File Preparation

The Key to Successful Print Production

There are so many angles to getting files ready to print that sometimes you might feel like you'll never end up printing, but rather spend eternity preparing a file. We've faced this problem many times and you can rest assured that you can finish your file in a relatively short period of time and make sure than it is in fact print ready, if you know all the facts. Below is a sheet that outlines facts about file types, quality, and how print art differs from web art. Review it below or download it here.

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked printing file questions.

Question - "What is trim size?"

Answer - Trim size is the final size of a print piece after all cuts have been made to provide a finished print piece. It can be synonymous with finished size, but only if the piece doesn't fold.

Question: "How do I set my page size or trim size"

Answer: To set your page/trim size start a new document and manually enter the size you need.

Hint, you can usually set your margin and bleed sizes here as well.

Here are some page/trim size instructions for some common design programs.

Trim Size in InDesign

Trim Size in Illustrator

Trim Size in Photoshop

Trim Size in Publisher

Trim Size in Word

Question - "What is bleed?"

Answer - Bleed is printing beyond the edge of the edge of the paper or substrate after trimming. Standard bleed size is 0.125 inches on all edges.

Question - "How do I set my bleed correctly?"

Answer - Bleed is set up on each design program a little differently, but whatever program you use please set bleed at 0.125 on each edge.

Here are bleed instructions for some common design programs.

Bleed in InDesign

Bleed in Illustrator

Bleed in Photoshop

Bleed in Publisher

Bleed in Word

Bleed in Quark

Question - "Do I need to add crop marks?"

Answer - While crop marks are handy for the cutting portion of production, they are not necessary when providing your files to us. Simply add 0.125 inch bleed and leave off the crop marks so we can set the file up for production.

Hint: Each shop runs a little differently so letting your printer determine how files are set up can save time and hassle, for you and them.

Question - "How should my colors be set up?"

Answer - Please set your color mode to CMYK. If you are accustomed to working with web graphics, you may work in RGB, so you will have to go into your color preferences and change them to CMYK. Keep in mind this may change the shades of colors so it is best to do this prior to creating your print art. If you are ordering a print product that has spot colors alone, make sure only spot colors are present in your design file. If you are adding spot colors on top of CMYK, make sure they are separated correctly. If you would like to read more about color set up check out this article.

Question - "How do I know which stock to pick?"

Answer - Paper Stock is one of those ridiculously simple topics that can easily become complex. To make things simple we offer mainly two kinds of stock. Coated and Uncoated. Coated has some form of coating on the paper, usually glossy on our site, which has a shiny bright appearance. Uncoated has no coating and is thus thicker and also absorbs ink better resulting in a rich full color. Each of these are offered in various thicknesses for any given product. Both Coated and Uncoated are available in Card and Text stock options. Card stock is thicker and more rigid. Text stock is easy to turn and fold.

Most products give you an option between Coated or Uncoated and you get to choose a Standard version or a Premium which is thicker and more robust. A few products give you the option between Cover and Text stock, such as posters. For Regal Letterhead and Envelopes you can choose Paper Color, Type, & Weight. Paper Colors are White, Natural, and Ivory. Paper Types include Smooth, Linen, & Laid. Smooth is smoothly pressed and has no texture. Linen is a textured stock that is soft like linen material. Laid is a textured stock that resembles handcrafted paper and is the standard of excellence especially for watermarking. Paper Weight is the thickness/density of the paper.

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