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A route

I want to prepare something for print.

Bleed, dpi, colour and PDFs a printer will accept, with the honest limits. 16 guides, about 60 minutes in total, in the order that gets you there.

The route, in order

  1. The terms a printer will use and the numbers they expect.Prepare artwork a printer will acceptTrim, bleed, safe area, 300 ppi, RGB and CMYK, paper and proofs, with the honest limits of Voidcanvas print output and how to work around them.Intermediate5 minDesign craft
  2. The bleed to add, in millimetres and pixels, and how to add it to a design built without one.How much bleed a print job needs3 mm on every side in the UK and Europe, 0.125 in (about 3.2 mm) in the US, and 5 mm or more for large-format work if the printer asks. You only need bleed when something touches the edge of the page: a background colour, a photo, a stripe. At 300 dpi, 3 mm is 36 px per side, so an A5 flyer at 1748 × 2480 becomes 1820 × 2552. Keep text and logos 5 mm inside the trim as well, because the cut that needs bleed on one side can take a bite out of the other.Beginner3 minDesign craft
  3. Which marks a printer wants and where Voidcanvas adds them.Crop marks, trim marks and bleed marks: what each one isCrop marks and trim marks are the same thing: short lines in the corners, outside the page, that show the printer where to cut. They sit outside the bleed so they never touch the artwork. Bleed marks (less common) show where the bleed ends. Registration marks are targets for lining up colour plates on a press; most digital and online printers do not need them from you. The slug is the strip outside the bleed where job details are printed. Most printers want bleed plus crop marks, or bleed with the trim box set in the PDF and no marks at all. Ask which.Beginner2 minDesign craft
  4. What the printer checks, and the one-line note to send with the file.What a print-ready PDF is, and what yours needsA print-ready PDF is a file the printer can send to the press without opening it to fix anything: the page size equals the trim size plus bleed, images are at 300 dpi at final size, type is embedded or rendered to pixels so it cannot reflow, the colour mode is known (CMYK, or RGB with the printer converting), crop marks are present if the printer asked for them, and there is one file per piece. If your tool exports an image-based PDF, as Voidcanvas does, the type is already rendered and the questions left are size, resolution, bleed and colour. Check those four and write them in the email.Beginner4 minDesign craft
  5. Twelve checks before the file goes, and the note to send.The print handover checklistBefore a file goes to print, check it the way the printer will: size, bleed, safe area, resolution, colour, fonts, marks, then the paperwork. Most rejected files fail on the first three. Send one PDF per item, named with the job and version, and a short note stating the trim size, the bleed included, that the colour is RGB (if it is), the paper, the quantity and the date, and ask for a proof.Beginner2 minDesign craft
  6. Yes, a browser design prints fine; the four checks that decide it.Printing a design made in a browser tool: what the printer needsYes. A printer does not care where a file was made, only whether it is right. Four things decide it: the design is at the final size with photos at 300 dpi at that size; it has bleed if anything touches the edge; it is exported as a PDF; and the printer knows the colour mode (most browser tools, Voidcanvas included, export RGB, which most printers convert). Check those four, send a note with the trim size and paper, and ask for a proof.Beginner2 minDesign craft
  7. The three reasons a print comes back soft, a one-minute check, and the fix for each.Why your printed design looks blurryA print looks blurry for one of three reasons: a photo was enlarged past what its pixels can support, the document was set up at screen size (1080 px, 1920 px, 72 dpi) and then printed much larger, or the file was exported small or as a heavy JPG. Check in one minute: divide the design's pixel width by its printed width in inches. Under 150 and everything prints soft; 300 is what a printer wants for anything read up close. Then fix the cause: replace or shrink the photo, rebuild at the print size, or export a PDF or PNG at full size.Beginner7 minDesign craft
