It can be challenging to design for print. There are different requirements in terms of space, color, and size. The tools required to create these designs successfully are becoming more accessible, easy to learn, and affordable every year. You, the designer, have most of the responsibility!
McCabe’s Printing Group wants to make each project enjoyable and easy, regardless of its complexity. We have compiled the following ten tips to help you improve your designs.
Tip #1: Ensure you have the right tools for your job
From left to right: Icons for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.
Each program can be used for different purposes.
Desktop publishing software is the best for page layout and typesetting.
Word processing software like Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and Google Docs is the best for outlining, writing, and drafting articles and documents. That easily translates to print.
Graphic editing software is the best for creating graphics, manipulating images, and illustrating.
Tip #2: Use a CMYK-based color space when designing
Left Half: A magnification of a print produced using dots of CMYK ink. Right Half: A magnification of the same image on a computer screen using pixels of RGB light.
Different science is involved in displaying the entire color spectrum on printed goods and computer screens.
Computer screens begin with black. This black surface is then coated with pixels of blue, green, and red light. Eventually, the screen will become white. This is the RGB color space.
Print surfaces, on the other hand, are usually white. This white surface is then coated with pigments such as cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY), which eventually turns black. To create the CMYK color range, a black (key) pigment is applied to the image. It helps to produce clean shadows and outlines.
Although the CMYK color space is capable of reproducing many colors, it’s unfortunate that computers will show a wider range of colors. This is especially true for green, purple, and orange colors. If you want to avoid significant color conversion mistakes, start your design in the simulated CMYK space of your software.
TTip #3: Keep your end product in view when designing
Every project calls for different specifications–designing a business card will be a significantly different experience than designing a book, banner, or brochure.
Draw your design first using a series of doodles. Make sure you note any folds, folds, or perforations, and how your content will flow around them. Next, create a physical mockup for your product. To bring your product to life, measure, cut, fold, and staple blank sheets of paper. The “dummy” is a prototype in the printing industry. It can be used to give you an idea of how your project will look and what it will look like when assembled.
Tip #4: Refer to other printed works
There are hundreds of printed goods available at our fingertips, whether we’re at home, at work, at the store, or on the go. Why not keep a list of your favorite? For easy reference, keep a collection of printed samples, such as business cards and postcards, books, brochures, packaging, packages, labels, and booklets in a book, drawer, or on a bookshelf.
Each sample you collect should inform your design decisions regarding sizing, spacing, and color. Are your samples consistent with the same themes? What is the spacing between their content and yours? Are they printed in black and white or in full color? Are they printed double-sided or single-sided? Do they mostly contain text or images? Are they glossy or matte?
Tip #5: Start with the right document size and spacing
Setting up a document in Adobe InDesign. This design is 9″ wide by 6.25″ tall (white background region) with a 0.125″ bleed margin (the red outline outside the white region) and a 0.375″ safety margin (the pink outline inside the white region).
Based on the purpose of the printed goods, they come in different sizes.
The United States uses inches to measure designs printed. To avoid costly resizing issues at the print shop, double-check that your design software works in inches!
Due to human error and production sensitivity, there will always be some tolerance in a project’s final size and trim position.
Tip #6: Keep your design elements consistent
No matter what your design software is capable of, there are two things you can do to ensure consistency across all your projects.
Your project should be organized in one folder on your computer. Most design software doesn’t store all design elements in one file. This saves file size and loading time. Instead, design elements can be “linked” to other places on your computer. Keep links intact by ensuring that your project’s files, graphics, icons, or other important elements are kept in the same folder on your computer as your work file.
Take down all consistent design elements in a notepad. It never hurts to keep a written record of the details. Note recurring elements and their value.
Keep your file organization easy to reference and consistent. What happens if you have to revisit a project’s design a year or two from now?
Many design programs include many features that will help you keep your design consistent.
Tip #7: If something appears blurry on your screen it will print blurry
A graphic’s resolution is its density, in dots-per-inch (or dpi). For printed goods, your graphics should have a minimum 300 x 300 pixels resolution. Lower-resolution graphics, such as those found on social media and websites, will blur or pixelate when printed. This can lead to a reduction in quality.
Lower-resolution graphics will not contain the same level of detail as higher-resolution graphics. A 300dpi image will have 300 pixels x 300 pixels of content per printed inch. A 72dpi image from the web will only have 72 pixels x 72 pixels of content per printed inch.
Tip #8: Print it out if in doubt
It doesn’t matter what your printer can handle in terms of paper quality or maximum size, printing your design should be done after any major modifications to confirm your spacing and size choices.
Tip #2: Once your project is complete, you can have any concerns addressed in a print shop by ordering a hard copy proof. A hard copy proof is a small investment that can be used for confirming the final quality of your project’s print.
Tip #9: Give your print shop the right files
A PDF is the universal file format that printers can use to create “press-ready” files. It can be created from any design, layout, or publication software. Each print shop will have slightly different requirements. Before you hit the “send” button, talk to your team.
A packaged version may be requested by a print shop if any part of your design needs to be modified. A packaged version of your design contains all the linked graphics and fonts used in creating it. This packaging option is available for many design programs, such as Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Publisher.
The menu option for Adobe InDesign’s “Package” function. This is used to organize your design files to submit to a print shop.
It is important that you provide the best quality assets to any print shop you collaborate with on a design. These assets include the highest quality graphics and files that are properly named and organized.
Tip #10: Design according to your comfort level, and have FUN!
It can be daunting to design for print. It is easy to be critical and compare your work with others. Practice makes perfect, so keep going! You are likely to make mistakes in your initial designs. Take these points into consideration and fix them for future projects.
