FAQs in Design and Print
Whether you’re a seasoned designer looking to send us print-ready artwork for printing, or you dabble with design and want to understand more about print… We’ve compiled some of the frequently asked questions we often get from customers.
"What's the difference between CMYK and RGB?"
RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is the colour profile used for digital displays such as computer screens and smartphones.
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) is the colour profile used for printing.
It's really important to design in the correct colour mode to ensure colour accuracy in your final product. For example, if you design something in RGB, these colours will be converted to CMYK in order to print and will often look duller and less vivid. Whereas if you design in CMYK, you know that the colours picked will print fairly similarly.
However, there’s another snag, colours will always look slightly different on a backlit computer screen to how they look when printed. If you’re nervous about a specific colour match, we always suggest asking us for a test print so you can come and have a look at your colour before giving us the go ahead to print your products. Or if you aren’t sure, we have large scale colour charts in our showroom where you can come and pick a shade.
"What is DPI?"
DPI (Dots Per Inch) measures the resolution of an image. Higher dpi means more detail and a clearer image. Images for screen (such as websites or social media) only need to be 72dpi but when printing the rules are completely different. To ensure a clear, crisp print we ideally need your design or any images to be 300dpi (although depending on the product, if something is large and being viewed from a distance you can sometimes get away with a slightly lower dpi than this) If you’re unsure, send us your artwork and our design team can take a look for you.
"What’s the difference between ‘Vector Graphics’ and ‘Rasterised Images’?"
Vector graphics are created using mathematical formulas of shapes, fill colours and borders with fixed points on grids. No pixels mean they can scale infinitely without losing any quality. They're ideal for logos and illustrations. If we require your logo or design in a vector format, file types include .eps, .ai, .svg and .pdf files. If you’re unsure, just send us your files and we can take a look for you and let you know if your logo or design is usable for its intended purpose.
A Raster image is made from pixels (tiny squares of colour that make up an image). Photographs for example, are raster images. The more pixels (or dpi) means a higher quality image and likewise, the lower pixels (or dpi) means a lower resolution of image. For example, Raster image files types include .jpeg, .gif and .png files. If your image resolution is too low quality for its intended printed size, we may describe it as ‘pixelated’ or blurry. This means that rather than seeing a crisp, clear image, you would see the pixels/squares of colour that make up the image (think Minecraft).
"What is a bleed, and why is it important?"
Bleed is colour or design content which goes outside the trim line of your design and will be cut off. Basically you oversize your design to ensure there are no white edges when the final product is trimmed. A standard bleed size for print is 3mm (think business cards, flyers, posters etc). For large format printing such as signs and wall graphics, we require a 7mm bleed. If you’re supplying artwork and are unsure how to set it up, we have artwork guidelines for all of our products so let us know and we can email you a copy.
"What is a proof?"
A design proof is a digital representation of your order which shows how your final product will look once printed. At Signspeed, we send a pdf via email for your approval. This is your opportunity to check the content is correct and let us know if you require any changes. A proof is normally low resolution and gives an idea of the colours but if you require an exact colour match, we would suggest coming in person to pick a colour as they look different on screen to how the final printed product will look.
"How do I ensure my design is print-ready?"
- Set your file to the correct dimensions, for example an A4 poster should be set to 210x297mm (excluding bleeds)
- Set your file to the correct resolution (300dpi)
- Make sure your file is set to a CMYK colour profile
- Include the correct bleed for your file type
- Outline your fonts
- Save and send your file in a print-friendly format (PDF is best)
If you’re unsure about font size or layout for its intended purpose. We recommend firstly viewing the design at 100% scale on your computer screen to make sure text is legible and image quality is ok. If you’re still not sure, printing your design (or a section of your design) at 100% scale is a good way to test. For example, if you’ve got an A1 poster but aren’t sure if the font size is big enough. Print an A4 section of your design at 100% scale and stick it up on the wall. Stand back and make sure you can read it from a distance.
Lastly, trust our expertise. We’ve been doing this for over 40 years and are here to help. If you’re unsure about any of the points discussed here, or any other print related queries just get in touch. We’re always happy to help.
