Here’s an illustrated list of the top 15 printing mistakes and errors you should avoid. This article is aimed mainly at inexperienced designers, but there’s also a few tips and further resources in it for seasoned designers, too. We all make mistakes, so here’s a resource that should aid everyone who wants to expand their knowledge. Here goes…

1. Inadequate Bleed on Artwork

If you don’t put in place a decent bleed in your artwork, you’re asking for trouble. Basically, “bleed” refers to artwork that extends beyond the document boundaries. This is necessary because the guillotines that will slice-and-dice your prints aren’t that accurate. Some behave better than others, but a safe bet is to have 3mm of bleed (or 1/8 of an inch) for most print jobs that are ‘hand-held’, such as posters, letterheads and business cards, etc. Large format prints may require more bleed, so always ask your printer first.

♥ Resource: For a tutorial on this, read Designing for Print – Setting Up Crops and Bleed over on Spoon Graphics.

2. Using Small Text on a Rich Black Background

If you need small text knocked-out of a black background, make sure that it doesn’t include large amounts of cyan, magenta and yellow. If you do, the text will print blurred. This will happen because of ink-bleed and possible slight misalignment of printing plates. Even if digital print is used, this is still a problem and a cause of many printing mistakes.

For best results, use white text on a background that only has black in it, with no other colour. For a richer black background, use small amounts of coloured ink for a more suitable results. This principle doesn’t just apply to white-on-black, it also holds true for any colours─and text on textures, too.

♥ Resource: For a tutorial on this issue, read my article: Playing Keepaway with Logos and Small Type.

3. Images that are not converted to CMYK

If you don’t know the difference between RGB and CMYK, you shouldn’t be sending anything to print at all—learn the basics before making an expensive error. You should make sure that you don’t forget to convert images to CMYK. Yes, modern PDF standards do convert RGB to CMYK automatically upon saving (or should), but the conversion may throw your colour all over the place. To be sure, convert profiles after either working in RGB or if you’re using digital photos.

♥ Resource: For more information on working in RGB before converting to CMYK, read my post: What are the Benefits of Designing in RGB for CMYK Print?

4. Spelling Mistakes (the mother of all printing mistakes)

We all (well, most of us) make spelling mistakes from time-to-time online. I’ve made some real howlers throughout my years of blogging! However, spelling mistakes that aren’t noticed until a design has been printed is an obvious no-no.

I once sent off a limited amount of prints with a typo mistake (long story), but fortunately, it didn’t cost that much to reprint. For many print jobs, though, this is unacceptable due to costs and inconvenience. Proofs should always to be approved by the client. The designer should also check the spelling, even if they didn’t write the original copy text.

✔ Tip: Don’t totally rely on spell-checkers, as they won’t pick up on ‘then’ instead of ‘the’, for example.

5. Designing Without Quiet Borders

A quiet border is a sort of “buffer” area, where no text or defined elements (such as logos) should be located. In general, a quiet border should be at least 5mm (nearly 1/4 inch) from the edge of the document. In the example above, the edge of the document is shown in black. The red line is the bleed boundary (which is featured near the start of this post). This imaginary border is necessary because the guillotines can also trim up to 3mm off your artwork. This would mean that text could be chopped off if a quiet border isn’t observed. In the very worst scenario, having a 5mm quiet area should mean that there would still be a 2mm gap between the edge of your printed document and copy text.

✔ Tip: Here are some example quiet border minimum-widths which may be appropriate (depending on printer): Business Cards: 5mm, CD Sleeves: 8mm, Leaflets: 12mm, Posters: 25mm+. Of course, the design will effect how close texts are to the edge of the document. Note that the quiet border also has much to do with design more than avoiding printing mistakes.

The larger the print, the wider the quiet border should be.

6. Fonts that are Not Converted to Outlines in Adobe® Illustrator or InDesign

If you’re designing a CD sleeve, for example, you’d most likely use Adobe Illustrator to compile vector artwork and raster images. It’s a good idea to convert all the text used in the design to outlines before exporting as a PDF. Of course, fonts can be embedded using a modern PDF file standard, but in my opinion, doing this just removes any future potential problems from the finalising process. After all, there can be problems with embedded fonts too in some cases, so converting your type just makes sense.

