Preparing your files

1. 1

   Work at the finished size

   Set the document to the trim size of the product you are ordering, then add bleed. Designing at a different size and scaling later degrades images and shifts your safe margins.

2. 2

   Export a print-ready PDF

   PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 is the safest export for commercial printing. Include bleed, and either embed or outline fonts. This is the format we handle best and the one least likely to need a second round.

3. 3

   Supply multi-page work in reading order

   Booklets and folded pieces should be supplied as single pages in reading order, not as printer spreads. We impose the pages for the press ourselves; a file that has already been imposed usually has to be undone first.

4. 4

   Name files so we can tell them apart

   Include the product and, where relevant, the side: business-card-front.pdf, business-card-back.pdf. Ambiguous names are the most common cause of the wrong side printing first.

5. 5

   Package anything that is not self-contained

   Native files — INDD, PSD, CDR — need their linked images and fonts. Package the job and send it as a ZIP. Uploads are limited to 100 MB.

6. 6

   Check it once more at 100%

   View the exported file at full size before sending. Low-resolution placements, missing links and stray guides are obvious at 100% and invisible at 25%.

For the underlying rules on bleed, resolution and colour, see the artwork guidelines.