HOW TO PREPARE YOUR DESIGN FILES
“A little bit of understanding goes a long way!”.
Alysha, Wow Studios
Welcome to December! The most chaotic month of the year! Between finishing your end of year projects, shopping for perfect gifts and attending all your Christmas social gatherings in can be a very busy time for many, especially us small business folks! Remember to look after yourself and practice some self-care along the way.
This month, I am going to share with you a beginners guide to preparing design files. I am sure you have all had ‘that chat’ with printer or designer and they start sprouting off names of file types that you have never heard of or really don’t understand. Well, I am here to simplify all the gobbledegook and teach you what it all means.
So, without further ado, let’s get into it!
Warmly, Alysha
Owner, Wow Studios
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Exciting News – Santa is here… Wow Etsy Templates.
Let’s Talk Branding – Beginners guide to preparing design files.
Upcoming Workshops – Tell us what you want to learn.
Past Stories – More blogs about branding.
Client Spotlight – Meet Ian, from Tony Wolf & Son Quality Printers.
Feel Inspired – 50 Amazing graphic designers to inspire you.
EXCITING NEWS
SANTA IS HERE!
WOW ETSY TEMPLATES
On the back of our success with Easter Bunny Paw Prints, Wow has now brought out a range of Reindeer paw print and Santa boot print templates you can use to have fun with your decorations and put a smile on your little guests faces this Christmas.
These simple print and cut templates are easy to use and sure to even impress even the most grinchy of grinches! You can find them on our Etsy store here.
Keep an eye out and share your thoughts as they come through. We would love to hear your feedback!
LET’S TALK BRANDING
BEGINNERS GUIDE TO PREPARE YOUR DESIGN FILES
Whether you are working with a designer or preparing something simple yourself, the inevitable and oft times anxiety producing question of what file types do I need, always comes up. And, along with that, comes a plethora of questions about how to ensure your design is going to look great.
Well, read on as I am about to demystify the process and make things simple!
Here’s how to prepare your design files.
Tip 1: COLOUR
CMYK or RGB.
This one relates to the outcome of your project. Will you be printing a physical copy or will it only be viewed on screen?
If you intend to print your design, then you should prepare your design files using CMYK colour mode. If your work is only going to be viewed on a screen, then you can have a bit more fun using the full spectrum of RGB colours.
Want to understand that in more detail… sure!
CMYK refers to the four inks that are used by a printer – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Your printer uses a combination of these four inks to produce your final piece in living colour. It’s important to note that what a printer can produce however is a little limited.
Our eyes can distinguish up to around 10 million difference colours (often less), yet our computer screens can produce around 16.7 million colours (RGB). Sadly though, printers cannot reproduce all the colours of the rainbow that we can see as they only have four ink colours to work with (CMYK). This is especially true when it comes to vibrant colours. They tend to come out of the printer looking a little weird. For instance, Navy blue tends to come out looking more purple and grey, silver looks more like grey too and gold ends up more brown. To avoid disappointment, if your creating a design intended for print in CMYK from the start then you’re working with colours your printer can actually recreate for you.
If producing an accurate colour matters though, things start to get a little more technical with the use of spot colours such as the Pantone Colour Library. These colours are usually printed as solid single block colours which allows them to produce colours that otherwise won’t be printable. If you’re getting into that space, it’s probably time to reach out to a professional designer for some assistance to prepare your design files and when it comes time to print, do a test print with your printer before doing your whole print run!
One other small point to note, colours displayed vary from screen to screen too. Unless you have calibrated your monitor to match your printers, your final print can still come out looking a little different, so it can still be a good idea to do a test print, so you know how it’s going to turn out.
Tip 2: BLEED
Setting up the document to be print ready.
Before you get started on creating your design, if you intend to print the end product, it’s important to setup your document correctly. If you’re using a design software program like Adobe or Microsoft Publisher or CorelDRAW you can optimise your file for professional printing. The most important step is to setup a Bleed when you prepare your design files.
A bleed is a bit of extra space added around the outside of your design that extends beyond the edge of the page. Any images, shapes, colours backgrounds, etc should extend into this space to ensure that your printer has a little breathing room when it comes to trimming your print job.
If you’re not able to add bleed, depending on the printer you may end up with a white border around your design. This is especially true of home printers unless they are capable of borderless printing.
Tip 3: MARGINS & WHITE SPACE
Give it room to breath.
Before you get started on creating your design, if you intend to print the end product, it’s important to setup your document correctly. If you’re using a design software program like Adobe or Microsoft Publisher or CorelDRAW you can optimise your file for professional printing. The most important step is to setup a Bleed when you prepare your design files.
A bleed is a bit of extra space added around the outside of your design that extends beyond the edge of the page. Any images, shapes, colours backgrounds, etc should extend into this space to ensure that your printer has a little breathing room when it comes to trimming your print job.
If you’re not able to add bleed, depending on the printer you may end up with a white border around your design. This is especially true of home printers unless they are capable of borderless printing.
Tip 4: RESOLUTION & FILE TYPES
Ensure your graphics look high quality.
When it comes to graphics, if they are only going to be displayed on the screen, they can be a low resolution (72dpi) and still look great, however if your project is going to be printed then any graphics need to be a minimum of 300dpi. If they are less than 300dpi they will turn out pixilated and blurry.