*UPDATE: Be sure though that if you are using very small type, such as 8pt or lower, that the outline conversion looks good. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out well, so always do a visual check.

✔ Tip: Make sure you make a backup file copy (or backup layer in the same copy) in Illustrator (or other program of your choice) before converting type to outlines. If the client wants design changes, you have the unconverted copy at hand.

♥ Resource: See my Top Ten CD Sleeve Design Tips.

7. Image Resolution Too Low

Image resolutions for print need to be between 300 pixels per inch (ppi) and 400 ppi. It really depends on the print service that is to be used. Setting the ppi too high can cause problems, but the major error some people make is setting the resolution too low. The common mix-up is using a 72 dpi (dots per inch) image instead of one that is 300 ppi or higher. Another common mistake is using a 72 dpi image that originated on the internet, and using it for print by enlarging it. No. No. No.

The only exception to this is if an image that was initially intended for the web was four-times the size as what is required for print. This could then be reduced to one-quarter file size dimensions. However, this wouldn’t solve the colour problem, which is outlined next. Images for web will use an sRGB colour space. When converted to a CMYK colour space, a lot of data will be lost and the colour conversion may not go well─it depends on the image used. If you have the copyright permission to use an image in this way, though, just be careful that its converted professionally.

♥ Resource: Again, you may want to refer to this post: What are the Benefits of Designing in RGB for CMYK Print?

♥ Another Resource: Read DPI and PPI Explained by Andrew Dacey Photography.

8. Using Raster Text and Logos Instead of Vectors

For pretty much any “hand-held” print work such as CDs and booklets, using vector typography is a must (this is a root cause of many printing mistakes). If you don’t, the text won’t look sharp. If you take a look at my example above, a vector graphic will look sharp because it’s made from mathematical formulae. Rasters are made from pixels, which are what digital images are made of.

There is a kind of cross-over point, though. If you’re designing large posters, for example, using text in Photoshop may work well if the type is over 16pt. This may actually be better if the typography has all kinds of treatments and effects applied. Always print proofs first before sending files to print, though.

♥ Resource: For more detailed info on this, read: The Difference Between Pixel and Vector-Based Graphics over on 1stwebdesigner.

9. Saving Black & White Images in Colour

If you want your Black & White images to stay that way, make sure they’re setup or converted to a Grey-working space or profile. Otherwise, cyan, magenta and yellow inks will be added when your image is printed as part of a document. This is because colour will originally show in the cyan, magenta and yellow channels in your document if you use a CMYK profile.

Of course, you may want some colour in your black & white images to create a richer appearance, but these will need some Photoshop modification first.

♥ Resource: Working in Photoshop Gray to Indesign to PDF over on Adobe Forums.

10. Using .gif or .png File Formats for Print – One of the Major Printing Mistakes

.gif and .png files are on-screen-only file formats. They are not intended for print and will not print well, so no wonder this is one of the major printing mistakes that can be made. This is because they have been developed to handle 72 ppi, whereas images for print need to be in the 300-400 dpi range. If you look at the image above, the right hand side shows a standard image, but the left shows (or simulates) how a .gif image may print. For very small images in print, you may get away with it, but get into the practice of using .tiff images when designing for printed material. You may be able to get away with using .jpeg files for print (if they are saved at very high quality), but every job is different and requires varied image-standards depending on application.

♥ Resource: For a review of the varied file formats, read Image file formats on Wikipedia.

11. Not Flattening Layers Before Exporting to PDF

This is one of the main printing mistakes that has plagued me through my years as a designer. Here’s the situation, you have a deadline and need to export your awesome artwork from Illustrator as a PDF. This is all well and good, but you need to flatten layers first or your file will be huge. Your artwork “should” still print okay, but will bloat your file size and may send your printers’ Macs into meltdown. So, If you want a 1mb file instead of a 10mb one, flatten the file!

✔ Tip: Make sure you make a backup file copy first.

