What Does Print-Ready Mean? A Checklist Before Sending to the Printer

Behind the printer's "this file isn't suitable" message there are almost always the same four items. Here's each, and how to check it.

1. Colour profile

Screens work in RGB, print in CMYK. A file sent as RGB gets converted at the printer and colours shift — bright blues, greens and oranges dull noticeably.

Check: is the file CMYK? If spot colours (Pantone) are used, are they held as separate channels or converted to CMYK?

Common mistake: black text built from all four colours. Small type printed in four colours blurs with even slight registration drift. Text black should be a single channel.

2. Bleed

When the print is trimmed, the blade can shift by a millimetre or two. If a background colour or image ends exactly at the edge, a white line appears after trimming.

Check: do backgrounds and edge-bleeding images extend beyond the page boundary? Standard bleed is 3 mm; printers may ask for different.

Second check: the safe area. Text and important elements should sit at least 5 mm inside the edge, or they risk being trimmed.

3. Resolution

In print the measure isn't pixels but pixel density at the printed size. The same image can be sufficient on a business card and insufficient on a poster.

Check: are images 300 dpi at the size they'll print? Images downloaded from the web are usually 72 dpi and compressed for screen — they fall apart in print.

Exception: billboards and large formats are viewed from a distance and can print at lower density. Ask the printer what they need.

4. Fonts

Your font isn't installed at the printer. If it isn't embedded, the system substitutes another and the layout breaks.

Check: are fonts embedded, or has the type been converted to vector outlines? The second is safer but the text can no longer be edited.

Note: keep an editable copy before converting to outlines.

Additional checks

Layers and transparency: transparency effects behave unexpectedly in some print workflows. A flattened copy is safer.

Page count: for bound work the page count must divide by the signature size. Ask the printer what they need up front.

Barcode: a barcode that's been scaled down or placed on a coloured ground may not scan. White ground and minimum size are required.

Dieline: for packaging and custom cuts, the line must sit on a separate layer marked so it doesn't print.

Quick list

• [ ] CMYK, text black on a single channel
• [ ] 3 mm bleed, 5 mm safe area
• [ ] Images at 300 dpi at printed size
• [ ] Fonts embedded or outlined
• [ ] Transparency flattened
• [ ] Barcode on white ground at minimum size
• [ ] Dieline on a separate layer

Who does what

At Creative House print-ready files go through these checks before delivery. Choosing the printer and procuring the print stays with you — I'll support you on the technical questions the printer asks, but I don't take on the printing itself.

The scope of graphic production is on the graphic design agency page; packaging-specific technical matters are on the packaging design page.