Signature Graphics can help with the printing, publishing and delivery of your marketing materials, but if you’re wondering how to prepare design files for print marketing, we’re here to guide you through it. Keep reading to learn how to prepare design files, various design factors you can customize, considerations for preparing and printing your design files, and where and how to print your designs according to your unique marketing needs. We’ll guide you through the process to ensure your print ads are exactly as you need them to be and ensure your return on investment stays high.
How to Prepare Design Files
When creating your print marketing materials, the first thing to consider is how to prepare design files. There are a few design file necessities to complete when you make your preparations, including:
- Bleed: Ensure there is bleed around your design edges to protect your design from accidental cropping and stretch the color to the edges of your design.
- Crop Marks: If the final product needs to be trimmed, be sure to include crop marks to show where to trim the final product.
- CMYK Color Mode: Put your design in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and key) mode to ensure your images and color choices stay accurate and look great in print.
- Resolution: Your design files should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi to ensure they aren’t pixelated and look great once printed.
- Design Size: Ensure that your design is created accordingly and your final print size matches up with your print marketing canvas and what you initially intended.
- PDF: Save as a PDF to print and ensure that press quality settings are enacted so the quality stays great when it comes time to print.
- Proofing: Proof your design file by checking for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and other content pieces that might need to be revised.
- Review: Check for clarity and color accuracy, and make any final changes before sending your design to the printer.
By following these design preparation steps, you’ll have your design ready to go in no time. If you’re happy with the final design, send it to your printer when you’re ready, and confirm the publication and delivery dates.
Considerations for Preparing and Printing Design Files
Knowing how to prep your design files is crucial, but there are certain considerations for preparing and printing design files to keep in mind that can make the process easier.
- Design Software: One of the major helpers in your creation process is design software. Having a design platform like PhotoShop or Canva can help immensely during the design process.
- Paper Type, Ink and Coating: Another important consideration in print marketing designs is selecting the appropriate paper type, ink and coating for your project. If you are using shared mail, this will be outside of your control, but if you’re sending more customized commercial mail, these decisions help with the overall appearance of your print marketing campaign. Be sure to ask our Signature Graphics team if you need help deciding what works best for your goals.
- Print Specifications: Before designing and especially before finalizing, ensure your print specifications match up with what is offered. If your design doesn’t fit the standards, it can be cut off or the orientation might not fit as well as you’d like.
Where and How to Print Design Files
If you’re wondering where and how to print design files, Signature Graphics takes care of this part of the process. Our expert team can help you every step of the way to ensure your final product is exactly how you want it. If you need help with any part of the process, we have the Kobalt Design team to help you create your publication, our Signature Graphics team covers the high-quality printing portion and Archer 3P Logistics can handle your quick, on-time delivery.
Get Started Today with Our Signature Commercial Printing Solutions.