Artwork guidelines
Follow these five rules and your print will look exactly like your screen. Not sure? Upload anyway; we check every file before printing, and we can fix or design it for R300.
CMYK colour
Set your document to CMYK, not RGB. Black text: 100% K only.
High-quality PDF
Export as "Press Quality" or PDF/X-1a, with fonts embedded or outlined.
300 dpi images
Photos at 300 dpi at the printed size. Banners: 150 dpi is fine.
3 mm bleed + 5 mm safe zone
Extend backgrounds 3 mm past the edge; keep text 5 mm inside.
Sizes with bleed
| Product | Finished size | Artwork size (with bleed) |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 594 × 841 mm | 600 × 847 mm |
| A2 | 420 × 594 mm | 426 × 600 mm |
| A3 | 297 × 420 mm | 303 × 426 mm |
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | 216 × 303 mm |
| A5 | 148 × 210 mm | 154 × 216 mm |
| A6 | 105 × 148 mm | 111 × 154 mm |
| DL | 99 × 210 mm | 105 × 216 mm |
| Business card | 90 × 50 mm | 96 × 56 mm |
| Pull up banner | 850 × 2000 mm | 850 × 2100 mm (100 mm extra at the bottom) |
Uploading
- Best: PDF. Also accepted: AI, EPS, PSD, TIFF, JPG, PNG, SVG, CDR, ZIP
- Up to 5 files per product, 50 MB each
- Bigger files: paste a WeTransfer / Google Drive link
- Double-sided? Two pages in one PDF (front, then back)
- Invoice books: tell us the starting number
- Your files are private: only our team can open them
Why CMYK and not RGB?
Printers mix four inks: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Screens use light (RGB), which can show brighter colours than ink can print. Converting to CMYK yourself means no surprises on paper.
What is bleed?
Bleed is 3 mm of extra background on every edge, which is trimmed off after printing. Without it, a thin white line can appear at the edge.
What is the safe zone?
Keep text and logos at least 5 mm inside the trim line so nothing important gets cut off.
Can I send a Word or PowerPoint file?
Yes, but fonts and colours can shift. Export it as a PDF first if you can, or let us set it up properly for R300.
My file is bigger than 50 MB.
Upload it to WeTransfer or Google Drive and paste the link in the "Large files link" box when you send your quote.