Design Guide

Artwork & Design Guide

Whether you create your design using our online customisation tools or provide your own artwork, the quality and setup of your design can have a significant effect on the finished print.

This guide explains how to prepare and check your design to help achieve the best possible print result.

Before approving your artwork, please take a moment to check the guidance below.

File Format

File Types

We accept artwork supplied in the following formats:

• PDF
• JPEG / JPG
• TIFF
• PNG

File Size

The maximum file size that can be uploaded through our website is 10 GB.

This should provide sufficient capacity for correctly prepared artwork for the majority of our products when an appropriate file format is used.

Your file should also contain enough image information for the size you intend to print. A file being small enough to upload does not necessarily mean that it contains sufficient resolution for professional printing.

If you are unable to upload your artwork, please contact our Customer Service team so that we can help identify the issue or discuss an alternative method of supplying your file.

Vector vs Raster Artwork 

Vector files, such as PDF files, are generally preferable for logos, text and graphics because it can be scaled without losing sharpness.

Raster files such as JPEG, PNG and TIFF are made from pixels. Their print quality therefore depends on both their resolution and the physical size at which they are printed.

A high-resolution raster image can produce excellent results, but enlarging a small raster image beyond its intended size can reduce its quality.

PNG files can support transparent backgrounds which is useful when you do not want a background printed around a logo or design. Any background or unwanted element that forms part of the artwork may reproduce in print, so make sure it has been removed if it is not intended to be there.

Fonts

Font should be properly embedded in the artwork or converted to outlines where appropriate.

This helps reduce the risk of fonts being substituted, changing appearance or failing to reproduce correctly when the file is processed on a different system.

Always check that the text in the final artwork or proof appears exactly as intended.

Images

Images should be embedded rather than linked to an external file.

A linked image may not be included correctly when the artwork is transferred or opened on another system.

Resolution & Image Quality

Resolution 

We recommend a resolution of 300 DPI or higher at the final print size.

An image can appear perfectly sharp on a phone, tablet or computer but look noticeably different when enlarged and printed.

For this reason, how an image looks on screen alone is not a reliable indication of how it will reproduce in print.

Check Your Artwork at Print Size

We recommend checking photographs, graphics and logos at approximately the size you intend them to be printed.

A helpful way to check this is by zooming into your artwork until it has approximately reached the size that you intend for it to be printed. This can help identify pixelation, blurry edges, loss of detail, jagged outlines and other quality issues.

If an image already looks pixelated when viewed at or around its intended print size, that pixelation is likely to be visible in the finished print as well.

Low-Resolution Images

Low-resolution or small images can often be printed, but enlarging them may result in pixelation, reduced sharpness and loss of fine detail.

Images downloaded or copied from websites are often designed for screen use rather than professional printing and may be too low in resolution for the size you want to print.

Images found online may also be protected by copyright or other intellectual property rights.

Where possible, use an original, appropriately licensed and high-resolution version of the image.

For the best results, always supply or use the highest-quality version of your photograph, logo or graphic that is available.

Colour Profile

RGB and CMYK

Artwork should be prepared in CMYK.

Screens and printing equipment reproduce colours in different ways.

Phones, tablets and computer monitors generally display colour using RGB — Red, Green and Blue light.

Commercial printing commonly uses CMYK — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inks or toners, although the exact colour process can vary depending on the product and printing method.

Because RGB and CMYK reproduce colour differently, colours shown on screen cannot always be reproduced identically in print.

What Happens if My Artwork Is RGB?

RGB artwork can still be processed for printing, but colours may need to be converted to the colour system used by the relevant printing process.

Some RGB colours cannot be reproduced exactly using CMYK, so a visible colour shift may occur during conversion.

Bright, highly saturated colours can be particularly affected.

For this reason, we recommend working in CMYK wherever practical when preparing print artwork.

Pantone & Important Brand Colours

Pantone or other spot colours may need to be converted to the colour process used for your selected product.

