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How to Prepare Your PDF Files for Print: A Simple Guide
At One Print, we want your pamphlets, flyers, and print materials to come out looking sharp, accurate, and exactly how you imagined. One of the most important steps in achieving that? Preparing your PDF files correctly for print.
Whether you're designing your own retail pamphlets or working with a designer, here’s everything you need to know to get your file “print-ready”—with a breakdown of a few technical terms that can make or break your final product.
1. Use High Resolution: 300 DPI is the Standard
Let’s start with one of the most important settings: DPI.
DPI stands for dots per inch. It refers to the number of printed dots packed into one inch of your image. The higher the DPI, the sharper and more detailed your printed image will be.
For print, always use 300 DPI.
For web or screen, 72 DPI is common—but if you send a 72 DPI image for print, it will look blurry or pixelated.
💡 Tip: Check your images and make sure they are 300 DPI before placing them in your design. Low-resolution images can’t be “fixed” later.
2. Set Your File to CMYK Color Mode, Not RGB
Colors on screen and in print work differently.
RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is used for digital screens (phones, computers, TVs).
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) is used for printing.
Why does this matter? If you design in RGB and then convert it to print, your colors might shift—reds can dull, blues may darken, and the overall result might not match what you saw on screen.
💡 Tip: Start your design in CMYK mode to ensure color accuracy from the beginning.
3. Add Bleed and Safe Margins
Bleed is the extra area around your artwork that gets trimmed off after printing. It ensures your design goes all the way to the edge without leaving any white borders.
Standard External bleed is usually 10mm all round. Crop marks can be offset to 9mm.
Always extend background colors or images into the bleed area.
Safe margins are the opposite—they keep important text and logos away from the edge. Keep all key content at least 5mm inside the final trim line.
💡 Tip: Most design software like Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, or Canva Pro allows you to set bleed easily in the export settings.
4. Embed or Outline Fonts
If we don’t have your exact font installed, your text could shift or display incorrectly.
Embedding fonts includes the font file within the PDF.
Outlining fonts converts text into shapes so they can't change (but you can’t edit them after this step).
💡 Tip: If you're unsure, just export your PDF with fonts embedded—or outline them before sending.
5. Flatten Transparencies and Images
Transparencies (like drop shadows or semi-transparent layers) can cause unexpected results in printing if they’re not flattened.
Flattening combines everything into a single layer so it prints exactly as you see it.
This step helps avoid issues like missing shadows or white boxes around graphics.
💡 Tip: In Adobe Acrobat or InDesign, use the “Flatten Transparency” option before exporting.
6. Use Print-Ready PDF Settings
When saving your final file, export it as a PDF/X-1a:2001 or PDF/X-4 file. These are print-industry standards that ensure everything is locked in place and ready to go.
✅ Summary checklist before sending to print:
300 DPI resolution
CMYK color mode
Bleed and safe margins included
Fonts embedded or outlined
Transparencies flattened
Exported as PDF/X format
Need Help? We’ve Got You.
If you’re not sure if your file is set up correctly, don’t stress—we’re happy to check it for you before printing. At One Print, we handle hundreds of franchise and retail pamphlets every month, and we know how to make sure your brand looks perfect in print.
Ready to print? Upload your files at [oneprint.co.za] and we’ll take care of the rest—with nationwide delivery across South Africa.