How to set up a print-ready PDF: bleed, crop marks and resolution

Send a 1-up, press-ready PDF

Send one copy of the design per page (1-up), not a sheet with several copies laid out. The shop's workflow imposes files automatically, so a file you impose yourself usually has to be taken apart and redone.

Make the document the finished size

Set the page to the trimmed size of the finished piece. A business card is 3.5 x 2 inches, so the document is 3.5 x 2 inches, not a letter page with a card drawn on it.

Add bleed

If any color, photo or shape touches the edge of the finished piece, extend it past the edge by 0.125 inch on every side. That extra is the bleed. Paper shifts slightly when it is cut, and bleed means the cut lands in color instead of leaving a thin white line. Envelopes are the exception: they do not take bleed.

Keep text inside the safe area

Keep text and logos at least 0.125 inch inside the trim line so they are not cut close to the edge.

Turn on crop marks

Crop marks are the short lines outside the page that show where to cut. Do not draw them by hand: every design program adds them when you export the PDF, as long as the document size equals the trim size.

Use 300 dpi images and do not worry about CMYK

Save photos at 300 dpi at the size they print. A web image that looks fine on screen will usually print soft. You do not need to convert RGB files to CMYK; the shop's workflow converts color automatically.

Checklist

Before you upload:

• PDF at the finished trim size, 1-up
• 0.125 inch bleed on all sides (not for envelopes)
• Crop marks on
• Images 300 dpi at final size
• Fonts embedded (exporting as PDF/X usually does this)
• Text at least 0.125 inch inside the trim