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.

✔ 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

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.

From the official site:

This little handbook is crammed with stuff which we think you’ll find very helpful. Especially if you’re a designer. Our goal is to help you see if your ideas will translate well when printed, as well as show what should be possible from your local press.

Lets take a look at a few of the pages and see what the book is all about:

Pages 4 and 5 show a good comparison of how the exact same colours look on both Uncoated and Silk stock. There’s also a great comparison of differing DPI values, from 600dpi down to 50dpi. Seeing this in print is quite useful, as it appears to show there is no difference in 600dpi and 300dpi for most applications.

For more information on screen resolution, check out How shocking can a Jpeg be?

Pages 6 and 7 show colour mixes and how varied tints appear in print. My favourite section is the ‘black comparisons’. For more on black, I recommend you check out my popular article The Professional Designer’s Guide to using Black.

Pages 8 and 9 show more CMYK print colour variations with a selection of glyphs. We all love glyphs, right?

Pages 12 and 13 show colour differences in Mono and Duotones, as well as information on folds and trapping. The best part of this page is the File Types section, where there’s a great example of the difference between a Jpeg and Tiff image.

Page 16 gives a great summary of how the book was design and what equipment was used (as well as the music that was played whilst it was designed!).

Want one?

Overall, this is a great little book to refer to and have in your office. Oh, and yes, I took the photos of the book outside on the lawn — there’s better light out there!

You can purchase one for £4 (UK), £5 (EU) or £6 (Worldwide) from the Print Handbook for Designers Site.

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 was shocked this morning when I received my Weekly Design Week Magazine. The cover reads ‘THE LAST ISSUE. Design Week Closes After 25 Years’.

At first, I though it was some kind of shock tactic to sell issues, but alas, no. Design week is no longer producing printed magazines. It is now continuing solely online.

Why?

Here’s an extract from the official byline:

This is a sad week for the Design Week team as we publish the last issue of the magazine. The title lives on to deliver daily news about design, but the print version is no more.

It will be 25 years in September since Jeremy Myerson launched the weekly, recognising the role design then a cottage industry might play in UK society and bringing together the community. In the 22 years I have been involved, that community has grown into a tour de force in commerce and culture, despite various recessions, and while the fervor remains from those early days, it is a burgeoning, international business now [...more of the story]

I can’t say I’m surprised, though.

I used to read this publication 10 years years ago on the train to work (for a design studio in Leeds, UK). Now, however, I only read it as I won a free subscription! The magazine cost its readers £3.20 per week, which is nearly £14 per month. Even though there was quality stuff in there, anyone could find the information it contained online anyway — or even just use the Design Week site.

Still, I’m sad to see it go.

I just hope that Creative Review doesn’t fall by the wayside, too.

For more information on this story, and to read the reader comments left, please read the official article: It’s goodbye from Design Week in print, but we’ll still have a digital presence.

Did you read Design Week? What do you think of it?

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 was approached by a Christian-based Australian startup, 9Fruit, to design four greeting Card Designs for their online collection. ~Above: Special Couple Greeting Card

Who are 9Fruit?

At 9fruit, we aim to create greeting cards and other products, which have a modern take on design and offer words of comfort, encouragement or humour based on God’s word.

‘9fruit’ refers to the nine visible attributes of a true Christian life – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. More on the 9Fruit site.

It was a great project to work on — and the work I produced was a break from my ‘normal’ graphic working style…

Above: Inner Bible Verse  (Jude 1:2) // Buy this card on 9Fruit

Above: “For a Special Graduate” Greeting Card

Above: Graduate card inner Bible Verse // Buy this card on 9Fruit

Above: “Just a Little Note of Thanks” Card Design

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Above: Thank you Card Inner message // Buy this card on 9Fruits

Above: “Happy Blessed Birthday” Butterfly Card

Above: Card Inner // Buy on 9Fruits

Further Information

All images © 9Fruit.com.au // No affiliate links appear in the post.

If you liked this article, please visit my portfolio or see my latest Christian-based design project. I also regularly design for another Australian client of mine, Dominic Finley (if you want to take a look). I also design for client worldwide, including the USA. You can hire me for work via one of my online quote forms.

Have You designed any greeting cards before? What do you think of these? Please share your thoughts below…

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 received two wonderful paper sample books recently from paper specialists Mirri (BTW, this is not an affiliate post). The samples allow you to see how the reflective quality of the card can be used, as well as providing tear-away sections for mailing to clients. Their site reads:

Mirri – A division of Celloglas has been a leading brand since the early 70’s, specialising in producing quality decorative materials on board, card and paper. Mirri is widely recognised by brands, retailers and designers as a tool to communicate quality, innovation and brand category leadership.

The book samples showed an impressive collection of reflective card along examples of it in use:

If you’re a designer and would find Mirri samples useful, you can request free sample books over on the Mirri site contact page.

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

MetalFX® (also known as MFX®) is a relatively new printing technology which uses metallic colours in a CMYK printing job to achieve fantastic results. Basically, a silver base is first printed in varied amounts to give additional colours a shiny and truly metallic appearance.

Of course, it’s hard to show the effects of this online, but this printing technology is good to keep in mind should the opportunity arise to use it effectively.

image source/copyright here

The image above shows a selection of Metal FX® ink swatchbooks which contain 615 different colours to choose from. I don’t have to books (although I do have some great samples in my office), but they should be available from various printers if this ink technology is offered.

image source/copyright here

Just like digital embossing, I’d love to able to use MetalFX® in the future (which works best on glossy paper). If the client’s budget allows—and the print project would be enhanced by using metallic ink, I’d definitely use this.

What do you think? Have you ever used MetalFX® before?

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 received some amazing print samples today from my printer of choice, RCS, here in England (BTW, this is Not an affiliate article!).

The samples I was sent demonstrate a new technology that isn’t even available until next year – Digital Embossing.

To quote the RCS information pack:

Digital Embossing is a post print process which applies a high build varnish patented ink jet technology.

The varnish is flash cured to form a hard crystal clear raise. Digital embossing gives a finish which may initially be compared to spot UV varnishing. But it is better, ten times better, because the ‘lift’ is more than 500 microns (0.5mm) which gives the effect of embossing your work. Of course if you want a thinner layer we can do that too.

Here are some more images of the embossed card samples:

As can be seen, the raised-varnish areas look superb. It also feels great running your fingers across the texture—I can’t wait for an opportunity to try this technology out. A major advantage is that because the process is digital, every print can be totally unique. This wasn’t possible before, as “true embossing” was tagged with high setup-costs for just a single file setup.

The setup of artwork for Digital Embossing is as simple as setting, say, custom Pantone® colours in other channels of a Adobe® CS application file.

What do you think of this “new era in print technology”. Would you use it?

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 will use my personal logomark in the following examples to show how attaining sharpness can be achieved. I am using a designer-black base with a % distribution as follows: C70 M50 Y30 K100 : This black is made up to a TAC equating to 250%.

↑ Imagine that the logomark above is only 1cm (10mm) in height. This is the desired effect: with a sharp white logo appearing on (well, knocked out of) a rich/designer black background with no TAC.

↑ This image represents the cyan channel, with coverage set at 70%

↑ This image represents the magenta channel, with coverage set at 40%

↑ This image represents the yellow channel, with coverage set at 30%

↑ …and finally, this image represents the black (key) channel, with coverage set at 100%

↑ The “trick” to making the logo appear sharp is to use an expanded line width filled with flat back (C0 M0 Y0 K100). As can be seen in this example, the rich black doesn’t extend to the edge of the white. This can be done using a variety of methods using Adobe Photoshop® or Illustrator®.

↑ This example shows how the cyan channel would look. Notice how thick the lines of the logomark are (the yellow and magenta channels would look similar).

↑ The end result is a line that is crisp and sharp. The width of the expanded line only needs to be enough to counteract any reasonable misregistration on a printing press. Even if misregistration was wasn’t an issue (such as in digital print), blurring can still occur due to the type of paper stock used and fuzzy-edges produced by the toner or ink used.

↑ This is a “mock closeup” of the CMYK misregistration. Notice how the edges are slightly misaligned on all four colours.

↑ This image shows a comparison on how using a flat black around the white logomark would result in clean, crisp line edges.

This method isn’t just confined to use with black. It can be used in a variety of situations where white or light text is used. For example, white text could be used on top of a texture, whereby the dominant colour of the texture image is used as a stroke. Another method is to, say, create a stoke in the cyan and magenta channels, but leave the yellow. The possibilities are endless.

Pros and Cons of this method

Okay, is this logo so sharp it could slice bread? Well, maybe not, but using this technique can greatly increase the clarity of printed material. There are other methods of knocking white text of of a designer-style rich black by using a double hit of Pantone® Black, but misregistration can still be an issue, as only 2 printing plates would be used. However, if small white text or graphics on a CMYK background is what is required, this method should work fine.

The edges will be sharper, but the clarity will still depend on the paper stock used. Fine glossy paper will produce better results than a thick textured one. Also, depending on the size of the white lines and the thickness of the flat-black, the differential density of the 2 blacks may be noticeable on close inspection.

If you’d like to read more about printing black, may I recommend my popular article The Professional Designers Guide to using Black.

Any questions? Please leave your comments below…

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 don’t normally review books—indeed I hardly even buy physical books any more. Every so often, though, I will step out of the digital sphere and buy one that I really want to read. My recent purchase was LOGO DESIGN LOVE: a guide to creating brand identities by well-known graphic designer and blogger, David Airey.

◥ The first thing I noticed about the book was the wonderfully-embossed text on the front cover. Nice.

I must admit, this isn’t a full in-depth review of the book. To be honest I’m only half way through it, but I thought I’d share some thoughts on what I’ve read and seen so far in this short post.

◥ The content of the book is great. It’s simple to follow and easy to digest. It’s been hard work putting it down, but I have several projects to do so I’ve forced myself to read a little at a time. The way the book is written is rather different to other books I’ve read—and I’ve found myself learning new things already.

◥ In both colour and black and white, this book uses samples of logo and identity work from across the globe. Working process’s are looked at, logos are reviewed and solutions revealed.

On the whole, I’d recommend this to any designer. I have come to respect David’s opinions and expertise over the last couple of years, so reading this has been a real pleasure.

Well done David—you’ve done a great job.

David Airey’s blogs are located at www.davidairey.com and www.logodesignlove.com

PS: I’ll revisit this post and mark it out of 10 when I have read the whole lot

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

Just a quick post about a poster design I recently produced for the Bob Cheevers tour, which also featured Dominic Finley and Lizzie Nunnery. My last post was about the CD Sleeve I designed for Dominic—and this poster was done straight after to announce that he was touring with the other two musicians.

◥ These PDF Proofs show two versions of the poster design, which announce varied dates and venues.

◥ The posters were supplied in three [European] sizes (A3, A4 and A5)—and also in black & white. Notice that the B+W one isn’t just a direct copy of the coloured one converted to greyscale. I individually lightened the text shades so the whole thing looked sharp and legible.

Any thoughts? I’d love to read them

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