Even in our digital world, design for print is one of the most important avenues in the design industry. Becoming an expert takes years of practice but the fundamentals do not. Here are the basics to include in your process for print glory!

1) Colour Mode

When designing for print it is important to understand the production process. This has a direct impact on your artwork in multiple ways. The production process may affect the output of the design as well as having an effect on the initial setup of the artwork.

Why does my bright, fluorescently coloured artwork print out so dull? For the most part, the print production process works on the CMYK Colour model, known as Full or 4 Colour print.

C = Cyan, M = Magenta, Y = Yellow and K = Black.

Layering amounts of the respective value on top of each other to produce the desired colour. The CMYK colour spectrum is not as vast as the RGB colour mode - meaning that not all RGB Colours can be replicated in print.

If a piece of artwork set in RGB Colour mode is sent to print, it is automatically converted to the CMYK Colour model. This can produce unexpected results as it is completely automated.

As a designer it is your responsibility to ensure that you are designing with the client's interests in mind. If the client is not experienced in printed material then they will be using your input as guidance so it is your responsibility to be informed.

Tip: When designing for print, ensure your document is in CMYK Mode.

2) Bleed

Bleed is an excess area included in the artwork with the sole purpose of being trimmed off in the production process.

Why is this required?

The last time you used a pair of scissors to cut a picture out of a magazine did you miss the exact line and leave a white strip up the edge? Imagine cutting through a ream of paper, 250-500 sheets high, while hitting the exact edge on every sheet. Given that the guillotine is inevitably manually operated, and that the paper will shift as the blade cuts through, the additional artwork (background colour or images) is there to ensure that the colour runs right to the edge of the finished item. Even if the trimming is the slightest bit off.

5mm bleed will be widely accepted by printer providers as a standard and ensures an easy transition from artwork to printed item.

Tip: As a rule of thumb; artwork should include 5mm bleed.

3) Image Resolution

You have an image from the internet that you want printed. Looks good on screen, looks good on paper.. negative!

What's the cause? Similar to the RGB and CMYK Colour models, Web / Onscreen visual representations work on a different basis to that of printed material. It all comes down to Resolution. Industry relates this in a measure of Dots Per Inch (DPI), also referred to as Points/Pixels Per Inch (PPI). This is essentially a measure of the amount of information within an image.

The difference is that it requires about 24% of the data to display an image onscreen as it does to reproduce the image in print with the same clarity; 72dpi for screen / 300dpi for print.

So let's go back to our image from the web that we want to print. Knowing that it is 72dpi and that we need 4 times the information, we need to reduce it to one quarter of the size in order for it to print clearly. A massive factor that applies to all pixel based images.

Be aware of your image use to ensure you and your client get the perfect print.

4) Finished Size

Another consideration to make is the size of the artwork. Where is it being printed? Are you designing to an international sizing standard or a custom size?

If a client has not considered the production aspect of the process you have the opportunity to be their saviour. Suggest they consider production costs by evaluating whether the artwork needs to be one or two sided. And could you fit the content on a smaller sheet?

Generally, the smaller the size of the finished item the more cost effective it is to print - saving your client money (potentially leaving more money for additional design services, or a bonus!).

Conclusion

These are four basics of the print world. Alone these will not make you a master. However, an awareness of these simple production aspects will enable to grow as a designer. Implementing these fundamentals into your design practice will certainly increase your effectiveness as a designer.

Article originally published October 11, 2012

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Written by Jo Sabin on Thursday, April 21, 2016

Jo Sabin is Head of Designer Community at DesignCrowd. She's led the company's public relations and social media programs since 2012. With more than ten years' experience working with Australian and international tech startups in the creative industries, Jo has been instrumental in meeting DesignCrowd's objectives in Australia and abroad. Get in touch via Twitter.