The file type can also play a part when you prepare your design files.
Bitmap/Raster graphics (JPEG, TIFF and PNG) are made up of lots of tiny pixels. They are best used for photographs and digital art, however if you try to increase their size, they begin to lose quality so its important to make sure you the image is big enough to be reproduced without being resized.
Vector graphics however, (AI, EPS) are scalable. This means you can increase the size of these file types without loosing any quality or sharpness. These file types are best for logos, icons, fonts and illustrations.
To be sure, always aim for a high DPI count for any image you want to print when you prepare your design files. It’s better for it to be too large and reduced in scale for your design than too small and be restricted by how large you can make it.
Tip 5: FONT SIZE
Do a test print and make sure it looks right!
Fonts may appear larger or smaller in real life than on the screen so its always a good idea to do a test print after you prepare your design files! Also, think about the purpose and viewing audience of your final piece. If you’re producing a flyer or some kind of advertisement that will be viewed from afar, you need to ensure your font is large enough to be clear and easy to read. If you’re writing a book or a report a smaller font is most likely ok but make sure it isn’t too small either. You don’t want people to have to strain to read your masterpiece.
Tip 6: EXPORTING
Make it print ready.
Most printers will ask you for a high or Press Quality PDF. Always ask the for the print specifications so that you can prepare your design files correctly. Print specs will include information such as the amount of bleed required, the file type they want and any other special requirements such as trim marks, etc. Make sure you select the correct options during for bleed, printers’ marks, etc when saving your PDF file.
Some alternatives are high resolution (minimum 300dpi) JEPG or TIFF files but depending on your project these may not be accepted. You may also be asked on occasion for your design files, in this instance the request is for an AI, PSD or EPS file. If your using InDesign, you will need to package your design file to ensure all the various elements of your design including fonts, images and other graphics are all included. File > Package.
Hopefully you found that useful and feel better prepared for the next time you need to create a new design and prepare your design files. It can be overwhelming at times, but these six tips should arm you with the knowledge you need to navigate the process.
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS & EDUCATION NEWS
Coming soon:
What hot topic would you like to learn about? We would love to hear what you want to know! info@wowstudios.com.au
WANT TO LEARN MORE, CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR PAST STORIES
While it may feel like a lot of upfront effort and an investment of your precious time, the benefits will absolutely make it worth it! You will be more prepared, have way more control over the results and a much clearer picture of how your brand and marketing should look.
Branding plays a key role in the success of your business. When you are aware of the narrative your customers are sharing about your business, products and services you hold the key to continuous improvement so its worth investing time into getting right!
It can be tempting to try and appeal to everyone in order to have a large pool of customers or followers, however this could be working against you. Being all things to all people often isn’t viable.
SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT
PLEASE WELCOME IAN FROM TONY WOLF & SON QUALITY PRINTERS
This month, I thought it was time to do something a little different! Rather than introduce you to one of our Wow clients, this time around your going to meet one of our amazing suppliers, Ian from Tony Wolf & Son Quality Printers.
I met Ian, through my connection with the Narellan Chamber of Commerce and we have been working together on some fantastic projects. Detail oriented and perfect every time, I know I can count on Ian to make every print job he touches turn to gold!
Tell us a little about your business?
Tony Wolf & Son Quality Printers started in Elderslie in 1961 by my father, Tony Wolf. Since then, we have evolved with the Greater Macarthur area, staying abreast of the times and implementing the latest technologies as they evolve. Thanks to our innovation we now work with online artwork produces alongside helping people get their prized projects into reality. With professional input from our team, we ensure that what the customer sees is what they will get. You can find out more about our history here. https://www.tonywolf.com.au/our-history/
Why did you setup your business?
My father, with a young family to feed was working 2 jobs in the city to get a head start. Our local area only had one printer, S.Richardson, who printed the local newspaper. At the time, there were no commercial printers to help the many small businesses that were popping up, so he saw a need, quit his job and began Tony Wolf & Son Quality Printers. He continued to serve the local area until he retired in 2005.
What makes your business different?
We are not a “sausage factory”, all jobs are unique, and as such we are able to create a finished job that is in-line with the requests from the customer. We produce 95% of work in-house and for those few jobs we can’t do in-house, we have built relationships with external suppliers who have the quality and capability that we need to give our customers the best quality product we can.
How did you start working with Wow?
We were engaged by Alysha to print a book for her, as we produce jobs in-house, a lot of controls and quality are closely monitored, because of this we can control quality and if needed, address any issues before the customer sees the final result.
What is the collaboration process like?
We have enjoyed working with Alysha, the print files from qualified designers are refreshing, given the many excellent online design applications out there, we find that professional designers have an edge on template-based designs.
Any last words?
Remember where your dollar goes, shopping online could send it offshore, local suppliers also spend money locally, they employ locals and support local charities. We can’t survive without the support of locals.
FEEL INSPIRED
This email recently popped up in our email and there are just so many gorgeous pieces from incredibly talented artists and designers on this list. From products to pencil art, magazines and everything in between there is sure to be someone that gets your creative juices flowing too!
50 amazing graphic designers to inspire you
CREATE THE UNEXPECTED, DELIVER HAPPINESS!
WOW STUDIOS – WE BRING YOUR CREATIVE IDEAS TO LIFE
