Getting print right: what to know before you send files to the printer
20 Oct 2026 · 1 min read
Nothing is more disappointing than a box of business cards that came back with white edges or dull colours. Most print problems come down to three things.
Bleed
Printers trim through a larger sheet, so anything that runs to the edge of your design needs to extend a few millimetres beyond it. This extra is called bleed, usually 3mm, and without it you may see thin white lines along the edges.
Colour
Screens show colour as light (RGB), but printers use ink (CMYK). Some bright screen colours simply can't be printed, so print files should be set up in CMYK, and important brand colours checked on paper.
Resolution
Photos that look sharp on screen can print blurry. For print, images need to be around 300 dots per inch at the size they'll be printed.
When we prepare print files, we set all of this up for you and supply print-ready PDFs to your printer's exact specifications.