  8. Pixels divided by dpi, where to find the pixels, and how to check a placed photo.How to check whether an image is big enough to printDivide the pixel size by the dpi the print needs. Largest sharp print (inches) = pixels ÷ 300 for anything read up close, ÷ 150 for posters read from a metre or more; multiply inches by 25.4 for millimetres. A 3000 × 2000 px photo prints sharp at 10 × 6.7 in (254 × 169 mm) at 300 dpi, or 20 × 13.3 in at 150. The dpi number saved in the file does not matter; only the pixels do. Find the pixels in the file's details on your computer or phone, or open the image on its own in the Editor and read the status bar.Beginner2 minDesign craft
  9. Pixels, dpi and print size, properly, so the check above makes sense.Understand pixels, dpi and why images look softHow pixel dimensions, ppi and print size relate, why images blur when scaled, what makes files big, and the size limits in Voidcanvas.Beginner4 minDesign craft
  10. When 150 dpi is right, when 300 is, and the pixel sizes from A4 to A0.What dpi a poster should be, by size and viewing distanceMatch the dpi to the viewing distance. 300 dpi for anything read at arm's length (flyers, A4 and A3 posters on a notice board). 150 dpi for posters read from a metre or two (A2, A1, A0 on a wall, 18 × 24 in and larger). 100 dpi or less for banners and billboards, and ask the printer. The number is pixels divided by inches, so an A2 poster at 150 dpi is 2480 × 3508 px, which is the same file as an A4 at 300. Above about A2, 300 dpi makes a very large file that adds nothing you can see from where people stand.Beginner4 minDesign craft
  11. How the Editor builds its PDF, which presets print at 300 dpi and how to add bleed yourself.Export for print: PDF, dpi and bleedHow the Editor's PDF works, which sizes print at 300 dpi, how to add bleed yourself, and what to ask your printer.Intermediate3 minEditor
  12. An A5 flyer with bleed, done from start to handover.Make an A5 flyer with bleed for the printerDesign an A5 flyer at 300 dpi with a safe margin, then deliver it from Studio as a print PDF with 3 mm bleed, crop marks and trim and bleed boxes set.Beginner4 minWorkflows
  13. The four reasons a print never matches the monitor, and which you can plan for.Why a print looks different from the screenA print never matches a screen exactly, for four reasons you can plan for. Ink cannot make light: a monitor shows colour with light and can reach bright blues, greens, oranges and pinks that no press can print, so those come back duller. Paper absorbs: uncoated stock soaks up ink and everything prints darker and softer than coated stock. Monitors are too bright: most are set far brighter than paper under room light, so a print looks dark by comparison. Previews are scaled: a whole page at 30 per cent hides what 100 per cent shows. Plan for all four: avoid building the design on a neon, lift the shadows a little for uncoated paper, check at 100 per cent, and ask for a proof.Beginner5 minDesign craft
  14. Send RGB and say so: why, what to change in the design, and what to do when a printer insists on CMYK.RGB or CMYK for print: what to do in an RGB-only toolSend RGB and say so. RGB is how screens make colour (light); CMYK is how presses make it (four inks). Every file is converted to CMYK before it is printed. The question is who converts: you, with a generic profile, or the printer, with the profile for their press and paper. The printer's conversion is usually better, and most commercial and online printers accept RGB PDFs for exactly that reason. Voidcanvas exports RGB only, so write "RGB, please convert" in the order note and ask for a proof. What you can control is the design: avoid building it on colours ink cannot reach, keep text in pure black, and check bright brand colours against a printed sample.Beginner4 minDesign craft
  15. What happens to bright RGB colours on press and how to plan for it.Choose colours that work on screen and in printBuild palettes with roles, make even ramps in OKLCH, pass WCAG 2.2 contrast, and know what happens when RGB colour goes to a printer.Intermediate5 minDesign craft
  16. Naming, versioning and the delivery list when the job is for a client.Deliver every format, named and ready for the printerThe Deliver tab renders every format at full size in the file types you tick, names each file by client, job, format and version, adds print PDFs with bleed and crop marks, and zips it all with a delivery note.Intermediate4 minStudio

Questions people ask

Does Voidcanvas export CMYK?

No. Every export is RGB. Most printers convert RGB PDFs with their own press profile; ask before you send, and ask for a proof when colour matters.

How many pixels is 3 mm of bleed?

About 35 to 36 px at 300 dpi (3 mm is 0.118 in; 0.118 × 300 = 35.4). The Editor guide uses 36 px on each side.