Print resolution is far and away one of the most important elements of graphic design, and it\u2019s also an element that trips up many new designers. We\u2019ve all seen the results of a document with poor print resolution \u2013 blurry images, muddy colors, and a generally unattractive product \u2013 and yet we continue to see the same mistakes in one document after another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s take a look at some of the most common printing mistakes and discuss how you can avoid these ugly errors on your company\u2019s\u00a0printed marketing materials<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A low-resolution image is a tell-tale signs of an amateur graphic designer. This is a photo or graphic that\u2019s jagged, pixelated, and generally fuzzy \u2013 and it\u2019s always the result of using a graphic with poor image quality. However, this design flaw is often unintentional, and it always has to do with an image\u2019s ppi (pixels per inch) or dpi (dots per inch).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The higher an image\u2019s ppi, the higher the print resolution and the better the image will look. Unfortunately, most online images have a default setting of 72 ppi, which looks fine on a computer monitor or smartphone screen but looks pixelated on a printed page. If your designer doesn\u2019t know to adjust this setting during the design process, you\u2019ll end up with a poor-looking image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The easy solution to this problem is to use images with a higher resolution. But how high should you go? Most printing professionals agree that the minimum resolution you should use when printing photos is 300 dpi. As the name suggests, this means that there are about 300 pixels (or dots) for every square inch of the images. This will result in a sharper image quality and a more professional finished product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s say that you have a low-resolution photo that you really want to use in your company\u2019s latest poster. You head into Photoshop, upload the image, and set the resolution to 300 dpi \u2013 but as soon as you do, the image size shrinks significantly! Now you have a crystal-clear image, but it hardly takes up enough space on your poster. What do you do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use the following formula to make sure that your images are the proper print size and resolution: <\/p>\n\n\n\n 300 (or your desired dpi) x size of your image (in inches) = necessary number of pixels<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, let\u2019s say you want to print a photo on\u00a0A4 sized page<\/a>. To determine the number of pixels you\u2019ll need to have a professional-looking print, you would multiply the height and width of an A4 paper by 300 dpi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 300 x 8.27 = 2481<\/p>\n\n\n\n 300 \u00d7 11.69 = 3507<\/p>\n\n\n\n This formula states that your finished product should have a resolution no lower than 2481 x 3507 pixels. Before sending anything to the printer, check your image size in Photoshop and make sure you\u2019ve met this minimum requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you ever received a document that just looked\u2026 off? The colors were a little too saturated and dark, and the overall effect was just unsettling? Your graphic designer probably forgot to convert their images into CMYK format. This is a common printing mistake, and it can ruin the look and readability of even the most high-resolution photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a graphic designer works on a computer, they\u2019re likely working with images in an RGB (red, green, blue) format. These images are designed to reflect various wavelengths of the aforementioned colours, as these are the colours used to produce images on televisions, computers, and other electronic screens. However, the RGB color format is not used for printed matter; four-color printers use a CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and key \u2013 another term for black) system. Unfortunately, RGB and CMYK don\u2019t always communicate well with one-another, which can result in odd shade mixtures that don\u2019t look as the designer intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luckily, there is an easy way to avoid this design mistake in your documents: simply convert your images to CMYK before you print! You can use\u00a0convert your images<\/a>\u00a0from RGB to CMYK in InDesign or Photoshop by selecting \u201cCMYK\u201d as your colour mode when creating your document. The program will automatically adjust your images to this colour scheme, and you\u2019ll have a beautifully printed document without an \u201coff\u201d colour in sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ve got an image that you love. You\u2019ve double- and triple-checked that your image resolution is high enough for your page size. You\u2019ve converted the file to CMYK. Everything should be perfect\u2026 but when you see the test print, you realize that part of your image has been cut off! What happened? Unfortunately, it appears that you forgot to account for printing bleed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBleed\u201d refers to the portion of an image that extends beyond the edge of a printed page. Printers use a\u00a0print bleed<\/a>\u00a0to create a clean and polished page that doesn\u2019t have a white border. If you\u2019re creating a document with full bleed, make sure all your copy (and the parts of your image you don\u2019t want to be cropped) fall within the printing \u201csafe zone.\u201d This will ensure that your page looks nice and that your image doesn\u2019t get cropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mistakes we\u2019ve mentioned here may seem rather minor \u2013 a few slip-ups with Photoshop or a small mistake with the layout process. However, these little design flaws can have a massive impact on your business! If your customers, your competitors, or even your colleagues spot poor design work on your business card,\u00a0posters<\/a>, or\u00a0brochures<\/a>, your credibility and professional reputation can take a big hit. This is why it\u2019s so important to work with professional graphic designers and printers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is only one way to improve at graphic design: keep practicing! But if you want to create high-quality images while you\u2019re still honing your skills, the best thing to do is seek out assistance from a professional printer. Work with your colleagues, a friend with Photoshop skills, or a\u00a0high-quality online printer<\/a>. Before you know it, you\u2019ll be wowing your company with your incredible designs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond typical errors like typos, misprints, and spelling mistakes, these tips will help your print jobs stay clear, readable, and high quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Low-Resolution, Pixelated Images<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2. Too-Tiny Images<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. The Colours are \u201cOff\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. Cropped-Out Images<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Poor Design<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Avoiding Printing Mistakes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n