text are 300dpi when placed at 100% to avoid blurry or pixelated printing.
Border width
Make sure all borders are at least 5mm inside trim edge on all sides to avoid any uneven borders (50mm for outdoor and pullup banners). More detailed border information can be found on our artwork requirements page.