12. Fonts that are Not Embedded in Your PDF

If you’re sending for example, a 16-page booklet to print, its probably best not to convert the font to paths due to the length of the booklet. In cases like this (you’re probably going to be using Adobe® InDesign or Quark if you’re “old-school”), leave the copy font in place but make sure it’s embedded in the PDF when you export. If you don’t do this, the printer may not have the same font that you have used.

✔ Tip: In my opinion, embed the font or don’t use it at all.

13. Not Locking Layers before Reviewing & Flattening a File

At first glance, this may seem like a strange tip and not a “printing mistake” as such, but it’s born out my my own experience. Here’s the deal: your design is perfect, you’ve printed it out and proof-checked it. Everything is fine, so you save another copy of the file and flatten it so you can export it.

What could go wrong? Well, when leaning over to get your coffee after reviewing that “all is fine”, you accidentally nudge your mouse which moves some text or image out of place because your layers aren’t locked. You get distracted by Twitter or something else, and you don’t try to close the file straight away. Then, when you do save it later on, the computer warns you the file needs saving, so you do. See where I’m going here? It’s happened to me a couple of times already. The situation is worse when you only nudge an element very slightly, and isn’t noticed until it’s too late! So, my advice is to alway lock layers before saving or finalising.

✔ Tip: Get into the habit of always locking layers when element positioning in critical.

14. Not Supplying a Hard-Copy Proof

I’ve been guilty of this many times, but only on smaller projects. My printer doesn’t require them for small print jobs, but they do encourage you to use their colour charts. However, for anything “major” or really expensive, I’d recommend sending in some printed proofs just to be sure.

✔ Tip: When printing proofs, try outputting them at 100% scale is possible, although of course, your paper size is the limit. When designing CD’s, create a mock-up and inset the prints into a spare jewel case, for example.

15. Really BAD Design Taste!

Seriously, if a design is bad, don’t even bother printing it at all. The streets are awash with “designs” created by so-called designers that are simply hideous and should never have seen the light of day in the first place. Don’t even get me started on shop signs.

✔ Tip: To become a better designer, read a variety of design blogs on a regular basis and practice your skills! Heres a good list here on Andrew Kelsall Design: 100 Fantastic Design Blogs (and their logos).

✔ Another Tip: Upload your designs (always consider designer-client privacy) to a site such as Dribbble, and get feedback on them.

Disclaimer: This article is for advice only, with much of it based on my opinions and experiences. Before sending work to print, you should always check with your printer on how best to set up files for their systems.

►► Do you have any more tips and hints regarding printing mistakes? If so, I invite you to leave your comment at the end of this post…

★★★★★ More on Andrew Kelsall Design ★★★★★

Here are a couple of related articles that may be of interest to you…

The Professional Designer’s Guide to using Black

The aim of this article is to document every conceivable type of black that is destined for print and web. It is my aim that if you are a designer, you can find some information here that you didn’t know―and if you are learning about design, I hope you can educate yourself from this post.

There are 3 Parts in the article:

One: The Different Blacks, Two: Using Black, Three: Misuse of Black [READ MORE].

A Print Handbook for Designers

I was recently issued with a complementary copy of the Print Handbook for designers by Andy Brown at Media Collective (who are based here in the UK). The book itself is rather small, but is printed on quality card and embossed with foil block [READ MORE].

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Fonts and Copyright Issues: Watch the Video Below

If you have anything to add about this subject, I would love to hear from you too. If you have any additional information regarding fonts and copyright, please leave your comments below.

Also, if you think I have missed something in my explanation or I have said something which is incorrect, also let me know in the comment area. Tell of any difficult or unusual scenarios that you have come across as a designer….

Further Resources:

★ Font usage for logos: legal rights ─ Graphic Design Forum.

★ Fun and Games with Font Licensing ─ imjustcreative.

★ Legal issues with using fonts? ─ Typophile.

★ Font Licensing FAQ  ─ Fontbros.

★ Fonts Copyrighted by Designers… Can We Use Them in Logo Design? ─ Graphic Artists Guild.

♥ Like this post? Then see also: Mechanical Font by Riccardo Sabatini.

