Standard Print Artwork Guidelines

Business cards, flyers, postcards, brochures, booklets, stationery and folders.

General specifications

We accept finished artwork as a PDF, set up as follows.

  • Resolution

    Photos and illustrations at 300dpi.

  • Colour

    All colours converted to CMYK. No PMS, RGB or LAB.

  • Fonts

    Embedded or outlined.

  • Bleed

    Crop and bleed marks included. 3mm, or 5mm for saddle-stitched booklets.

  • Trim size

    Your document's trim size matches the size you ordered.

  • Embellishments

    Spot UV, Scodix and Metal supplied as a separate page in the PDF, set as a spot colour.

  • Dielines

    Dielines, fold and perforation lines overlaid on the artwork as a spot colour, set to overprint.

  • Page count

    Matches your order, in 1 PDF per kind of artwork. 2 kinds of 2-sided card = 2 PDFs of 2 pages. A 32-page booklet = 1 PDF of 32 pages.

Designing for print

  • Keep text and images that don't bleed at least 3mm from the trim line.
  • Avoid thin borders on 2-sided artwork. Printing and finishing can move by 1 to 2mm, which makes an even border on both sides difficult.
  • We print head to head: the top of page 1 (front) sits at the same end as the top of page 2 (back).
  • Use rich black on large black areas for a solid result: 60 / 50 / 50 / 100 on heavier stocks, 30 / 0 / 0 / 100 on lighter stocks.

Business cards

  • Combine the front and back into one PDF. Page 1 prints as the front, page 2 as the back.
  • A laminate on one side always goes on page 1.
  • Different names or designs need a separate PDF each: 5 kinds = 5 PDFs.
  • For Spot UV, Scodix and Metal cards, supply a 3-page PDF per kind. Page 1 is the front, where the embellishment goes. Page 2 is the back. Page 3 doesn't print: it marks the embellished area in a spot colour.

Embellishments

The steps are the same for Spot UV, Scodix and Metal. These use InDesign:

  1. Create a new layer for the embellishment.
  2. Duplicate the elements you want to enhance onto that layer.
  3. Create a new swatch, set its type to Spot Colour, name it after the finish (for example Spot UV or Scodix) and apply it at 100% opacity.
  4. For Spot UV, set the layer's graphics to Overprint and check them with Overprint Preview.
  5. Keep the layer identical to your CMYK artwork in size, orientation and position.

Diecutting

  • Set dielines and perforation lines in a spot colour so they don't print, and set them to overprint on top of the CMYK artwork.
  • Set perforation and score lines as solid strokes, in a different spot colour from the cut line.
  • The back page mirrors the front, so centre your artwork and check perforations line up when flipped.
  • Mock up and test a custom die before laying out your artwork, then again when the artwork is finished.
  • On presentation folders, page 1 is always the cover. The right-hand side is the front and the left-hand side is the back. Download folder templates.

Booklets and folding

  • Saddle-stitched and wire-bound books: single pages in page order, front cover first, back cover last.
  • Perfect-bound books: two files. The cover as spreads with an allowance for the spine, and the inside pages as single pages in order. Call us to confirm your spine width.
  • Folded brochures: spreads at the flat trim size.

Not sure your file is ready?

Call us on 1300 339 122, or add Fix my file when you upload it and we'll correct it before print.

Call us