File supplyguide

1Page size and bleed

Set your page to the size of the product plus bleed. Bleed is a little extra background that runs past the edge, so there are no thin white slivers once it's trimmed.

• Most print needs 1.5mm bleed on every edge – so a business card is set up at 88 x 58mm and trimmed to 85 x 55mm.
• Booklets need 3mm bleed on every edge, including the spine.
• Supply files without crop marks or colour bars – we don't need them.
• No bleed? We'll scale your design up slightly to create it, which can nudge things closer to the edge.

TipNot sure of the size? Tell us what you're ordering and we'll send you the right template.

2Keep a safe zone

Guillotines are very accurate, but not perfect. Keep anything important – text, logos, phone numbers – inside a safe zone (sometimes called the quiet zone).

• Most print: at least 4mm in from the trim (5.5mm from the page edge).
• Booklets: at least 10mm, and add 1mm for every extra 8 pages over 20.
• Digital print and large format (banners, signs, fabric): at least 10mm – bigger is better.

3Colour: use CMYK

Screens show colour with light (RGB). Printers use four inks – cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Some bright screen colours simply can't be printed.

• Supply your file in CMYK, not RGB, LAB or Pantone spot colours.
• Convert it yourself (Photoshop is best) before you send it, so you can see and tweak the result.
• If we find RGB or Pantone colours we'll convert them for you, but colours may shift.
• Colours made from one or two inks print most consistently. An exact colour match can't be guaranteed – every print run varies slightly.

4Getting black right

Black isn't as simple as it looks. Use the right black for the job:

• Text and fine detail: 100% black (K) only, so it stays crisp.
• Large areas over 2cm²: rich black – 100% K with 40% cyan or 40% magenta.
• Greys: use black only, rather than a mix of all four inks.

5Ink limits

Too much ink takes longer to dry and can transfer onto the next sheet (called set-off).

Total ink is all four CMYK values added together – so 100C 100M 100Y 100K is 400%, which is far too much.

6Images and resolution

• Photos should be 300dpi at the size they'll be printed. Going above 350dpi won't make any difference.
• Line art should be 800–1200dpi.
• Enlarging a small image doesn't add detail – a postage-stamp photo at 300dpi won't stretch to A4.
• Convert images to CMYK before placing them. Images pulled from websites are usually too low resolution for print.
• For large format, ask us – the right resolution depends on the size and how far away it'll be seen from.

7Text and fine lines

• Make lines and strokes at least 0.25pt. Hairlines can look fine on your printer but disappear on press.
• Keep small text to a single ink (ideally 100% black) so it doesn't blur.
• Embed your fonts in the PDF, or convert them to outlines.
• Very light tints under 5% may not print at all. For watermarks, use 5–7%.

8Things to avoid

• Borders close to the edge – trimming can move by ±1mm (litho) or ±2mm (digital and large format), so a border won't look even on every side.
• Gradients and blends – they can show stripes (banding). Adding a little noise helps.
• Large flat areas of one colour – they can look patchy. Break them up or add a subtle texture.
• Lining things up with folds – they may not land exactly on the fold.
• Overprint – check nothing is set to overprint by mistake, or it may disappear.
• Transparency and effects – save as PDF 1.4 or later so they print properly.

9Folded leaflets

Design folded leaflets flat, with the outside on page 1 and the inside on page 2:

• Keep text at least 4mm from each fold.
• Let the front cover background run 1mm over the fold so no stripe shows on the front.
• Dark colours across a fold can crack – choose a laminated finish if you need them.
• Panels aren't all the same width, so always start from our template. A quick paper mock-up helps catch mistakes.

10Booklets

• Design as single pages in reading order – not spreads or printer's pairs.
• Add 3mm bleed to every edge, including the spine.
• Keep a 10mm safe zone, and more for thicker booklets – inner pages creep outwards and get trimmed narrower.
• Avoid elements crossing the spine and borders around pages – they rarely line up perfectly.
• Colours may vary slightly between the cover and the inside pages, especially on a thicker cover.

11Banners, signs and large format

• Set your file up at the finished size, or to scale – just tell us which.
• Keep a safe zone of at least 10mm. Banners and fabric products need more, so ask for a template.
• Don't add eyelets or pole pockets to your artwork – we'll position them for you.
• Trimming tolerance is ±2mm, so avoid borders near the edge.
• Signs can be cut to shape – supply the cut line as a separate vector path (see below).

12Spot UV, foil and embossing

Special finishes go on their own layer, above your artwork, using a named spot colour swatch. The swatch must stay a spot colour, set to overprint, and be supplied as vector shapes – convert any text to outlines.

• Spot UV can move by up to ±2mm, and foil and embossing by ±1mm – treat them as design elements in their own right rather than matching them to print.
• Avoid fine lines: nothing thinner than 1mm (0.5mm for foil), or 2mm for reversed-out lines.
• Keep finishes 3mm from the trim and 2mm from creases and cuts, and leave a gap between separate shapes.
• No gradients or tints – it's all or nothing.
• Only one foil colour per job. Embossing will show as a dent on the reverse.

TipAsk us for printed samples of our finishes – they're free.

13Die-cutting, perforating and drilling

• Cut lines: a 2pt stroke on the finishing layer using a swatch called DIE-CUT FORME. Creases are a 2pt dashed line.
• Keep parallel creases at least 5mm apart, and 5mm from any cut line.
• Perforations: mark with a 0.5pt green dashed line on the page edge.
• Drilled holes: the centre should be 10–65mm from the nearest straight edge.
• For custom folders and shapes, it's quicker to start from one of our templates – just ask.

14Digital print

Short runs are printed digitally, which has a few extra rules:

• Keep total ink under 275%.
• Use a 10mm safe zone.
• Flat colour areas over 40mm square can look uneven – adding texture helps.
• Keep grey tints between 20% and 80%, made from black only.
• Avoid tints below 10% – they may vanish.
• Keep blends to less than a 50% change, and make them in Photoshop for the smoothest result.

15Sending us your file

• We prefer a press-quality PDF (Acrobat 5 / PDF 1.4 or later).
• Put the front on page 1 and the back on page 2. A single multi-page PDF or separate files are both fine.
• Make sure the orientation matches – don't send one side landscape and the other portrait.
• Remove template guide layers (safe zone, trim and fold guides) before exporting.
• No PDF? We can also work with InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and other native files.
• Email files to york@nettl.com. For large files, use a transfer service like WeTransfer.

We check every file before it's printed. If something needs fixing we'll let you know and send a proof. If we need to make changes ourselves, a small charge may apply.