If this is your first time ordering custom printing, one question comes up more than any other: “Is my file actually ready to print?”

The honest answer is that most files aren’t — not because the design is bad, but because print and screen are two completely different mediums. A logo that looks perfect on your monitor can come out blurry, off-colour, or awkwardly cropped once it hits paper. The good news: fixing that takes minutes once you know what to look for.

Here’s what we check on every file before it goes to press, so you can catch it yourself first.

1. Use the right resolution — 300 DPI, always

Screens display images at roughly 72–96 DPI (dots per inch). Paper needs far more detail to look sharp, which is why print files should be 300 DPI at final size.

A quick way to check: if your file looks crisp when zoomed to 100%, it’s usually fine. If it looks soft or pixelated at 100%, it’ll look worse in print, not better.

2. Work in CMYK, not RGB

Screens build colour with light (Red, Green, Blue). Printers build colour with ink (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black — CMYK). The two systems don’t cover the same range of colours, so a file saved in RGB can shift noticeably once converted for print — bright blues can turn purple, neon greens can turn dull.

If your design software lets you choose a colour mode, set it to CMYK from the start rather than converting at the last step. It saves a surprise later.

3. Add bleed if your design touches the edge

“Bleed” is a small margin (usually 0.125″) of your design that extends past the final trim line. Printing and cutting are mechanical processes, and paper can shift by a fraction of a millimetre — without bleed, that shift can leave a thin white sliver along the edge of an otherwise perfect print.

Rule of thumb: if any colour, image, or background touches the edge of your design, extend it slightly past the edge. If everything sits safely inside the page with margin to spare, you likely don’t need bleed at all.

4. Keep important text and logos away from the edge

The flip side of bleed is a safety margin — keep text, logos, and anything you don’t want trimmed at least 0.125″–0.25″ inside the edge. This protects your content from the same small shifts that bleed protects against.

5. Flatten and embed before you export

A few last checks before saving your final file:

• Embed your fonts, or convert text to outlines/paths. If a font isn’t installed on the machine that opens your file, it can silently substitute a different one.
• Flatten transparency and layers where possible. Some effects render differently across software versions.
• Export as a high-quality PDF when you can — it’s the most reliable format for preserving exactly what you designed.

Don’t have a design yet? That’s fine too

Not every order starts with a finished file. If you’re starting from scratch, our free online editor has ready-made templates for business cards, flyers, and more — no design software required.

We check every file anyway

Even with all of the above, mistakes happen — to everyone, not just first-timers. That’s why every order at Pixel Print Co includes a free digital proof before anything goes to press. Our team reviews resolution, bleed, and colour mode on each file, and you’ll always get a chance to approve the proof before we print.

Have a file ready and want a second opinion before you order? Upload it on any product page and our team will flag anything worth fixing — no charge, no obligation.

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Questions about a specific file? Reach out any time via our contact page or WhatsApp — we’re happy to take a look before you place your order.