File Specifications

This page is designed to be shared. Send the URL to your clients' designers, your freelance partners, or your internal production team. Every specification listed here is what our prepress workflow expects. Files that meet these standards pass review on the first submission, which means no delays, no revision cycles, and no timeline overruns.

As a broker, your file quality is your quality. A file that arrives clean produces a clean product that ships on time to your client. A file that needs corrections adds production time, creates communication overhead, and risks the delivery date you quoted.

PDF/X-1a is the preferred format for trade submissions. It embeds all fonts, flattens transparency, and converts all elements to CMYK automatically. This is the format that produces the most predictable, consistent results across every production run.

Standard PDF (high-quality print setting) is also acceptable and is the format most design tools export by default. We also accept AI (with fonts outlined), EPS, PSD (flattened), and TIFF files.

JPG and PNG are accepted but not recommended for trade orders. They do not embed fonts, cannot contain vector data, and are more susceptible to compression artifacts. Use them only as a last resort.

For brokers managing multiple client files: standardize on PDF/X-1a across all submissions. It eliminates the largest category of prepress issues — font embedding and transparency handling.

All raster images and photographs must be 300 DPI at their final print size. This applies to every image in the file — photos, textures, background images, and any non-vector element.

Images sourced from websites, social media, or email are typically 72 to 150 DPI and are not suitable for commercial printing. They will appear blurry and pixelated in the finished product, which reflects poorly on your brokerage.

Vector elements — logos, type, illustrations, and graphics created in Illustrator or similar tools — scale infinitely and do not have a DPI requirement. Mixed files (vectors + photos) only need the photographic elements to meet the 300 DPI standard.

When reviewing client files, zoom to 100 percent on screen. If photos look soft or pixelated at actual size, they are below 300 DPI and need to be replaced with higher-resolution originals.

Bleed: 0.125 inches on all four sides. This is the extra artwork that extends beyond the trim line. It is cut away during finishing, ensuring edge-to-edge color coverage with no white borders. Document size should be the final trim size plus 0.25 inches total.

Safety margin: 0.125 inches inside the trim line on all four sides. All text, logos, and critical content must be placed within this zone. Content outside the safety margin is at risk of being clipped during the cutting process.

For brokers: verify bleed and safety margins on every client file before submission. Missing bleed is the number one cause of prepress holds on trade orders. It is a 30-second check that prevents a multi-hour delay.

All files must be in CMYK color mode. The recommended ICC profile is US Web Coated (SWOP) v2 for coated stocks and US Web Uncoated v2 for uncoated stocks.

RGB files will be converted to CMYK during prepress, but this conversion can shift colors — particularly in the blue, green, and purple ranges. For trade orders where brand color accuracy is critical, submitting in CMYK eliminates conversion variables.

Total ink coverage must not exceed 280 percent. Rich black areas should use C:60 M:40 Y:40 K:100 (240 percent total). Body text and fine lines should use K:100 only to prevent registration issues on small elements.

Spot colors (Pantone) are handled through CMYK process matching by default. Include Pantone codes in order notes for optimized CMYK conversion. True spot color printing with premixed inks is available by quote.

All fonts must be embedded in the PDF or converted to outlines (paths). Missing fonts cause automatic substitution that changes your layout — line breaks shift, text overflows, and the finished product does not match the design intent.

Converting to outlines is the safest approach: each character becomes a vector shape that prints exactly as designed regardless of the fonts installed on our production systems.

Minimum font sizes: 6pt for dark text on light backgrounds, 8pt for reversed text (light on dark). Reversed text smaller than 8pt may fill in during printing, especially on coated stocks. For client-facing materials, recommend 10pt minimum body text for comfortable readability.