{"id":7963,"date":"2024-03-07T10:57:47","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T10:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.printingcenterusa.com\/help-center\/?post_type=lsvr_kba&p=7963"},"modified":"2024-03-09T11:09:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T11:09:54","slug":"print-ready-overview","status":"publish","type":"lsvr_kba","link":"https:\/\/www.printingcenterusa.com\/help-center\/knowledge-base\/print-ready-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Print-Ready File Creation: Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At PrintingCenterUSA, we want your printing experience to be fast, easy and affordable. An important step in this process is for you to submit your art files as Print-Ready PDFs. To help you achieve this, we provide as much information about file preparation as possible. The price and time estimates provided to you may be affected if time must be spent correcting file errors. The best way to avoid this is to start the project off on the right foot by ensuring the design file is set up correctly from the very beginning. The main aspects that must be checked and prepared for are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bleeds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To prevent your printed product from having unsightly white lines around the border, you must set your document up with bleeds. Bleed refers to an extra 1\/8″ of image that extends beyond the trim area of your printing piece. The project is printed on an oversized sheet that is cut down to size with the appearance that the image is \u201cbleeding\u201d off the edge of the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is best practice to set up your bleeds at the very beginning of your project so you don\u2019t have to adjust at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few terms you must understand along with bleed are trim line, safety, and borders. Please refer to the graphic below for further explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Resolution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PrintingCenterUSA recommends that the file and\/or image resolution should be set at 300 dpi to ensure that the final document is not pixelated (fuzzy) when printed. However, some customers find 180 dpi (or better) to be an acceptable resolution. You must closely review the resolution during the proofing process to determine if there are any issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enlarging an image will lower the resolution while reducing an image will increase the resolution. Enlarging an image in a layout is NOT recommended. Images that are less than 300 dpi could reproduce poorly looking fuzzy or pixelated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images from the internet are not recommended, as most images are only 72 dpi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An unfavorable image cannot be resaved as a different type of file. For example, you cannot place a gif file in Photoshop and resave it as an EPS file. This does not change the compatibility of the file. If you have to use low-resolution images we will print only after you consent to the quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Page Count<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We require that any booklet files be sent as single pages, not spreads. In the files, page 1 should be the front cover and the last page should be the back cover (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example for an 8 Page Document:<\/p>\n\n\n\n