QUALITY OF THE FILES

Is the quality enough and what resolution should my file be? A good rule to find this out is that when your file looks good on the screen when you enlarge it, the print is also good - and vice versa. If the quality looks bad on the screen, it will certainly look bad printed.

A good image resolution is anywhere between 300-600 dpi for larger files or for files that need to be stretched. Smaller image resolution files can be used for smaller products or products that do not need to be enlarged.

An easy way to check the resolution of your file is to enlarge it on the screen (zoom in on it) to about 300-400%. If the file looks good after magnifying and isn`t blurry or pixelated, it`s good quality. Of course, the intended use of the file should be considered; making a small business card is different from making a 50x70cm poster.

If you are still unsure about the quality of your file, ask us. We`ll inform you about it before your order goes into production.

BLEEDS AND MARGINS

When files are being printed in bulk, they never go in exactly the same place. So, when the products are then cut into the size they should be, prints shift some millimeters in any direction. For this reason, bleeds are added to each edge of your printed files. Simply put, bleeds are your print products, only with slightly larger backgrounds. This way, if your print product shifts when it is printed and cut, no white edges will appear on any of the edges of your product. Here at MEB, we print our files using 2mm bleeds.

For example, if you are ordering business cards (final size 90x50mm), the file size of your business card should be 94x54mm.

Text and other important content should also be kept as far away from the edges as possible. This is due to the same shifting that happens in the printing and cutting process. The further away they are from the edges, the less likely they will be cut off. A good rule for this is, text should stay atleast 7mm away from the edge of a final product. If you have special requests that print products be cut very close to some text or graphic element, please let us know.

COLOUR MODE

Our printing technique uses digital printing CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) colours. Fogra27 or -39 will work. Make sure that your files are in the CMYK colour mode before sending them to us. This can be done in Adobe Photoshop, for example. If your files are in RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colour, the final colour of the product will not entirely match that which can be seen on the screen. It should also be noted, that colours become slightly darker on the printed product than what they look like on the screen. This is due to the lighting of the screen. If you are unsure about what mode your files are in, ask us.