#file prep

[howtobeaconartist]

Enamel Pins 101: Preparing Designs for an Enamel Pin Manufacturer

[howtobeaconartist]

Hello! I saw your recent ask about die cut sticker outlines, and there's a simpler method that I do! (I use Photoshop CS6) Make a copy of your sticker layer, Stroke it (Layer>Layer Style>Stroke) then set the fill opacity to zero (Layer>Blending Options>Advanced Blending>Fill Opacity: 0). Then when you're done, right-click the layer and click Rasterize Layer Style. This'll leave you with just the die-cut line :D I just wanted to share, in case you'll find it easier to follow ^^

Nattosoup: Thank you so much for sharing this!

Kiriska: omg yes, thank. Same basic idea but WAY SIMPLER and less convoluted LOL.

[howtobeaconartist]

When you're doing multiple size prints of the same illustration, they usually have dimensions that are slightly off from just being sized up, correct? So is it better to have the largest size print, then use calculations of the smaller print(s) scaled up to fit within the largest and use that as a template for a 'safe zone' for when you scale it down and crop it to the correct size? Or am I complicating things too much?

Kiriska: NEVER SCALE UP, ONLY SCALE DOWN.

If you’re working digitally, always work at the largest size you’ll ever want to print. So if that’s 11x17, work at minimum 300 dpi 11x17. You can then scale down without losing resolution or quality. 

You don’t have to crop if you don’t want to – just add white space as buffer if you want to keep the aspect ratio of your piece but still want to scale it down to 4x6 or whatever. 

Adjust image size from larger size to smaller size, like below.

If the aspect ratios are different, you can adjust canvas size afterwards:

Sometimes it’s nice to preserve the original composition and feel of your piece while making it a little smaller, but sometimes you may decide cropping works better. Most of the time, I find that adding additional blank space looks okay, especially if you’re not printing to bleed.

If you’re cropping instead of adding space, you’d adjust the smaller value first when resizing, so 11x17 –> 4x6.183. Then you’d trim off the extra 0.183″ in Canvas Size.

The following was originally 11x17, but is below adjusted to be 4x6 using both the cropping method and the buffer method. For this particular piece, cropping works better since the composition is very centered, but on another piece buffering might be better.

If you’re working traditionally and want to print your piece at a larger size than you’re working at physically, be sure to scan at a higher resolution. 

For example, if you have a painting that’s 9x12, but you want it as a 11x17 print, scan your piece at 600 dpi. Remember that dpi essentially acts as a multiplier, so 600 dpi 9x12 is exactly the same as 300 dpi 18x24, which can then be resized down as needed. (18x24 is again a different aspect ratio than 11x17, so some cropping or buffering will be needed again.)

I don’t usually include a lot of important elements along the edges of my pieces, so even when I crop things, it’s rare that things will go into the trim zone. If you know you’re going to want to print something at different ratios, I’d probably just plan from the beginning where your crops are going to be, or just go with the “add buffer” method instead of cropping.

[bestqualityprinting]

Bleed, trim, and safe area: the print file checklist that prevents reprints

If a print job comes back wrong, it’s almost never the press’s fault. Nine times out of ten, the file was wrong before it ever got there — and the symptoms are predictable: a sliver of white edge around a “full-bleed” design, text shaved off near the corner, a logo that looks soft because it was a 72 DPI screenshot.

This is the short version of the file-prep checklist we wish every customer ran through before clicking Upload. Five things. If you do all five, you almost never see a reprint.

1. Add bleed: one-eighth of an inch on every side

Bleed is the extra art that extends past the trim line of your finished piece. When the press cuts a stack of business cards down to size, the blade can drift by a hairline — and if your background color stops exactly at the edge of the card, that drift shows up as a tiny white sliver. The fix: extend any background color, photo, or design that goes to the edge by 0.125” past the trim line on every side.

For a standard 3.5” × 2” business card, that means your file should be 3.75” × 2.25” total — with the design bleeding all the way to those outer edges, knowing that the press will cut at 3.5” × 2”.