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

“Work for Money, Design for Love” is a new book authored by brand identity designer, David Airey. After receiving a complementary copy of this book a few weeks ago, I thought it was about time that I did a review. Now, I haven’t done a video on this site for a couple of years now so I have also taken the opportunity to make one about this book. It’s only seven minutes long, and I hope you get a general idea about the book and what my feelings are about it…

View The Video Review Below

In a nut-shell, this is a very down-to-earth book that is really easy to read. It has pretty much everything you need to know about being a freelancer and running your own business. There are plenty of examples, tips, advice and other tidbits of information from a varied amount of other designers apart from David. I think that even if you are an experience designer, you will walk away with a better understanding of the design profession after reading this book. Of course, it’s an invaluable resource for newer designers, too.

Want to buy the book?

David Airey has now authored two books, and you can follow the affiliate links below if you would like to purchase one from Amazon…

• BUY: Work for Money, Design for Love: Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Starting and Running a Successful Design Business

• BUY: Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities

Further Resources

• On David’s site: Choose a free chapter of the new book.

• Work for Money, Design for Love official website.

★ Like this post? Then read 100 Fantastic Design Blogs (and their logos).

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

I’m currently in the process of completing two logo projects that I will be featuring here on Andrew Kelsall Design. In the mean-time, I just spotted these really funky Colourful Piñata Cookies which are just great, don’t you think?

Credits: Piñata Cookies Tutorial / via.

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Inverted Rainbow

We saw an intersecting upside-down rainbow, complete with a double Sundog! It’s not that clear on my phone-camera images, but if you look above, you’ll notice that the upside-down (inverted) rainbow intersects with a fainter ‘standard’ rainbow.

Double Sundog

The image above shows what appeared below this double-rainbow. As the Sun was setting, twin ‘Sun Dogs’ (this is where it looks like there are more than one Sun in the sky) appeared at each end of the lower rainbow. Again, this photo doesn’t do the sight justice. Just before I attained my camera, the Sun-dogs were almost as bright as the Sun itself! I think that these Sun Dogs and created when light from the Sun refracts off bright-white clouds, giving the impression that another Sun is present. Of course, Scarborough isn’t on the planet of tatooine.

In the shot above, I attempted to get the whole scene in one photograph by turning around my phone into portrait orientation, but couldn’t get the entire scene. I wish I had a better camera on me that day to capture this once-in-a-lifetime scene, but I hope you can gain a fair idea of this wonderful sight of God’s creation.

I just found some similar rainbow phenomenons over here, and I’m sure there are other photos out there better than these, too. Have you ever seen anything like this before? If so, let me know in the comment section below…

♥ If You like this post, see also:

Double Rainbows & Siberian Snow

It was only recently I snapped this double rainbow from my house window (the second rainbow is really faint).

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Here is the list that I pasted-in the The Randomiser Tool only once, and it gave me the winner…

‏@artoflukesims, @yshakh, @AlexLaurus, @Jinxy_Ya, @designepic, ‏@fudgegraphics, @anastasialanz, @nerdnotfool, @Mr_GavinT, @inkspot7777, @blafavy, @Dianek5, @jfdiotte, @UniqueGraphique, @andyliang, @fkrisyanda, @BoBoBenton, @FatRocketDesign, Brian Hanson, George Harris, Ben Benton, Monika, Febrian Krisyanda, Nathan, Liane, Andy, gavin thompson, Adam Davison, Michelle Parker, jeff, jfd, rick, brandon, Mike, Gavin Thompson, Michelle, Joseph Wachira, Anastasia Lanz, Nick Webster, Brookie, Niall, Nick Phillipps, Alex, yshakh, Josh Scheepers, Vladimir Sijan, Staci, Jonathan, Luke

Original Posting…

Win $100 in Custom Stickers from the great people over at Sticker Mule…

Sticker Mule print high quality vinyl stickers, with easy ordering online. They’ll make your artwork print-ready for free, and provide a free online proof with every order.

How to Enter

Just comment on this post, and I’ll choose 1 winner at using The Randomiser Tool. Also, Tweet this post for an extra chance to win (using the button on-site)!

Contest Ends 20th Sept 2012 12 pm GMT (London). Any questions about this, please ask me.

