Artwork Guidelines

Sending your Print-ready Files

We accept all files electronically.  Please upload files up to 10mb after placing an order or update an existing order in your ‘My Account’ area.

Colours

Process Colours are referred to as CMYK, Cyan (C), Magenta (M), Yellow (Y) and Black (K), four colour process or even just process.  These different colours are used to reproduce a colour image.  Combined together in varying proportions CMYK produces the full colour spectrum.

Pantone colours are often specified for printing as a ‘spot colour’, a specific colour printed using an ink made exclusively and typically for jobs which require no full colour imagery like colour matching for corporate branding to ensure consistent colour reproduction.

• Pantone spot colours that are intended to be four colour process and litho printed should be converted to CMYK using the Pantone+ Color Bridge^® library.  This is not necessary for digital printing as our digital presses create a colour simulation for spot colours.
• Convert all RGB colours to CMYK as colour separations for printing cannot be made from RGB files.
• If your job is full colour, please ensure that you work entirely in CMYK.  If your program does not support CMYK or Pantone, we will need to convert your colours before printing.
• Please bear in mind that monitors and desktop printers do not produce accurate representations of the press printed colour.

Creating a Print-ready PDF

To prepare your files for print, for the best results we prefer to receive artwork as a press ready PDF.

• All PDFs should be set to high resolution to be press ready
• All PDFs must include 3mm bleed and crop marks
• All fonts must be embedded within Adobe Acrobat: the ‘File > Properties > Fonts’ tab shows a full list of fonts used in the document. Every font should show as embedded or an embedded subset
• Any process colours are converted to CMYK prior to creating a PDF. Converting spot colours to CMYK after creating a PDF may produce unexpected results (especially when transparent effects are involved)
• We recommend using the PDF/X-3 standard
• We recommend checking a PDF using the Output Preview prior to sending us your file. This can show overprinting and will list all the separations included

Using AI to create print-ready artwork

AI can be useful for generating ideas, images and layouts, but we do not recommend relying on it to produce the final print-ready file.

A design can look perfect on screen while still being unsuitable for commercial printing. AI tools may also claim they have created CMYK artwork, bleed, crop marks or a PDF/X file when the exported file does not actually contain them.

That said, we understand that budgets and deadlines sometimes make AI-generated artwork the only practical option. Adding the specification below to your prompt should improve the file you receive.

It does not guarantee that the resulting file will be print ready, so please send it to us for checking before production.

Possible limitations of AI-generated artwork

Even with a detailed prompt:

• The file may still be RGB rather than CMYK, resulting in colour changes when converted for print.
• The stated dimensions may be incorrect or based only on the file metadata.
• Bleed may be missing, stretched or created by adding an artificial border.
• Crop marks may be drawn into the image rather than created as genuine PDF printer marks.
• A file labelled as 300 dpi may simply have been artificially enlarged from a lower-resolution image.
• Text may contain spelling errors, altered characters or small visual defects.
• Logos, brand colours and other supplied elements may be changed or recreated inaccurately.
• Text and logos may be raster images rather than sharp vector elements.
• Fonts may not be embedded.
• A supplied PDF may simply contain a JPEG image and may not be a genuine PDF/X file.
• The artwork may not be editable if corrections are required.
• Transparency, overprint and colour-profile settings may not be properly controlled.
• AI-generated content may carry copyright or commercial-use restrictions depending on the tool and source material.

Add this to your artwork prompt

Replace the information in square brackets with the details of your job.

Create the final artwork for professional commercial printing, using the following production specification.

If your system cannot genuinely meet any requirement, state exactly which requirements cannot be met. Do not claim that the file is CMYK, 300 dpi, vector or PDF/X compliant unless those properties exist within the exported file.

Finished size: [ENTER FINISHED SIZE, e.g. A5, 148 × 210 mm]

Pages: [ENTER NUMBER OF PAGES]

Bleed: Add 3 mm bleed on every edge. Extend all backgrounds, images and other elements intended to reach the edge fully through the bleed.

Safe area: Keep all essential text, logos and important design elements at least 5 mm inside the finished trim edge.

Colour:

• Prepare the artwork for CMYK process printing.
• Use the printer-supplied CMYK colour profile where available.
• If the system only supports RGB, state this clearly rather than claiming the artwork is CMYK.
• Small black text and fine black lines must use 100% black only.
• Do not use registration black.
• Large solid black areas may use C40 M30 Y30 K100.
• Do not use rich black for small text.

Resolution:

• Raster images must have an effective resolution of approximately 300 ppi at their final printed size.
• Do not artificially upscale a low-resolution image and describe it as native 300 ppi artwork.
• Keep text, logos and line artwork as vector elements wherever possible.

Fonts and text:

• Reproduce all supplied wording exactly.
• Check spelling, punctuation, numbers and contact details against the supplied copy.
• Embed all fonts in the exported PDF.
• Only outline fonts if embedding is unavailable.

PDF output:

• Supply a genuine PDF/X-4 file.
• Set the PDF TrimBox to the exact finished size.
• Set the BleedBox to 3 mm beyond the trim on every edge.
• Supply individual pages rather than printer’s spreads, unless spreads have specifically been requested.
• Preserve supported transparency within the PDF/X-4 file.

Crop marks:

• Add genuine PDF crop marks only if the export system supports them.
• Position them completely outside the 3 mm bleed.
• Do not draw crop marks, bleed guides, dimensions or production instructions into the artwork itself.

Before exporting, preflight the file and check:

• finished dimensions are correct
• 3 mm bleed is present on every edge
• important content remains within the safe area
• fonts are embedded
• images have sufficient effective resolution
• there are no unintended RGB or untagged colour elements
• there are no unintended overprint settings
• crop marks do not enter the artwork or bleed

Provide a separate list of anything that could not be verified or produced correctly.

Before sending your file to print

We will check the exported PDF before placing the job into production. We can check the usual technical requirements, including size, bleed, resolution, colour space and font embedding.

This technical check does not include proofreading, checking factual accuracy or verifying whether AI has altered a logo, image or piece of text unless specifically requested.