Good print design considers the sheet, ink and finishing process as early as the layout. These ten rules help turn a promising screen design into a piece that works in the hand and reaches the press without unwanted surprises.
1. Start with the final format
Choose the trim size, orientation, page count and binding before the grid becomes elaborate. A format shapes reading rhythm, postage, imposition and cost. See paper-size references when you need a standard starting point.
2. Build the document to the printer’s specification
Ask for the preferred PDF standard, colour workflow, bleed, safe area, stock and finishing notes. A familiar format is not a substitute for the printer’s actual template.
3. Use bleed whenever artwork reaches the edge
Extend edge-to-edge colour, photography and rules beyond the trim. Many jobs use 3 mm bleed, but the printer’s instruction is the rule. Keep important text and logos comfortably inside the safe area. Read the practical guide to bleed.
4. Make hierarchy do the work
Decide what should be read first, second and last. Scale, contrast, spacing and alignment are usually more useful than adding another typeface, colour or decorative line.
5. Treat typography as content, not texture
Set real text early, test line lengths at final size and check small type on the intended stock. A typeface that looks polished at 200% may fail in a caption, legal line or reversed-out address.
6. Place images at their real reproduction size
Judge effective resolution from the placed size, not the file’s pixel dimensions alone. For many commercial-print photographs, 300 ppi at final size is a sensible target; the printer may specify something else for large format, newsprint or speciality work.
7. Separate colour decisions from screen appearance
Use profiles, soft proofing and the intended output condition. Bright RGB colour, a Pantone book and a CMYK press do not share the same gamut. For important colours, obtain a proof rather than trusting an uncalibrated display.
8. Use black and overprint deliberately
Small black text is usually 100K; large black fields may need a printer-approved rich black. Never use Registration colour as artwork. Check overprint preview so that a design effect does not become a production accident.
9. Let material support the idea
Paper, fold, binding and finishing should have a job to do. Order stock samples, consider writing and mailing needs, and use foil, varnish or embossing to emphasise one important element rather than every element.
10. Proof, then preflight
Print a 100% paper dummy for hierarchy, folds and readability. Then use InDesign preflight, inspect the exported PDF and get a production proof whenever colour, images or finishing matter.