I will not confirm the winner until the 21st Sept 2012. Please Subscribe to my RSS Feed to keep undated, as I will announce the winners here.

Prize Details:

$100 (USD) in Custom Stickers from Sticker Mule.

The Smallprint: This giveaway is sponsored by Sticker Mule, and no monetary compensation is given for hosting it.

Please make sure you leave a valid email address in the comments section (in the ‘email’ box), as I’ll be contacting you with this should you be a winner! If you are entering via Twitter, I’ll get in touch over there…

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Are these the most amazing posters ever? Just maybe! At a time when there’s ‘not much new in print design’, here’s comes a set of designs that is totally unique (by designer, Renata El Dib). Yes, they poster design are not in English, but as can be seen from the logo─they’re for Walls Icecream.

Credits: All the images shown in this set are Copyright © Renata El Dib. Please check them out over at Cargo Collective.

♥ If you liked this post, then also see Is This the Best Paper Samples Box Ever?.

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

I just discovered these here and I thought they were pretty nifty. I have used highlighter pens before, which incidentally always seem to run out after a few days, but never fluorescent pencils!

Neon yellow highlighter pencils with natural wood finish. Unlike standard fiber tip highlighters, these dry highlighters are eco friendly! They use no plastics, no ink solvents, and no volatile organic compounds. They are long lasting and work great – will not bleed through thin pages. CE certified [read more here].

This is not an affiliate post. If you liked reading this, I can highly recommend that you will view Original Colorstripe Colored Pencils next.

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

These Stunning Typographic Designs were created by Jing Zhang, who is an illustrator and designer who resides in London. Jing has designed quite a lot of different illustrations, but I have just included the typographic ones here for you to view. What I really like about these is the way that they are well-thought-out intricate designs that have been fused with textures. This makes the whole design work look original and unique. Check out the gallery below…

Typographic Design Gallery

✔ SEE ALSO: Arkitypo Letter Rotations [VIDEO].

Credits and further information: All eight images used within this set our copyright © Jing Zhang. Why not head over to his site to see the rest of his fantastic illustrative work.

♥ Did you like this post? If so I highly recommend that you also see…

Striking Digital Artwork by Adam Dedman

Check out this colourful and vibrant digital artwork by Adam Dedman. Adam is an illustrator and graphic designer based in the south-west of England. He also graduated from University College Falmouth with a degree in graphic design in 2010. His clients include The Washington Post, Burton Snowboards and Nike [READ MORE].

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

☞ If you’re reading this post via Email Subscription or via RSS and can’t see this video, click here to watch it.

If you are a blogger type a lot on your Mac, then Mac dictation may be a good solution for you. In this video I will give you a very quick introduction to how it works. Don’t worry, I don’t do much booktalk for the first 30 seconds or so but it does get going eventually…

More on Mac Dictation

I realise that after producing a video that Mac Dictation missed off the word ‘a’ twice, but you get the idea about how it works. The more you use it, the more it learns from your speech renders what you say more accurately.

This post has all been dictated using this dictation tool, and I’m pretty pleased with the results. If you want to know more please see my video above (if you can understand my northern-English accent, that is). By the way, in the video when I pressed the ‘fn’ key to bring up market dictation it didn’t come up straight away. I just discovered that this is because the actual screencast software interfered with it. However, for general use the dictation box appears more speedily.

You can read more about this software over on the Apple website: Now you can talk anywhere you can type. Dictation converts your words into text. It uses the built-in microphone on your Mac, so there’s no need to set anything up — just start speaking instead of typing. When you say “comma” or “exclamation mark”, Dictation punctuates for you. The more you use Dictation, the smarter it gets. It learns voice characteristics. And it recognises people from your contacts, so it enters names accurately [more].

Do you think Mac Dictation is a bloggers’ dream? Please leave your thoughts on the comment section below…

♥ If you enjoy this post I can highly recommend…

Apple Banners

I first saw these great Apple banners a couple of weeks ago, and they grabbed my attention instantly. They were used by Apple to launch their online stores in the United Arab Emirates, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. What grabbed me when I saw these [READ MORE].

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall