Top design tips for commercial printing
Posted on: 15 October 2015
Before sending out images and graphic designs to duplication services, there are a number of facts you need to put in mind. Scanning images for duplication isn't as simple as it sounds. For optimum results, you need to know the best specifications of your designs that would let you yield the best results. Here are some tips to have before making the copies. Producing designs in bulk means you need to be extra careful. Any error would be reflected across all the documents.
Image settings
If you're going to be having a lot of images, then the best you can do is save them as .eps or .tif formats. Doing so keeps the quality of the images high because these formats don't lose their sharpness or colour when scanned. Avoid formats like jpg or gif. They compress the image and can cause some blurriness in the output. Don't take images from the web without knowing the format.
Also check the resolution of you images. The best resolution would be 300dpi or higher. Scanning your images at lower resolutions would give you blurred, poor quality images. This is another reason why you shouldn't simply pick images from the web and scan them. They may not be of the required resolution.
Avoid coloured text
Colour can be interpreted differently by different printing presses. This is because there is a variance of the different colour plates, and their position is not constant. Using small coloured text would cause a misalignment of the colour positions and result in colour halos.
This effect is more prominent for smaller texts. Larger texts don't suffer so much from this effect. You can colour a huge headline or large texts.
Be careful with texts and images
Combining texts and images needs a little bit of skill. Simply picking out a background image may cost you. You need to ascertain the readability of the text. A good tip is to lighten up the photo using photo editing tools. Decreasing its brightnesscreates a clear contrast to the text and boosts visibility.
Allow for bleeds
Most printing devices are not able to print to the very edge of a piece of paper. That's where bleeds come in. This is simply when the design to be printed is made to extend past the page. Here, what you need to print is done on a larger paper size and then carefully trimmed. This ensures that the colour is present all the way to the edge, and it gives your publication a professional look.
Share