Preparing the artwork

Your final artwork must design follows by Bleed Area, Trim Size, Safe Area, Colour Mode, Image, Font & File Format.

Bleed Area, Trim Size and Safe Area

final artwok
final product
Final Artwork

Final Product
bleed mark
trim mark
safe area

Bleed Area:
The black line of the artwork are called bleed area. To prevent an unwanted white border from your final print artwork, be sure to extend any background colors or design to the edge.






Trim Marks:
The pink line is called trim line. Define where the artwork is trimmed after it is printed, but due to the mechanical tolerances involved in printing, the actual cut can happen anywhere from the bleed area to the safe margin. This is why it is important to keep your text and important images within the safe margin.


Safe Area:
Make sure to keep all important informations, like names, addresses, phone numbers or logos within the safe margin (at least 3mm from the edge) otherwise it could get cut off when your artwork is trimmed.




Incorrect!
incorrect1
incorrect 2

1. The image is just extended to the trim line, but does not bleed to the edge. White border may show at the edge of your final product.

2. This content of the logo is out from the safe area and may be cut off after the green line.




Color Mode and Image

Full Colour Printing uses CMYK colours mode instead of RGB to achieve the images quality.
Convert your images from RGB to CMYK colours using graphic editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.
The image displays on monitor usually only have about 72dpi to 116dpi. However the best quality of print image is 300dpi.
In printing term, to view your print resolution of your image, zoom in up to 100%-150% from your screen.

What is CMYK, Pantone and RGB?

CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and key (black).

The CMYK process is a method of printing colour by using four inks — cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

PMS - Pantone Matching System
Pantone is a standardized color matching system, utilizing the Pantone numbering system for identifying colors.

RGB - Red, Green and Blue
Colours display in electronic systems.

What is Resolution and dpi for Image?
Resolution refers to the number of colored dots per inch (dpi) that make up an Image and expressed in dots per inch (dpi), the higher of the dpi, the greater resolution and image quality.

CMYK
RGB

About Vector Images
• Vector Images are made up of individual objects composed of lines and shapes with different attributes such as color.
• The resolution is Independent – scaling images does not affect quality. File size is smaller.
• Not suitable for photo-realistic reproduction.

About jpg, psd Images
• Made up of colored dots (pixels) in a grid. Also known as raster images, the resolution is dependent – resizing will affects the image quality.
• Suitable for photo-realistic reproduction.

File Format

.ai Vector graphic file created from Adobe Illustrator
.jpg or .jpeg Format for photographic image compression.
.psd Bitmap file created using Adobe Photoshop
.pdf Portable Document File from Adobe Acrobat