Editor › Learn › Pre-Press Checklist: Verify Before You Send to Print
What should I check before sending artwork to a printer?
Verify six things, in order: resolution at final size, bleed and safe margins, colour space and embedded profile, ink behaviour (soft proof, black builds), text integrity, and the export itself. Each check below takes under a minute and each one catches a rejection class printers see every day. Print this page — the print stylesheet strips navigation and yields a clean reference card.
Resolution
- Pixel dimensions ÷ print size ≥ 300 PPI for reading-distance work (less is fine at distance — see the PPI guide).
- No upsampled content: nothing was scaled up to hit the number.
- Placed screenshots/graphics checked at 100% zoom for softness.
Bleed and margins
- Canvas = trim size + bleed on every edge (3 mm / 0.125 in unless the printer says otherwise).
- Backgrounds and edge-touching imagery fill the FULL canvas including bleed.
- Text and logos inside the safe margin (3–5 mm inside trim).
Colour
- Working file is the RGB master with its profile embedded.
- Soft proof run against the actual printing condition; surprises fixed in RGB.
- Conversion (if the printer wants CMYK) done ONCE, with their profile, relative colorimetric + BPC unless specified.
- Exported file has the profile embedded.
Ink and black
- Deep shadows carry their darkness on the K plate (check the Channels panel), not four stacked plates.
- Body text is 100% K only; large black panels use the printer's rich-black build.
- No registration black anywhere in artwork.
Export
- Format per the printer's spec: flattened TIFF or print PDF.
- Final file reopened and inspected — never ship an export unopened.
- Filename states the job, version and colour space; the RGB master is archived.
Questions
- My printer has their own checklist — which wins?
- Theirs, always. This card covers the raster-artwork universals; the printer's spec adds the job-specific requirements.