Sending the wrong print-ready files can significantly negatively impact your finished product and possibly delay your order. You’ll find that it’s not as easy as just opening up Microsoft Word and piecing together a brochure. There is a little more to it than that.
Think of a file as a toolbox. There isn’t one tool or file for every job. Some are great for vector artwork, others for photos, while others are best suited for online applications.
The best practice to bring all these together for us, the printer, are PDF files. So often, files are created in programs like Indesign and then saved as PDFs. The PDF file is easier for printers to processes without the time and effort required to export a file, and allows the client to quickly upload their files.
Printing requires you to use some very specific standards and optimize your artwork so the computers that run the presses can produces it correctly. If you lack the necessary skills to use indesign, or just don’t have access to it hiring a designer is an absolute necessity. At Rocket our graphic designers are here ready to assist with all your design needs from start to finish. Producing artwork for print is much different than producing them for the web, photo editing or motion graphics.
If you think an image looks good on your computer monitor it doesn’t mean that it will translate that way on the printed page. Images on a computer screen are often — but not always — a lower Dot Per Inch (DPI) than images that are intended for print.
Oh, and don’t forget your crop marks and bleeds.