Things to Know about File Setup (or) Make A Printer Smile!

Printing is a little bit of science, a little bit of art, and a lot of hands-on experience. You can’t work in a print shop without literally getting your hands dirty. As we attempt to break it down into manageable bites, we realize there are some rules we operate under, but not every one of our customers knows.

For your knowledge enhancement, we offer:

File Setup (Not-So) Secrets

      Margins: They are your friend. Think of them as invisible fences for your text, so your information doesn’t get too close to the trim edge.

      All informational text should be one-eighth of an inch (.125”) or more away from the edge, especially on small pieces, like business cards.

      Bleed: If a printer asks if your project has a bleed, they’re talking about any background color or image that should go off the edge of the card. A bleed is necessary to avoid seeing the paper color where your art should be, like a hairline of white on the edge of a booklet.

      A standard bleed is one-eighth of an inch (.125”) past the edge of where the piece will trim.

How to do it: The way to “pull a bleed” varies between computer applications, so this list touches on the main programs. Take a look at the diagram below for clarification of the areas listed.

1. Adobe InDesign and Illustrator: Drag the handles of your background color or resize the window for your photo to .125” outside of your page size. When saving the file as a pdf (preferred!), you have an option for Document Bleed Settings, which, when clicked, lets you choose how wide your bleed should be.

2. Adobe Photoshop: Since Photoshop is not normally a setup program, it’s not quite as flexible. You should make your file .25” larger in both directions, but move your text so it’s .375” from the edges. Save the file as the outside size of the bleed area.

3.  Microsoft Word and Publisher: Much like Photoshop, make your document .25” bigger in width and height to allow for the bleed.

4. Powerpoint: (sigh) The same idea applies, but please keep in mind that it’s a program for designing presentations, not printed pieces, so you’ll have a tougher time with your page setup options.

Cropmarks:  Most art we receive that requires setting up does not need cropmarks. We have software in our design department which takes in the size of paper and final trim size, and places the art in a way to use as much of the sheet size as possible. The program puts cropmarks in according to that setup.

File Problems: The usual problems that come up are:

      1) Fonts

      2) Fonts

      3) Resolution.

The best way to avoid number 1 and 2 is to save your file as a pdf and embed the fonts you’ve used, or to include them with the file if you bring it in or email it. There are so many websites with new fonts that we very often might not have the exact font used in your document.

Resolution is a very big problem when using photos, since many are digital, and their original file is not available. A good photo is 300 dpi at the size it will be when printed. Images pulled from the web are usually NOT high resolution. They are normally 72 or 96 dpi.

DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. Digital pictures are built with pixels – like building blocks. The more blocks used in your image, the smoother it will look. Something that is low-resolution will look blurry and the edges will look like tiny blocks.  If you have a low-resolution file and resize it to 300 dpi, it will be larger, but blurry. You aren’t going to get crisp edges or smooth text.

If you want a 5 x7 picture printed, it needs to be 1500 pixels wide and 2100 pixels tall. That will give you the best quality image, whether printed on a digital printer or offset press.

Always (always always always) tell us what size you want the finished piece to be!

File Types: We have most all programs used for page layout and design, so when you submit your files, go ahead and give us both the native (original program) file and pdf. That way, if we have any hiccups with fonts or catch a misspelled word, we can fix it easily.
As always, please contact or call us here at Athens Printing if you have any questions!