A print designer must essentially think "backwards" from the final printing stage to concept so that the idea will translate successfully into the final product. In other words, whether or not a designer understands prepress can make or break a product. It is possible to revise a web site without significant financial risk, but once something is printed wrong in quantities of 1,000+, you're talking about thousands of dollars lost. And when it's printed wrong, it's usually because it wasn't planned correctly, not because something was wrong with the printing machines.

Print design is about the look and feel of a whole product. It takes into account what kind of ink is used, how that ink is printed, what kind of paper is used, what the shape of the object is, and how it is assembled. As an old-fashioned method, it has a timeless, elegant appeal. A well-designed print product has a compelling immediacy and makes a lasting impression. It is easy on the eyes, and a pleasure to pick up and touch. This is why we send letters or cards instead of e-mails when we want our words to carry more weight.

Print design has an emphasis on typography. How type is chosen and placed in a design — whether it's headline or body copy — can mean the difference between professional and amateur quality work. A print designer must think about which font(s) to use and how to treat them so that they are easy to read and look good with the art. Examples of factors to consider are size, style, tracking, kerning, leading, color(s), ligatures, and trapping. For successful print design, it would be well worth your while to read a book or take a class about typography.

For the purposes of this guide, offset printing is considered the default printing method because it is the most commonly used method, and because it requires a more thorough understanding of traditional prepress than color digital printing does. We feel that this knowledge empowers the designer creatively and professionally. However, keep in mind that many Inkd buyers will opt for color digital printing instead of offset. Keeping your work versatile (in other words, printable across different methods without sacrificing your design) would be the most practical approach for selling designs on Inkd. For example, do not specify any spot colors.

The most common method of commercial printing is offset printing. This is an indirect printing process based on lithography whereby ink is transferred to the paper by a blanket that carries an impression from the printing plate, rather than directly from the plate itself. It's an economical and high-quality choice for mass production.

Rising in popularity: color digital printing. This is a less complicated, yet less versatile and somewhat lower quality, method that is cheaper for printing in fewer quantities.

Other more specialized methods include letterpress, gravure, screen printing, engraving, thermography, and foil stamping.

Print media generally goes through 4 stages:

• Concept / Design

  • The designer develops the creative concept and makes choices about graphics, colors, typography, etc.

• Layout / Production

  • The designer (for the sake of simplicity, the "designer" and "production artist" are both referred to as "designer") carefully builds and re-works layout files.

• Preflight / Prepress

  • The designer digitally "preflights" the layout file and makes adjustments to get the job ready for the printer. Preflight is the first part of prepress.
  • Prepress refers to everything that happens to make sure a job is correctly prepared for printing.

• Printing

  • The printing vendor creates proofs and, upon client approval, performs the final output.

Print uses the CMYK color system (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) — not RGB (Red, Green and Blue), which is meant for screen displays.

A finished job that's ready to be printed will typically include a primary layout file (the working document which contains the whole, laid out piece), the image source files and fonts that the layout file links to, and a preview PDF file (a static file for viewing the the finished design).

The design files should be user-friendly (allowing the buyer to easily customize them) while being clear and properly set-up for the printer. This means that the designer must understand and consistently follow standard production guidelines, as explored below as well as in Inkd's Full Guidelines.

• Stay Organized

  • Keep all of your files — the working layout file, your image source files, and your fonts — organized, up-to-date, and accessible from start to finish.
  • As you work on the job, make sure your layout file is linked to updated image source files and uses active fonts that are installed in your computer. This will let you view the layout file without art and type appearing pixelated, and will make it easier to preflight and collect the job later.
  • As for fonts, it is up to the designer whether to use standard operating system fonts or to use special fonts that she / he has commercial rights to.

• Standard Terminology

  • Trim refers to the edge of the paper. The trim line, or cut line, is where the product is cut down to its desired size.
  • Bleed refers to the line extending past the trim line to which artwork or a background color is extended so that the blade will cut through it (rather than next to it), if a full bleed effect is desired. If there is no bleed, there is a border that is left unprinted around the edge of the item.
  • Safety margins refer to the innermost margins in a template that create a buffer between text (and graphics not meant to be cut off) and the trim edge — protecting them from being cut off by the blade.
  • Die cut refers to a specific shape that an item will be cut to in the printing process.

• Bleeds and Special Cuts

  • Items with bleeds and special die cuts are printed on large sheets of paper and cut to the desired size and shape.
  • When pages have artwork at "full bleed," the artwork extends to the full edge of the paper. The blade cuts through the artwork. To achieve this, the designer must place the artwork so that it extends past the trim edge of the page.
  • Items such as packaging with flaps and folds, or your own uniquely-shaped item, have special die cuts.
  • The designer should note that bleeds and special die cuts cost more.

