FAQ
Need Templates and Size Guides? Check with RP&G Printing!
Before starting any design project intended for professional printing, it’s best to communicate with us to see if we have any specific template guides or size recommendations.
RP&G Printing offers templates for our most popular items like brochures and postcards that are tailored to our press specifications, ensuring that your art is created at the exact size needed for a flawless print job. Using online design tools like Canva can be convenient, but many templates, especially free ones, are set to European (A-series) sizes, which do not scale properly to U.S. standard sizes. Always confirm the actual dimensions of a preset design before using it, and change your design to the exact size of the finished piece to avoid unnecessary scaling issues or cropping surprises.
Have You Included Bleeds and Ensured Correct Image Resolution?
One of the most common mistakes we see with customer designed art is forgetting to include bleeds. A bleed is an extra margin of 0.125” around your design, which ensures that when your artwork is trimmed, there is no chance of unwanted white borders. Bleeds allow us to cut the design to size without issues affecting the final output. Additionally, all images in your design should be 300 DPI (dots per inch) at the actual size they will appear in print. Images pulled from the web are usually 72 DPI, making them unsuitable for print because they appear pixelated or blurry. Always check the resolution to make sure your printed piece looks sharp and professional.
Have You Submitted a CMYK PDF with Bleeds for Best Results?
The ideal file format for sending your artwork to a commercial printer is a PDF with embedded bleeds and crop marks, formatted in CMYK color mode.
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) is the color model used in printing, as opposed to RGB, which is for screens. By designing and submitting in CMYK, you ensure that the colors in your printed piece will match what you see in your file. The PDF format is preferred because it preserves vector quality, embeds fonts, and is compatible with most professional printing workflows. Ensuring your PDF includes bleed margins and is in the correct color mode will make the process smoother and reduce the risk of errors or delays in production.