Artwork Guide

Artwork Guide: How to Prepare Your Designs for Perfect Printing

At East London Printer, we’re committed to delivering exceptional quality prints that bring your ideas to life. To ensure the best results, it’s crucial to prepare your artwork correctly before submitting it for printing. Our Artwork Guide provides all the information you need to create print-ready files, so your designs look flawless when printed.

Follow these professional tips and guidelines to make your artwork print-ready while avoiding common issues.

File Formats We Accept

To maintain the highest quality and compatibility, please save your artwork in one of these formats:

PDF (Preferred): The most reliable format for print-ready files.

EPS: Perfect for vector-based designs.

TIFF or JPEG: High-resolution raster images are ideal for photos and complex graphics.

Always ensure your files are saved at the highest quality to avoid pixelation or distortion during printing.

Resolution: Crisp and Clear Prints

For your prints to look sharp and professional, your artwork should have a resolution of 300 DPI (dots per inch). Lower resolutions can lead to blurry or pixelated prints, especially for images.

Quick Tip:

To check your resolution, zoom into your file to at least 300%—if the image remains sharp, it’s good to go!

Bleed, Trim, and Safe Area: Avoid Cut-Off Designs

To ensure your design is printed edge-to-edge without any white borders or cut-off text, it’s important to include the following:

Bleed Area: Extend your artwork by 3mm beyond the trim line to allow for cutting.

Trim Line: The actual size of your printed product. Keep all essential design elements inside this area.

Safe Area: Leave at least 5mm space inside the trim line to prevent important text or graphics from being cut off.

Why This Matters:

These margins account for slight shifts during the cutting process, ensuring your design looks perfect once trimmed.

Colour Mode: Use CMYK for Printing

Unlike screens that display colours in RGB (Red, Green, Blue), printers use CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) for accurate colour reproduction.

Steps to Ensure Accurate Colors:

  1. Convert your artwork to CMYK before submitting.
  2. Use rich black (C:60, M:40, Y:40, K:100) for deep, bold blacks.
  3. Avoid relying on screen coloirs, as RGB may appear differently when printed.

Quick Tip:

Soft-proof your design in CMYK mode to get an idea of how colours will appear on print.

Keep Your Text Sharp and Legible

To avoid font issues during printing, it’s best to:

Embed Fonts: Ensure all fonts are embedded in the file to prevent substitution.

Outline Text: Convert your text to outlines (vector shapes) so the font style is preserved even if we don’t have your exact font installed.

This guarantees that your text appears exactly as intended on the final product.

Images and Graphics: Use High-Quality Assets

Ensure all images and graphics in your design are high resolution (300 DPI or higher).

Avoid using images downloaded from the web, as they are often low resolution and unsuitable for printing.

Quick Tip:

If you’re unsure about an image’s quality, ask our team for advice before submitting it.

File Size: Keep It Manageable

Large files can slow down the upload process, so keep your artwork file size manageable without compromising quality. Compress your file if necessary, but ensure no visual quality is lost.

Quick Tip:

PDF files with optimized settings are ideal for maintaining quality while keeping file sizes reasonable.

Special Finishes: Add Extra Flair to Your Prints

If you’re including special finishes like embossing, spot UV, or foil printing, make sure to:

  1. Add a separate layer to indicate where the finish should be applied.
  2. Label the layers clearly (e.g., “Spot UV Layer” or “Foil Layer”).

This ensures we understand your design vision and execute it perfectly.

Checklist: Before You Submit Your Artwork

Before submitting your artwork, double-check the following:

  1. File is saved in the correct format (PDF, EPS, TIFF, or JPEG).
  2. Resolution is set to 300 DPI.
  3. Artwork includes bleed, trim, and safe areas.
  4. Colours are in CMYK mode.
  5. Fonts are embedded or outlined.
  6. Images are high resolution.
  7. Special finishes are clearly indicated.

How to Submit Your Artwork

Once your artwork is ready, you can send it to us in the following ways:

Upload on Our Website: Use our secure file upload feature on www.eastlondonprinter.co.uk to submit your files.

Email Us: Attach your artwork to an email and send it to our team.

Bring It in Person: If you prefer, you can deliver your artwork files on a USB drive at 993 Romford Rd, London E12 5JR, United Kingdom.

Our team will review your files and get in touch if we notice any issues that could affect the quality of your prints.

Need Help with Your Artwork?

Don’t worry if you’re unsure about preparing your artwork—we’re here to help! Our experienced team can:

Review your files for free to ensure they’re print-ready.

Offer advice on how to fix common issues like resolution or bleed.

Provide professional design services if you need help creating your artwork.

At East London Printer, we’re dedicated to delivering high-quality printing with zero stress. By following this Artwork Guide, you’ll ensure your designs are ready to shine in print. Need more guidance? Contact us today, and let’s bring your vision to life!

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What happens if my artwork isn’t print-ready?
    No problem! Our team will contact you to help fix any issues or provide design assistance.
  2. Can I send artwork in a Word document?
    We recommend avoiding Word files for artwork. Instead, use a professional design tool like Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop.
  3. Do you charge extra for reviewing my files?
    No, we review your files for free to ensure they’re ready for printing.

Ready to get started? Visit www.eastlondonprinter.co.uk or contact us for expert assistance with your artwork!