What does a printer need from you?
Printers spend half their prepress time chasing the same missing things. Hand over a file that already has them sorted and your job moves straight to press. Here's the checklist, roughly in the order it matters.
The six things, in order
- Correct size with bleed — finished size plus 3 mm bleed on every edge.
- CMYK colour — not RGB, ideally in your paper's profile.
- Enough resolution — ~300 DPI photos, vector logos and type.
- Fonts embedded or outlined — so your type isn't substituted.
- Ink within the limit — heavy blacks under the press's TAC.
- The right PDF — exported as PDF/X.
Most files that bounce are missing one of the first three. Here's the detail on the ones people get wrong most.
Size and bleed
Build at the finished trim size and extend backgrounds 3 mm past every edge, keeping text inside a safe margin. This alone prevents the white-edge reprint — see what bleed is, and build a correct template with the Bleed & Dieline Generator if you're not in a layout app.
Colour and resolution
Send CMYK, not RGB, so the colours you approve are the ones that print — the why is in CMYK vs RGB. For images, aim for about 300 DPI at final size and keep logos and type as vector; if you're unsure a photo is big enough, check it with the DPI calculator (and read vector vs raster for why type should be vector).
Ink limits and the PDF
Keep your darkest areas under the press's total ink limit so they dry cleanly — the ink coverage checker flags anything over, and the TAC guide explains the numbers. Then export as PDF/X with bleed and your paper's profile; if you're not sure which flavour, PDF/X explained covers it.
When in doubt, ask first
Every printer has a spec sheet — bleed amount, preferred PDF, paper profile, ink limit. Two minutes reading it (or one email) beats a rejected file and a lost day. The good ones would much rather answer up front.
Frequently asked questions
What does a printer mean by a 'print-ready' file?
A file that needs no fixing before it goes to press: correct trim size with bleed, CMYK colour, adequate resolution, embedded fonts, ink within the limit, and exported as PDF/X. Tick those and the job moves straight through prepress.
Do I need to add bleed if my design has a white background?
If the background is pure white on white paper, a missed edge is invisible — but printers still want the page set up correctly. For any coloured or photographic background, bleed is essential to avoid white edges after trimming.
What's the most common reason a print file gets rejected?
Missing bleed and stray RGB colour, followed by low-resolution images. All three are invisible in a quick on-screen check, which is why they slip through. Setting bleed and converting colour deliberately avoids most rejections.
Why we made this the last guide
Most of the other guides on this site each cover one of these checklist items in depth. This one is the map that ties them together — the page we'd hand someone sending their first file to a printer. Reviewed June 14, 2026.