If matching a particular Pantone, brand or corporate colour is important, please contact us before ordering or approving production so we can discuss the most appropriate printing or colour-matching option.

Artwork Size

Print Size

Artwork should be created at the size you intend it to be printed, or at a larger size with the same proportions.

For example, if you are ordering an A3 poster, preparing your artwork to A3 dimensions will provide the best control over how the finished design will appear.

Increasing the physical size of a small image does not increase its quality. Enlarging low-resolution artwork can instead make pixelation and loss of detail more noticeable.

Aspect Ratio

The shape or proportions of your design may not always match the print area of the product you have selected.

For example, a square image and an A3 poster have different aspect ratios.

Ensure that the aspect ratio of your design matches the aspect ratio of the print size you are ordering. 

Artwork Orientation

Make sure your artwork is supplied or designed in the correct orientation.

If the finished product is landscape, the relevant pages should be supplied in landscape orientation. If it is portrait, they should be supplied in portrait orientation.

This is particularly important for double-sided and folded products.

Artwork supplied in the incorrect orientation can result in the reverse side of a product appearing upside down relative to the front.

For folded items such as 4pp leaflets or greeting cards, carefully check the orientation of every panel and side before approving the design.

Bleed & Trimming 

Bleed

Printed products are trimmed to their finished size after printing.

Because very small movement can occur during printing and trimming, designs that are intended to print all the way to the edge should include a minimum 3 mm bleed on each side.

For example, an A6 finished product measures 148 × 105 mm. With 3 mm bleed added to all four sides, the artwork size would be 154 × 111 mm

Any background colour, photograph or design element intended to continue to the edge of the finished product should extend fully through this bleed area.

Safe Areas

Important content should not sit immediately against the trim edge. Keep important information comfortably inside the finished edge. This helps protect important content from being accidentally clipped by normal trimming tolerances.

Crop Marks

Crop marks are not required as long as the artwork has been supplied at the correct dimensions and includes the required bleed.

If you are experienced in preparing artwork for print, correctly positioned crop marks can be included and may help identify the intended trim position.

However, correctly sized artwork with the appropriate bleed can be prepared for printing without crop marks.

Wire & Plastic-Bound Documents

For wire-bound or plastic-bound products, allow approximately 10 mm of additional safe space on the edge that will be bound.

Important text, photographs or graphics placed too close to the binding edge may be obscured or affected by the holes, wire or plastic binding.

Flattening Artwork

Files should be flattened before being supplied for printing.

Flattening combines layers and effects into a simpler final artwork structure, which can improve compatibility, reduce the risk of effects being interpreted differently and sometimes reduce file size.

Multi-Page Products

Page Order

For multi-page print products, such as stapled brochures, we recommend supplying one PDF with individual pages in the correct running order from beginning to end.

For example:

• Page 1 = front cover
• Following pages = inside pages in reading order
• Final page = back cover

If separate files are supplied instead, clearly number them in the required printing order, for example:

• 01_YourFilename
• 02_YourFilename
• 03_YourFilename

and so on.

Do Not Supply Printer's Pairs

You do not need to work out which pages will sit beside one another once the document is folded or bound.

Please supply pages in normal reading order rather than arranging them manually as printer's pairs.

Our production process will arrange the pages appropriately for printing.

Before You Approve Your Design

Please carefully review the complete design before submitting it for print.

Check that:

• Spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct.
• Names, dates, addresses, telephone numbers and contact details are correct.
• All required text, photographs, logos and graphics are present.
• Images are clear and of a suitable resolution.
• The dimensions and orientation are correct for the product ordered.
• Important content is positioned safely away from trimmed edges.
• Any backgrounds intended to print are present and extend far enough where bleed is required.
• Fonts display correctly.
• Colours and overall layout are as intended.
• There are no unwanted backgrounds, objects or design elements.
• All printed sides and pages have been checked.
• QR codes and barcodes have been tested and work correctly.