If you've ever had to send a project to print, you'll know that it's a daunting task. I think we all have the same doubts when it comes to going to print: will it look good, won't it be too small, will the colours look the way I've decided, and so on. I bet you are familiar with some of these doubts.

If, on the other hand, they don't, it's either because you're a genius and you work in printing, or because you've never stopped to think about the thousand mistakes that can happen from the moment the designs (or "final artwork") leave the designer and go to the printer.

document printing

That's why in this post I'm going to explain the ten basic tips you need to know before sending your files to print to ensure the success of a professional and error-free print.

1. Work with the right size
From the moment you start working on your design you need to be aware of the size at which it will be printed. You should always work in actual size. In print, there is no possibility of "enlarging it a little bit" because you will lose quality.

This applies both to the general level of the file (if you print on A4, A5 or special formats) and to the images (if they take up 10cm, look for an image that is the right size, but don't stretch them).

2. Always at a resolution of 300dpi.
Once you create a new document, after setting the right dimensions, you have to make sure you assign the right resolution. For printing, it is ideal to work with a resolution of 300dpi (dpi = dots per inch).

If you don't have all the elements that make up the file at this resolution, it will look pixelated when you print it. Many of the images we take from the internet have a resolution of 72dpi, which is insufficient quality for printing.

So, to avoid surprises, make sure you always use a resolution of 300dpi and transfer to this resolution the files you are going to use that don't have it. In the image you see a fictitious example of how an image would look like printed at an optimal resolution and at a resolution that is too low.

3. Use CMYK or Pantone. Never RGB
When your designs are to be printed, forget RGB, as this method only applies to screens, not ink. Therefore, it is best to work in CMYK or with Pantone colours (provided you have a Pantone colour chart at hand).

If you work without Pantone, but in CMYK, the colours you see on screen will be a little different from the final print result (more muted, probably) but you won't have any unpleasant colour surprises.

4. Watch out for gradients!
Gradients are now a trend. But you should be careful when using them for print jobs, as the result on screen and on paper can be different.

There are some gradients that, when printed, create an unsightly line effect. So if you don't have it under control, avoid it or test it before printing.

5. Always leave space for bleeding
If your design has images that take up all the space, it is very likely that you will want to avoid white margins around them when printing. To avoid this, you need to make use of the document's bleeding.

Bleed (or bleeding) consists of designing with the size you require, but always leaving a few millimetres outside margins so that, when you print and then pass the guillotine, there are no white margins.

6. Draw the typefaces and vector objects
Printers have an extensive catalogue of typefaces, but even so, to ensure that the typefaces you have chosen for your design are not lost or replaced by others, you should always trace them before saving the final file for printing.

The same goes for vector objects. Make sure you have them well traced to prevent them from being deformed in the printing process.

7. Check the spelling
Yes... although it may seem basic, there are many people who skip this step. It's not nice to receive a flyer, magazine or any other object and see that there are spelling mistakes. So make sure you check it well.

A little trick we follow in the studio is to check together the file to be printed. Because ten eyes see more than two, right? Besides, when you've been working on something for a long time, sometimes you don't notice the smallest details that can make a difference.  

8. Make tests and mock-ups
As I said in point 4 (about gradients), the best way to make sure there are no printing errors is to do a test or mock-up at home. The quality will not be the same, but it will help you to notice any errors in colour, size, layout or spelling, among others.

9. Always save in PDF
There is a theory that rarely fails: if it looks good in PDF, it will print well. If you follow the above steps and, in addition, save your file as a high quality PDF (even with crop marks), it is very likely that you will not have any unpleasant surprises when you see the final printed file.

10. When in doubt, ask
I guess I haven't given you any spoilers with this last trick. However, sometimes we get desperate looking for the solution when the easiest, quickest and most productive thing to do is to call the professional in question to solve our doubts. In this case, the printer, who will surely have no objection to answering you.

These are the ten essential tricks, which we almost consider as sacred points in the studio, that we follow every time we are faced with a design project for printing.

Have you ever had a scare when you have gone to pick up your work and you have seen that what you had designed does not correspond to what you have in your hands? I assure you that with this decalogue for printers it will never happen again.