Editor › Learn › How to Prepare Artwork for Commercial Printing
How do I prepare artwork for commercial printing?
Work at final size at 300 PPI, add at least 3 mm of bleed, keep important content away from the trim edge, convert to CMYK with your printer’s ICC profile, and make sure black text is on the black plate only.
The checklist, in order
- Set the document to final trim size at 300 PPI (150–200 PPI is acceptable for large format viewed at distance).
- Add bleed — usually 3 mm — and extend artwork that touches the edge into it.
- Keep text and logos at least 3–5 mm inside the trim edge so trimming variance cannot cut them.
- Ask your printer for the ICC profile of the printing condition.
- Soft-proof with that profile, then convert to CMYK.
- Check that black text is 100% K only, not a four-colour build.
- Check shadows for excessive total ink.
- Export with bleed and crop marks, embedding the profile.
Why bleed exists
Sheets shift by a fraction of a millimetre as they are cut. If artwork stops exactly at the trim line, that variance shows as a thin white sliver. Extending the artwork past the line means the cut always lands in colour.
The mistakes that come back
- Rich black text — small text built from all four inks looks fuzzy and shows misregistration.
- Upscaling a small image to fill a large area; resolution cannot be invented.
- Sending an untagged RGB file and hoping the printer converts it the way you expected.
- Forgetting bleed, then discovering it after the file is approved.