A Guide to Preparing Files for Print

M AY 2 6 2 0 1 0 B Y C I A R A PA N A C C H I A 28 COMMENTS

With this guide, we are going to examine ways to prepare files for print, covering applications in the Adobe Creative Suite. The examples used are for InDesign, but can apply to Photoshop and Illustrator. This is a basic guide aimed to help people just starting out in the print design business or are looking to learn more about preparing files better to send to press.

Author: Ciara Panacchia

Ciara Panacchia is a graphic artist transplanted from Carlow, Ireland to Illinois to work for the B2B agency MarketSense. Inspired by her daughter and her heritage, she began illustrating a series of bilingual books to help teach her daughter the Irish language. She recently started the site eliesbooks.com in the hopes of someday self-publishing the series. Follow Ciara on Twitter @ciarasworld and see her work on Flickr or her website. CATEGORIES
Articles Digital Art Drawing & Illustration Freebies Graphic Design Icon & Logo Design Print Design Text Effects Tools & Basics Web Design

Understand the Basics

With most print jobs, you should have specifications to adhere to. These specs work for preparing advertisements, brochures, business cards, and other printed mediums. WRITE FOR US
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CYMK vs RGB
A lot of the colors you create in RGB mode are not achievable using standard four-color process printing. It is always best to create your document from the start in CMYK color mode to ensure that you have a better idea of how your colors are going to print. Some exceptions are tradeshow signs or large format prints, but the best way to know for sure is to check with the printer.

Four over Four (or 4/4)

If youre printing a flyer, you might be printing 4/4, which essentially means you are printing four color on the front and four color on the back. If nothings on the back, then it would be 4/0. For postcards, you might print 4/1: four color on the front and 1 spot color on the back. For business cards, you might print 2/2: 2 spot colors on the front and back.

Print Layout
Here is a diagram of a typical document for print designs.

Trim Line: This is the finished size of the piece. Live Area: The area that is considered safe to keep any important information within. For example, if an ads trim size is 8.25 in 10.25 in, the live area might be 7.75 in 9.75 in. This takes into consideration the binding if the ad is placed on the left or right of a spread and you dont want copy to be unreadable if it is too close to the spine. Bleed Area: The more bleed you can offer, the better.The minimum bleed you need for a printed piece is 0.125 in (1/8 in) but some specs require more than that. So if you are working with an image in Photoshop and youre placing it in InDesign for print preparation, keep in mind the area you might need to use for the bleed. Crop Marks: Indicates where to cut the paper.

Deciding to Use Black or Rich/Packed Black

When printing with black color, there are two types of black you can use. Black 100 K: can be used for body copy and barcodes Rich Black 40 C 40 M 40 Y 100 K: should be used when using blocks of black Note: Rich/Packed black specifications may differ from printer to printer, so you should ask your printer what they recommend.

Rich Black vs Black (100 K)

Below, you will see the difference between rich black and black. It may be hard to tell the difference when preparing files on your monitor screen depending on your monitor type and monitor calibration since PC screens show richer colors in RGB. Therefore, it is wise to get a press proof when printing blocks of black.

Here is a sample of a flyer using the 2 blacks. The live area is denoted in green and the dashed, pink line is the trim area.

Download the InDesign template for the flyer above.

Preparing a File with UV Varnish/Coating

If you decide to use a UV varnish/UV coating on your printed piece, all you need to do is select the image or text you want the varnish on. To keep your work organized, Id suggest creating a layer and a spot color named "varnish/spot" and then make sure this spot color you create is not already used in the file. Here is a piece without a UV varnish layer.

First, create your spot color in your Swatch Panel.

Then select the image/s and text block/s you want to apply the UV coating on.

Add a new layer, duplicate the elements (Ctrl/Cmd + J), and then apply the spot color to the elements on that new layer.

Extending Design Elements into the Bleed Area

If you haves a design that has type thats flush with the trim, one suggestion is to rasterize the type and pull the paths out beyond the bleed. Here is some text thats flush to the bleed line on the left.

