Layout design for printing
For the perfect formatting of files for printing, there are only a few steps that you need to follow. However, this often goes wrong with people who know nothing about it. Save time and do it right the first time. To start with, it is useful to look at what files can be delivered, in most cases a PDF file. PDF files are suitable for almost all products, so you can use them to print flyers, posters and postcards (translation: ansichtkaarten drukken in Dutch). In addition, you can print much more with a print-ready PDF file!
What do you want to print?
Once you know what type of file you can work with and what product you want to order, you can start with the layout of the file. You can do this yourself, but companies can also often do it for you. However, they often charge a layout fee for this. Products on the sites of printing companies often have working drawings. These are PDF files in which you can work and in which all data is indicated. These files are a good basis for printing.
In the designs it is important to pay attention to a few things: cutting margin, safety margin, resolution and the colors. The cutting margin ensures that you do not get white edges in your printed matter. By including this 3 mm or 10 mm in your printing, you ensure that the finish of the product will be very tight! The 3 mm is used for paper printing and the 10 mm is used for signing.
The safety margin concerns the distance that the important data must have from the edges, this way no important parts are cut away from the design. For paper prints this is 5 mm and for signing 10 mm is used.
The resolution is the sharpness of your image. This ensures that the printed matter looks razor sharp. It is best to use vector files, they are always sharp! The minimum resolution for printed paper is 300 DPI and 150 DPI for signing. If you are going to see the final product from a distance, you can use 150 DPI.
Finally, the colors, also not unimportant. There are many different color systems: CMYK, RGB and PMS are the most commonly used. PMS colors are established colors that are always and everywhere the same. CMYK colors are made from a combination of the 4 colors Cyan (bright blue), Magenta (bright pink), Yellow (yellow) and Key (black). The combinations of these colors lead to all the colors that exist.
With these basic details, formatting a standard design should be just fine. This way you can format all products and this way you can print brochures, banners and notepads (translation: notitieblokken bedrukken in Dutch). Stick to these points and save yourself a lot of energy and time!
