Photoshop — How to set up a Christmas or greeting card file for a commercial printing company

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Photoshop's software is NOT designed to create greeting cards or Christmas cards. Photoshop has been created to allow users to create and alter images (e.g.: logos and photographs).
Having written the above, Photoshop can be used to create professional looking greeting cards or Christmas cards, but you MUST make sure that you set up the file correctly.
Therefore, TheOnlinePrinter suggests that you read, and you fully understand, what is written on this page.

The images on this webpage are from an Apple-Mac; however, the principle is the same if you are using a PC.

How to correctly set up a greeting card or Christmas card file in Adobe Photoshop

Choose: File > New

Your screen will change to the below image.
Item number "2" is where Photoshop exposes its limitations, so you MUST follow this part of the set-up correctly. If you do not follow this part of the set-up correctly, then there is NOTHING you can do to remedy the matter. So, TheOnlinePrinter suggests that you proceed through the next four (4) matters with great care, and pay special attention to item number "2".

  1. Name your file, and please don't just have "cards" as the name. Make sure that the name is meaningful and describes:
    • Who the greeting card job is for — the Book Grocer in our example; and
    • What type of job it is — DL greeting cards.
  2. Enter the Width and the Height of the greeting or Christmas card. You must make the greeting card file 6mm larger than the actual size of the finished greeting card.
    • A7 — Width 154mm and Height 111mm — once the A7 mini greeting card is trimmed to the correct size and folded, it will become 74mm wide x 105mm high (or one-eighth the size of a standard business letter) when it is folded.
    • A6 — Width 216mm and Height 154mm — once the A6 standard greeting card is trimmed to the correct size and folded, will become 105mm wide x 148mm high (or one-quarter the size of a standard business letter) when it is folded.
    • A5 — Width 303mm and Height 216mm — once the A5 large greeting card is trimmed to the correct size and folded, will become 148mm wide x 210mm high (or one-half the size of a standard business letter) when it is folded.
    • DL — Width 204mm and Height 216mm — once the DL slim greeting card is trimmed to the correct size and folded, will become 99mm wide x 210mm high (or one-third the size of a standard business letter) when it is folded.
  3. The Resolution must be set at 300 pixels per inch. You may have a higher resolution, but the Resolution must never be lower than 300 pixels per inch.
  4. Ensure that the Color Mode is set at CMYK.
  5. Once the above information is correctly entered, click the OK button.

 

 

 

 

Your screen will now have a blank Photoshop document, and blank document will appear something like the image on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




 

 

We need to place the Trim lines, Safety Margin lines, Fold line and a Gutter on the document, so that it resembles the image to the right.

 

Trim lines and Safety Margin lines:

  • Place your mouse in the top ruler, hold down the left mouse-button, and drag the mouse down until it is 3mm inside the top of the file (you can measure the 3mm by looking at the left-hand ruler, and the image on the right  is an attempt to graphically display how the mouse is dragged from the top ruler). This is the top Trim line, and this is where your job will be cut by the guillotine after is has been printed.
  • Place your mouse in the top ruler for a second time, hold down the left mouse-button, and drag the mouse down until it is 8mm inside  the top of the file. This is the top Safety Margin line.
  • Now, do the same for the bottom Trim line and the bottom Safety Margin line.
  • Now do the same again for the left-hand and right-hand Trim lines and Safety Margin lines, but you start by placing your mouse in the left-hand ruler, and you read the measurement on the top ruler.
  • You should end up with lines that are 3mm and 8mm inside each and every edge of the file.
Fold line and Gutter:
  • The Fold line must be at the exact centre of the file, and the exact centre is:
    • A7 mini greeting cards — 77 mm.
    • A6 standard greeting cards —108 mm.
    • A5 large greeting cards —151½ mm
    • DL slim greeting cards —102 mm.
  • The Gutter consists of two lines that are each 5mm to the left and right of the Fold line.

 

 

 

The image on the right is a completed DL Christmas card file that has been created in Adobe Photoshop. That Photoshop DL Christmas card file is correctly formated, as all the formatting rules were followed.

Those formatting rules are:

  • All background colours and images that are going to be printed to the very edge of the greeting card must continue past the Trim line, and only stop once the edge of the file is reached. You will see that the yellow and light green background colours go all the way to each side of the file; and, you will see that the yellow and dark green background colours go all the way to the very top and the very bottom of the file.
  • All text is within the Safety Margin lines. You will see that text finishes either inside, or just on, the side and bottom Safety Margin lines.
  • All text must remain clear of the Gutter. You will see that text finishes either inside, or just on, the Gutter.







Save your file.

You are free to send your Photoshop greeting or Christmas card file to your commercial printing company. However, just before you do send it off, TheOnlinePrinter suggests that you consider the following:

  • Your printing company might not have all the fonts that you have used, or your commercial printer might not be licensed to use those fonts. this can cause some problems when your commercial printer uses some software to make your file press-ready. Therefore, we suggest that you outline the text on your Photoshop greeting card file, and the issue about fonts will be 100% solved.
  • Photoshop files travel well over the Internet. However, Photoshop files can sometimes become corrupted (i.e.: it is often called instability). PDFs, however, are amazingly stable when transferred over the Internet, so TheOnlinePrinter suggests that you convert your Photoshop greeting or Christmas card file into a PDF.
  • Photoshop files can be quite large, and this can make them difficult to E-mail or upload on the Internet. PDFs are almost always far smaller than Photoshop files, so TheOnlinePrinter suggests that you convert your Photoshop greeting or Christmas card file into a PDF.

How to convert text to outlines in an Adobe Photoshop greeting card or Christmas card file

Outlining text on your Photoshop greeting or Christmas card is simple.

Choose: Select > All layers.

 The Layers box should now be coloured in a light blue (see below).

Now choose: Layer > Type > Convert to Shape (see below).

Now save you file. We suggest you use the Save As option (see below), and give your file a slightly different name (e.g.: Book grocer DL Greeting Card OUTLINED). The reason for the slightly different name simple: you might want to change the text at a later time, and it is easier to change the text on a file that has text wriiten in fonts, than it is to change the text on a file where the text has been outlined.

 

 

How to convert an Adobe Photoshop greeting card or Christmas card file into a PDF

This is just so easy.

Choose: File > Save As, and the Save As dialogue box on the right will appear (but without the red outlines).

  • Format — the middle read box drop-down menu should be set on Photoshop PDF.
  • Save As — the name of the file in the top red box should change automatically to "pdf".
  • Layers — the tick box in the bottom red box should be ticked.
Once the above is correct, click the blue Save button.

You should now have the Save Adobe PDF dialogue box on your screen, and the tab in the left-hand menu should be on General (see the bottom left-hand box).

  • Ensure that the Adobe PDF Preset drop-down menu (top read box) is set at Press Quality.
  • Click the Compression tab once (it is just under the General tab)

The Compression tab (top left red box) should now be shaded in light blue.

Set your Options as:

  • "Bicubic Downsamplng to" "300" "pixels/inch" — top line in the large red box.
  • "450" "pixels/inch" — bottom line in the large red box.
  • Maximum — this is the Image Quality in the bottom red box.

Your file is now 100% press ready, and you can send it to your commercial printing company with the confidence that it will proceed through the production process with out any problems.