Here, we extend the letter "D" to the bleed area so that we can ensure that the text is going to be printed right at the edge when the piece is trimmed by the printer. If we dont extend it into the bleed area, the text might have a gap at the edge of the printed material.

Download the InDesign template for the UV varnish/UV coating piece above.

Using Spot Color

If you need more vibrant colors or exact color matching (e.g. for consistent company branding) than what CMYK inks produce, spot colors/PMS colors is the way to go.

Example of a Flyer with 2 Spot Colors

Here is a sample of using 2 spot colors in InDesign (the design is 2/2).

Download the InDesign template for the 2-spot color flyer above. If you are doing spot colors in Photoshop, make sure all objects and type that are in the same color are merged on the same layer and named with the spot color they should be printed in so it is clear to the printer. Also, provide a layered PSD or TIFF file and rasterize your type and vector layers. This can also be applied to files set up in Illustrator. Additionally, remove any unused colors before packaging file.

Collecting Files in InDesign

In CS4, collecting files is known as Packaging (in previous versions it was known as Preflight). To collect and package your files in InDesign, go to File > Package.

A summary screen will pop up. Here, you will see any spot colors used, RGB images, image sizes and fonts in the file. On the image below, you will see that there is 1 font used, 2 linked images, no RGB images, 4 color process and 1 spot color.

For a more detailed overview of each component, click through the navigation menu on the left side of the Package window. It is good practice to check these.

Fonts
Check the font/s you used in the document in case you need to remove anything saved on the pasteboard.

Links and Images

In the Links and Images section, you can see the file type is a TIFF with CMYK value at 300 ppi. If you only want to see errors such as RBG linked files, check the Show Problems Only option. If everything looks good, hit the Package button.

When collecting the native files for the packaged folder, make sure the links below are clicked on.

Your final packaged folder should resemble this:

Preparing Print Files in Adobe Creative Suite Applications: Summary

Photoshop Create the file in CYMK color mode Remember to include a bleed Add Guides to show trim area or crop marks Rasterize type Name layers clearly if using spot colors and UV varnish/coating Rasterize vector layers Provide a layered PSD file if you have spots colors Most printers will accept TIFF, EPS, PSD, and PDF files created in Photoshop InDesign Create a file with a bleed Remove unused colors Name layers clearly if UV varnish/coating Package the file Check colors, images and image sizes Save Packaged folder Zip the file if you are uploading to an online printer Most printers will accept high resolution PDFs and collective native files from InDesign Illustrator Create the file in CYMK color mode Remember to include a bleed Add Guides to show trim area or crop marks Rasterize type Name layers clearly if using spot colors and UV varnish/coating Link files and provide a folder with linked files to the printer Most printers will accept high resolution PDFs, AI, and EPS files from Illustrator

Tutorial Summary
This tutorial outlined processes for preparing your artwork for traditional printing presses to ensure the best possible results. Ive included the templates used as examples in this guide. We focused on InDesign, but the process is very similar amongst other Adobe Creative Suite applications. You can see the similarities and overview of the process above in the summary table with the heading "Preparing Print Files in Adobe Creative Suite Applications: Summary."

Download Tutorial Source Files

prepping_files_print_flyer_template (ZIP, 6.5 MB) prepping_files_print_uv_coating_template (ZIP, 35.8 MB) prepping_files_print_2_spot_color_flyer_template (ZIP, 1.2 MB)

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28 Comments (Add yours)

@hygorbudny MAY 26 2010

Why you dont make this article before?! Impressive work, congratulations. You make point about everything that we need to finalize an artwork. =)
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Aur MAY 26 2010

Really useful article. Thanks :)

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Scott Corgan MAY 26 2010

Dont know about you guys, but I remember my first print job. Designed in RGB with no bleed lines. Well, you can figure out that I had to redesign it and compensate for the lack of DUHHHH on that project. Glad to have articles to teach like this. Good for new designers!
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Dayson MAY 29 2010

Sadly, I had to learn it the hard way too while taking prints for various designs over the past few years. A great article!

