How to prepare your files for a commercial printer, and links to other websites

Digital printing services,postcard,business cards,poster,flyers,letterhead,fridge magnet,docket book > Preparing files, help & links

The pages listed above assist you in preparing your files for printing — they are well worth reading.

If you want your finished printing job to look great, then you MUST present us with a great file, and the 'related pages' listed above assist you in preparing a great file.

Some common issues in printing include:

Images sourced from the internet.
Bleeds.
Fonts.
The software that we accept.
Colour gamut — CMYK and RGB.
Proofs.

Images you get from the Internet.

The biggest problem our customers have relates to the images they use, and the solution to that problem is simple: never use images sourced from the Internet. Those images will almost always be poor quality (they are almost always 72 dots per inch), and will not come up well on your printed job (printing needs images set at 300 dots per inch).

This matter is so important that we have written a special page on why printing jobs require high resolution images. If you have some pictures or other images that are going to be put into your printing job, then have a read of that page.

Bleeds

Bleeds are a problem for those whom know nothing about them.

Bleeds are NOT a problem for those whom read our Bleeds Explained page — have a quick read of the bleeds page and you will see how easily this matter can be understood and how easily you can address this matter on your own file.

Fonts

Fonts constitute a very big problem. Put simply: if we do not have the font that you use (e.g.: the MT Post Haste font), then we cannot print your job.

The easiest way to solve this problem is to outline your fonts. Outlining font (also called 'concerting fonts to curves') means that the text becomes a drawing, and they are easily transferred from one computer to another computer.

Here are some pages on converting fonts to outlines:

Files that TheOnlinePrinter accepts.

TheOnlinePrinter accepts files created in many types of software; see if we accept the software you are using.

We also have some webpages devoted to setting up you file when using specific software:

Colour Gamut

This is an important topic if an exact colour is important to your finished job.

Commercial printers print in one of two colour gamuts. Some print in RGB, and most commercial printers use the CMYK colour gamut.

If you don't know what all this is about, then have a read of our RGB and CMYK colour gamut page.

Proofs

Proofs help ensure that you get the quality job that you want, so it will be well worth your time have a read of a small Why Proofs are Important page.