Scribd
Upload
299 views11 pages

Design Guide For Print

This document provides guidelines for designing print materials to be produced at UNIPRINT print shop. It covers topics like resolution, bleed/trim/safety, size, colour, fonts, and file format. The guidelines are intended to ensure a smooth process from design to print, a high quality outcome, and low cost by avoiding issues like reprinting or resizing. Key recommendations include designing at 300PPI resolution, adding 3mm bleed, using CMYK colour, avoiding oversaturated colours, using proper blacks, keeping text above 6pt, and saving files as PDF. Sticking closely to these guidelines is emphasized for quality prints and minimal rework.

Uploaded by

Sergio Tellez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
299 views11 pages

Design Guide For Print

This document provides guidelines for designing print materials to be produced at UNIPRINT print shop. It covers topics like resolution, bleed/trim/safety, size, colour, fonts, and file format. The guidelines are intended to ensure a smooth process from design to print, a high quality outcome, and low cost by avoiding issues like reprinting or resizing. Key recommendations include designing at 300PPI resolution, adding 3mm bleed, using CMYK colour, avoiding oversaturated colours, using proper blacks, keeping text above 6pt, and saving files as PDF. Sticking closely to these guidelines is emphasized for quality prints and minimal rework.

Uploaded by

Sergio Tellez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

design guide for print

edited by august 2015


CONTENTS

resolution
bleed/ trim/ safety
size
colour
using black
fonts
format
additional guidelines
introduction

UNIPRINT is a print shop, part of the creative


campus of the Arts University Bournemouth.
We do not work like a lithography - instead we
print small batches, focusing on unique designs
and custom orders and we like to keep most of
our process manual - to comply with student
demands for low cost and high quality.

If you follow this guide closely you will ensure


a smooth process, from design to print, a high
quality outcome and a low cost - less work is
needed for resizing, reprinting or changing the
design.
resolution

On the computer, the resolution simply reflects


the size of an image - expressed in pixels - in
reference to the computer screen.

72 PPI

In print, the resolution determines the quality


of the print, with more pixels per inch meaning
a sharper and more clear outcome.

300 PPI

The industry standard for print is a minimum


300ppi (pixels-per-inch) and this should be
set before starting work on your design as you
cannot scale up in resolution (raster).
bleed/ trim/ safety

When printing Full Bleed (without a white


border) it is important to understand that
this process involves trimming. Considering
the width of the blade and slight inaccuracies,
trimming will always have a 3mm margin of
error. To account for this, the usual practice is
to extend the background of your print 3mm
into what is called the Bleed.

on
screen

printed result

This will ensure that there won’t be a white


margin or the trim won’t go into the Safety.
Another good practice is to separate any text
or important content from the very edge by
another 3-10mm.
size

Making sure the resolution is over 300ppi and


there is at least 3mm bleed will only be effective
if you design to the exact dimensions of the
finished print. This will ensure a crisp and clear
outcome, as well as a correct trim.

UNIPRINT can trim to any required dimension


and, unless otherwise specified, will always trim
to the bleed line set out in your design.
colour

Colour, just like in the previous chapters, is


another elements that differs from design to
finished print. A computer screen uses an RGB
colour profile to display everything. This is an
additive process, adding light to create brighter
and more vibrant colours.

RGB screen CMYK print

Printers, however, use a CMYK colour profile


with a substractive process, where Cyan/
Magenta/ Yellow/ Black (KEY) are mixed
together in different proportions to create
multiple shades, hues and tones. You should
always set out your designs in CMYK.

The more ink is used, the darker and murkier


the print will become. To avoid oversaturation
and offset prints, each added C/ M/ Y & K value
should never go past 280% coverage.
using black
Process printing uses four CMYK plates
(discussed in the previous chapter) that overlay
to create the specified colour spectrum. The
registration of these paltes will shift often during
the printing process, which create ghosting
effects if they do not line up properly.

This will happen, on most ocassions, when using


Black. The default Photoshop Black is
75% Cyan/ 68% Magenta/ 67% Yellow/ 90% K
for a 300% total coverage. We know that this
is almost a guarantee for printed text to look
muddy and blurry.

To work around that problem (unnoticeable in


photographs or illustrations) it is advisable to
use registration black (0/0/0/100%) for small
lines, text and anything 12p or smaller. For
anything larger than 36p - look up Rich Black.

0/ 0/ 0/ 100 70/ 50/ 30/ 100 75/ 68/ 67/ 90

Standard Rich Black Photoshop


Black Black
fonts
Printers deal with areas of restricted coverage
using halftone screens that apply tiny dots to
create a lower density. This makes it especially
difficult for thin lines, text or tiny details to show
up. The same applies for very light colours or
faded shades that will print almost unreadable.
A good rule of thumb is to keep all your text
above 6pt but, depending on the typeface, that
value could be larger.

format
It is always going to be ideal to save your design
as PDF - making sure that all images are over
300ppi, there is at least 3mm bleed, you have
worked in the CMYK colour profile with a total
value under 280% coverage & registration or
rich black and all elements of your design are
larger than 6pt. This will ensure that nothing
will shift in your design and that all the fonts are
embeded into the file.
additional guidelines

There are a few guidelines for some of the


common services we provide. Most will refer
to the layout and format in which your present
your design.

Business Cards should be designed to size


(8.5cm x 5.5cm is the standard) separate sides if
double sided. Same for flyers, tickets, vouchers,
etc.

Saddle Stitch booklets or zines should be saved


as single pages (not spreads) and the number of
pages needs to be a multiple of 4. The largest
we can print is an A4 portrait.

Perfect Binding will need to be saved as single


pages (not spreads) and the largest we can print
is an A3 landscape.
Thank you for reading the guide through and through.

If you have suggestions to improve this guide or for a complete list of services,
prices & options for your custom orders please get in touch via:

01202 85 36 35
[email protected]

UNIPRINT Ltd.
Enterprise Pavilion
Arts University Bournemouth
Wallisdown, Poole
Dorset BH12 5HH

You might also like