2. Keep important content inside the safe area

The opposite problem: if you put your logo, your phone number, or any text right against the trim line, that same hairline drift can shave off a letter. The safe area is 0.125” inside the trim line — anything important should sit there, not at the edge.

Together: bleed extends 0.125” outside the trim, safe area starts 0.125” inside the trim. The 0.25” total margin is your insurance policy against blade drift.

3. Build files in CMYK, not RGB

Your monitor renders in RGB (red, green, blue — additive color, light-based). Print uses CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black — subtractive color, ink-based). They’re different color spaces, and what looks vivid on screen often comes out muddy on paper because RGB has colors CMYK literally can’t reproduce — neon greens, deep electric blues, and phosphorescent oranges in particular.

If you build in CMYK from the start in Illustrator or Photoshop, what you see on screen is closer to what you’ll get on paper. If you build in RGB and convert at the end, expect some color shift.

4. 300 DPI for everything that isn’t outdoor signage

Resolution is independent of file size — it’s about how many ink dots fit per inch when the file is sized for print. The standard for commercial print is 300 DPI at the final printed size. For a 4×6 postcard, that means your image should be 1200×1800 pixels minimum. Anything below 200 DPI starts looking soft; below 150 DPI is unmistakably blurry.

Outdoor signage is the exception — banners and yard signs are viewed from feet or yards away, so 150 DPI at full size is usually plenty. Trying to print at 300 DPI on a 10-foot banner gives you a 36,000-pixel-wide file that crashes design software.

5. Outline your fonts (or embed them)

If you send a press a layered .AI or .PSD file with live text, and the press doesn’t have your exact font installed, the text reflows. Sometimes silently. The result: your beautiful custom-kerned headline now reads in Helvetica because that’s what the press substituted.

Two fixes: in Illustrator, Type → Create Outlines turns every text object into vector shapes (no font dependency). Or, export to PDF/X-1a, which embeds fonts inside the file itself. PDF is the safer default for print delivery — it locks down typography, color management, and image placement in one go.

A 30-second pre-flight sanity check

Before uploading any print file, look at it in your design app and ask yourself:

Is the document size = trim size + 0.25” total (0.125” bleed each side)?

Does any background color or full-bleed image actually extend into that bleed area?

Is all text and any logo inside the safe area (at least 0.125” from the trim line)?

Color mode = CMYK?

Photos and logos = at least 300 DPI at the final printed size?

Fonts outlined or embedded (export as PDF/X-1a if unsure)?

If yes to all six, your file is ready. If no to any, fix it before you upload — once it’s on the press, the reprint is on you.

Most BQP product pages list the exact dieline, bleed, and safe-area dimensions for that specific product right under the Specs tab. When in doubt, look there before exporting your file.

Originally published at https://bestqualityprinting.com/blog/print-file-checklist-bleed-trim-safe-area — Best Quality Printing.

[elizabethking83]

Task 5: Tiny World Prototypes 

By taking the 1km x 1km topography from Task 4, we began to prepare to the files for fabrication. I decided to breakdown by topography into two pieces for two different ways of fabricating; the topography and “ledges” , and the trees and buildings. Due to the smoothness of the topography, I chose CNC because it would produce the smoothest fabrication out of the three options. This allowed me to learn proper file and layer management for the first time in rhino. Layer management has been discussed a lot during the lectures and labs but it never properly shown how, besides when indicating cut and scores for laser cutting. For CNC, I also had to break down my topography into two slices: top and bottom (as seen in my layers tab) after scaling them to fit into the 15cm x 15 cm allowance for this task. For my buildings and trees, I chose to 3D Print them after scaling them to fit the CNC scale and also pushing them to fit into a 7.5cm x 7.5cm allowance as well. During this process, I had to constantly check if my objects were closed poly surfaces and were “water tight”. Unfortunately, as screenshotted my trees were incredibly complicated and had 488 naked edges ... way too many for my brain to handle. I tried to repair the mesh but it was still an open poly surface after filling the holes. In order to make my life a little easier and simplicity’s sake, I deleted them and changed them and made cones trees instead.  