• Set up your layout file in a standard, user-friendly way

  • Create separate layout files for each item, and separate files for each side of an item.
  • Create them at trim size. If you're designing a 4" x 6" postcard, set up the document at 4" x 6".
  • In the layout file, create and use separate layers for different functions:
    • At the bottom, a non-printing "template" layer that contains all the hidden marks and notations intended for the buyer and printer to understand how the job is to be treated and handled. This is the layer that contains any notes or instructions.
    • In the middle, an "Artwork" layer containing all artwork
    • Optional: at the top, a "Text" layer that isolates all text

• CMYK/Spot Color Basics

  • "CMYK" is also referred to as "4-color," "process color" or "full color" in printing terminology.
  • The 4-color offset printing process uses a separate plate for each color. CMYK colors build up in layers to simulate nearly infinite color variations.
    • While CMYK is the standard process, the number of colors used is actually variable. A design can have just 2 colors (less plates — less expensive), or can include specially-mixed PMS spot colors (more plates — much more expensive). The PMS spot color system is used mostly for 2-color projects or to add a special (5th) color that goes with a certain brand.**
  • A print designer must define colors carefully with the client's budget in mind. Accidentally including multiple spot colors in a job is an all-too-easy and costly mistake to make.
  • All image files and art files that are in a layout file should be carefully color-defined as CMYK or spot. There should be no RGB files.

• Resolution Basics

  • Resolution refers to the number of dots per inch (dpi), or the level of sharpness and detail the image has.
  • Layout file resolution should be 300 dpi at 100% of the final output size.
  • Image file resolution should be 300 dpi at 100% of the image's final output size.

This guide is written with Adobe design and layout programs in mind by default. Production tips and guidelines here are not necessarily applicable across multiple design and layout programs.

• Accuracy

  • Don't trust the way the colors look on the monitor for your color decisions. Use the Pantone Matching System (PMS) or check physical proofs.

• Precision

  • For truly precise layout, place, align and transform graphic elements using mathematical measurements and guides rather than by eye. Get used to Adobe's Transform palette. Type number values into that palette instead of dragging around or manipulating elements with your mouse. Click on the palette's reference point, for example, to check and compare vertical/horizontal positioning and alignment.

• Functionality

  • A nicely organized layout file will have separate layers for different functions (non-printing template guides, artwork, and/or text)
  • Name your CMYK color swatches in a consistent way — preferably as process formulas rather than names. Similarly, name your PMS spot colors by their official Pantone names.

• Bad Color Management

  • Not converting spot colors to CMYK if it is a 4-color job
  • Using duplicate color swatches that go by different names (e.g., "C=0 M=100 Y=100 K=0 and a duplicate named "Red")

• Treating typography as an after-thought

• Bad typesetting

  • Going wild with the tracking (sensible ranges: +/-10pts in Adobe, +/-3pts in Quark)
  • Ignoring leading
  • Ignoring kerning
  • Ignoring ligatures
  • Leaving widows, orphans, bad breaks, and excessive hyphenation in the body copy

• Bad Font Management

  • Styling fonts through the application's menu rather than by selecting the true font

• Bad Text Formatting

  • Using multiple tab or spacebar spaces to insert space rather than precise indenting or a single tab space set to the desired measurement.
  • Aligning text with the spacebar key or tab key rather than taking advantage of the "Indent to Here" function in Quark and InDesign.
  • Using 2 spacebar spaces between sentences rather than 1.

• Leaving unused items in the file or on the pasteboard (e.g., empty boxes or rejected graphic elements)

• Bad Layer Management

  • Mixing up layers (having artwork in the template layer, or template elements in the artwork layer).
  • Depending on how complex the design is, leaving all artwork in a single layer can make it overly time-consuming to isolate the elements that you need to work with at any given time.

• Bad Art File Setup

  • The same art file is used for multiple graphic elements, rather than separating those elements into different files.
  • The art file uses too much memory by containing unused elements
  • Raster art or photos are too small at 100% size (they should be large enough for the layout at 100% or smaller size).

• Bad Art File Placement in the Layout File

  • It's a bad idea to place art in a layout file and then manually position the art within its frame to get it into the right layout place. Instead, you want the art to be correctly placed at the coordinates X=0/Y=0.
  • Raster art or photos are scaled at over 100% in size (reducing image quality)
  • Copying and pasting art into a layout file rather than importing it

• Don't float multiple boxes on top of each other… merge them into one text box if possible

• Inconsistent File Naming

• Clean

  • No extraneous/unused artwork or empty box frames on the spreads or pasteboard
  • Uses a minimal amount of floating graphic elements, merging them into the same box whenever possible

• Well-built

  • Proper doc set-up, with consistent bleed, safety margins and column gutter widths on each page
  • Content is organized into separate layers (template, artwork, text - editable & converted to outlines)
  • Content placement respects safety margins and bleed lines
  • Proper color and font management
  • Image source files are properly named
  • Image source files only contain the art that is meant to be used

• Well-designed

  • Unique, compelling design
  • Concept and typography are smart and well thought-out
  • Solid color palette

We get lots of new print designs at Inkd every day. In most cases, the designs are truly inspired and we are able to quickly review and publish the designs on the same day they are uploaded. However, in some cases, there are issues with the design that might prevent them from being accepted in their provided form. Here are a variety of reasons why we might not be able to accept a design.

• The design is functionally broken — for instance, the design of the document does not match the folds of the document.
• Some designers are new to print and the design of the document isn't yet sophisticated enough to publish for sale.
• Some designers have a web background and not a print background, so the document might use the RGB color space instead of the CMYK color space, or it might have images that are of a certain resolution that is fine for the web but unacceptable for print.
• The designer failed to use our production template as the basis upon which to build their design. This affects consistency in our marketplace.
• Severe technical issues, such as broken or missing links to assets and images.
• Use of fonts which were not supplied with the design.
• Use of images which have watermarks and which require us to replace the images with usable ones.

There are other reasons why we might not be able to immediately publish your design for sale. You can email us at any time at care@inkd.com and we would be happy to help you start selling!