Knowledge base

Knowledge base on print and personalization

Short guides with concrete numbers: how many millimetres of bleed, how many pixels for an A2 poster, how to name the cut line for a plotter. Written from experience with customer files.

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Print files: Bleed, resolution, CMYK, PDF, Canva
Stickers: CutContour, cut line, contour-cut stickers
Apparel printing: DTF, DTG, screen printing, sublimation
Selling: File mistakes, returns, marketplaces

Print files

How to prepare a print file A print file step by step: net size, bleed, 300 DPI, CMYK, embedded fonts or curves, PDF. A checklist before sending a file to the print shop. Bleed in print: what it is and how many millimetres to add Print bleed is extra background beyond the cut line, usually 2–3 mm on flyers and business cards, more on banners. How to add it and why without bleed white edges appear. Print resolution: a pixel table for paper formats How many pixels you need for A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and a 50 × 70 poster at 300 and 150 DPI. Table and formula: pixels = millimetres / 25.4 × DPI. How many DPI for large-format printing How many DPI for a banner, billboard and wall mural: dependence on viewing distance, typical values of 50–150 DPI and how to calculate the file size for a 3 × 1 m banner. CMYK or RGB: which colours to use for a print file RGB is screen colour, CMYK is printing ink. Why bright screen colours fade in print, how to set up black, and when a print shop accepts RGB files. PDF for print: how to save it How to save a PDF for print: PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4, bleed in export, crop marks, embedding fonts or converting to curves, two-sided printing in one file. How to prepare a print file in Canva A print file from Canva: the right size, showing print bleed, downloading as PDF Print with crop marks and bleed, flattening the PDF and the CMYK profile.

Stickers and cut lines

CutContour: the cut line for a plotter CutContour is the name of the spot colour used for the plotter cut line. How to set it up in Illustrator, CorelDRAW and Inkscape: spot colour, thin stroke, overprint. Contour-cut stickers: how they are made How contour-cut stickers are made: a cut line around the artwork, kiss cut (only the vinyl) and die cut (through the liner), sheet or roll, common mistakes.

Apparel printing

DTF printing: what it is and when it works DTF (Direct to Film) is a print made on film and transferred to fabric with a heat press. Which materials it works on, which file to prepare and how it differs from DTG. DTF, DTG, screen printing or sublimation: which to choose A comparison of apparel printing techniques: DTF, DTG, screen printing, sublimation and flex. Materials, run sizes, colours and which file to prepare for each. A T-shirt print file: size, background and resolution A T-shirt print file: PNG with a transparent background at 300 DPI, print area size (e.g. A3 on the front), no white background, line thickness, colours on dark fabric.

Selling personalized products

The most common mistakes in customer print files No bleed, a 72 DPI photo, text at the edge, RGB instead of CMYK, wrong size. The most common print file mistakes and how to prevent them before the customer orders. Personalized products and the right of withdrawal Can a personalized product be returned within 14 days? The exception in Article 16(c) of Directive 2011/83/EU, the difference between a return and a complaint, and what to put in shop terms.

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