Overall, this task allowed for a high level of organization and detailing in order to ensure a proper file for submission and has also prompted me to look into what makes a “bad mesh” and “good mesh” but more on that soon.

February 10, 2020

Taken by Elizabeth King

[howtobeaconartist]

I'm not a convention artist, but I am going to be selling at smaller art shows in my area. What's the best format to print things in? I know to have it set at 300 dpi at a canvas size of 11x17, but I'm more torn on file types. Should I go for RBG or CMYK? Should I go for .tiff or .eps?

Kiriska: This mostly depends on your printer and what format(s) they prefer. If you’re going through a printing service, ask them. If you’re printing at home, you can test a variety of things and see which turns out best.

In general, the primary difference between different file types is compression. TIFF and EPS are both lossless formats, so it shouldn’t make much of a difference. PNG is also a lossless format, but cannot be CMYK. JPG is a lossy format, but is compatible with CMYK, and in many instances, high resolution JPGs are still perfectly suitable for printing.

RGB vs CMYK is largely a question of printing color profiles. Nowadays, many printer services are happy to accept RGB files and will convert them for you, but providing a CMYK file may give you better control over final color results… assuming their printer is calibrated and your monitor are calibrated similarly. Color matching is a difficult game no matter what profile you go with though, so testing and getting test prints is always recommended if color matching is very important to you.

[tanyalisle]

File preparation

So in order to get this stuff all online, you’re going to need to get your files ready. I am at this point assuming that you have finished writing and done all of the editing passes until you are happy with the final result. Once you are, then it’s time to format the files.

Documents

First of all, you’re going to want to read this the Smashwordsguide on this. It is invaluable, even if it is…

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[howtobeaconartist]

Hi! me and my friends will have our first convention booth in a few months. I made some watercolor pieces and my friends suggested me to make them into prints for the con. May I ask, how will I make them into prints? I've only seen people doing the line art or the sketch traditionally, but not the piece itself? thank you so much in advance!!

Nattosoup:  Scan your watercolors, and then either print them out at home using high quality paper, or send them to a company like Overnight Prints, Cat Print, or even Shutterfly.  There are lots of resources on the blog for print options, so just check our tags for that (#printers).  If you need detailed help with scanning and digitizing your watercolor pieces, shoot me an email- I’m a watercolor artist who specializes in digitizing her watercolor comics for reproduction, and I have a lot of experience with it.

Kiriska: Yeah, pretty much:

Scan them. Or, if your piece(s) are too large for a scanner, you can try taking a high resolution photo or taking it to a local print shop to see if they have a scanner that can accommodate your piece. 

Color corrections. One of the hardest things about reproducing traditional work is getting the colors as close to the original as possible. This is difficult because there’s two times the color is translated -- once when you scan, and once when you print. I don’t have much experience outside Photoshop, but within it, many of the options under Image>Adjustments> are fantastic, and I regularly make use of Hue/Saturation, Color Balance, Levels, and Curves. Just fiddle around with these tools until you’re happy with how the scan looks. Sometimes I don’t necessarily try to make the scan look like the original and will take advantage of digital tools to pump up the saturation or do gradient work that’s nearly impossible to do with real media. This piece, for example, is way more saturated digitally than in person, and that was on purpose.

Clean-up. Additionally, you can take advantage of your new digital copy of your piece to clean up minor things, whether mistakes in the actual piece or imperfections in the scan. Things like small smudges, dust flecks (or in my case, COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF CAT HAIR) can be cleaned up with the magic of the Clone Tool. 

Prep file for printing. I typically work on 9x12 paper, but I make prints at 8.5x11, so some slight resizing/cropping is usually in order before I send the files to print. Depending on the printer you’re using, you may also want to convert your image to CMYK (and do some additional color tweaking), but I these days I tend to just leave my files in RGB, since it doesn’t make too much of a difference for my printer (Catprint). 

That’s it! Hope that helps. Here’s another comparison of a framed original VS the scanned/adjusted digital version.