Geeee MAY 26 2010

Hey thanks a lot for this great article its really helpful .. Shared it with my friends .. keep it up :)
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ciara MAY 26 2010

Contributor

Thank you hygorbudny, Aur, Scott and Geeee I am so glad you liked this. I remember leaving college thinking I knew what to do but was just clueless to getting files press ready. That was a time when Quark was fashionable.
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Jess MAY 27 2010

Muchas gracias por la informacin. Excelente gua, sencilla sin dejar de ser bastante prctica y con ejemplos especficos.
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Randy Sizemore MAY 28 2010

Im impressed! I have over 18 years experience in design and production on the computer and this well written article that covers a lot of the pitfalls that designers often make.
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ciara MAY 28 2010

Contributor

Thanks Randy. Im glad you liked it

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Jacob Gube MAY 29 2010

Editorial Team

I was curious and clicked through Randys portfolio. I have to say @ciara, thats quite a compliment coming from an accomplished graphic designer such as Randy.

sidney davenport JUN 02 2010

This is such a good article so clear and accurate. Could use a paragraph on foil printing, or is that too advanced. I just learned that if the foil is to be printed over ink (an image), the image should extend all the way under the foil plus bleed so that the foil is pressed evenly. Also, my printer wanted vector art for all the foil areas (and that means no Photoshop Effects).
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Jacob Gube JUN 02 2010

Editorial Team

That could be an interesting follow-up tutorial. I think somewhere along the lines of a tutorial focusing on more specialized printing like using foil, letterpress print work, etc.
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ciara JUN 02 2010

Contributor

Excellent suggestion @jacob and thanks for adding that input @sidney

Rebecca JUN 03 2010

Foil printing or specialised would be a good article. i have to do some artwork for a blister pack (for vitamins) and really Im completely winging it! Theirs never enough articles on print design (well more would be better)
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Dave Obersby JUN 08 2010

Thanks for the article. Clear and concise.

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Bas van der Horst JUN 08 2010

Whatever you want foil printed, uv spot layered or whatever: just make a copy of the original page and make all pieces a specific color (for example: 100% K, or a Pantone color) you want the special layer applied to. Enclose it in your indesign document, or as a separate PDF file. Done.
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sidney davenport JUN 08 2010

Just make sure to find out from the printer if they require vector for that job.
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Joo Carlos de Pinho JUN 08 2010

Very nice and useful article. I just want to add that InDesign allows the control of rich black display: its in the Appearance of Black tab of the Preferences panel. The default setting for onscreen viewing is Display All Blacks as Rich Black, but the user can (and should) switch it to Display All Blacks Accurately.
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ciara JUN 08 2010

Contributor

Very useful tip, thank you @Joo Carlos de Pinho

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Jacob Gube JUN 08 2010

Editorial Team

Great tip Joo, thanks for sharing that!

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Juliana Galati JUN 08 2010

Great article! Pretty nice and useful tips =) Unfortunately here in Brazil almost all printers still use Corel Draw, and I only use Adobe softwares So its a real pain to prepare files for them, almost every time the colors come out wrong or they cant open a eps files (saved for Illustrator 8). Most of them cant even print a pdf =(
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SunSeven AUG 04 2010

In CS4, collecting files is known as Packaging (in previous versions it was known as Preflight). This is wrong. Preflight is different from Package. And in previous versions also it was termed as Package too. It is an equivalent of Collect for output in Quark. Preflight actually check the document for errors with predefined parameters. Best Regards
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ciara AUG 04 2010

Contributor

Hi SunSeven, When I started this piece I was actually working in CS3 and when you went to File> Package all you got was to collect files and a Summary. When you went to File> Preflight you got what is shown

Alessandro AUG 04 2010

FANTASTIC! Thank you!

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alejandra SEP 01 2010

excelente!!! muchas gracias!!!

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Dede Sonntag SEP 23 2010

This is amazingly helpful for beginners. Great tutorial!

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Townend NOV 10 2010

Very useful, confirmed what I thought I knew. Thanks!

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