What does print-ready mean?
A print-ready file is one a printer can print exactly as it is, with nothing to fix: the right size with bleed, CMYK color, full-resolution images and embedded or outlined fonts.
What it means for your file
It is usually a PDF, often PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4, made to the printer’s own specs. Printers preflight every file they receive, and one that fails comes back with a request to fix it, which delays the job.
Our print-ready file checklist goes through the seven checks in detail, with how to run each one.
An example
A print-ready file for a US business card is a PDF at 3.75 × 2.25 in (the 3.5 × 2 in card plus 0.125 in of bleed on every side), in CMYK, with photos at 300 ppi at the size they print, fonts embedded or outlined, text at least 0.125 in (3 mm) inside the trim, and exported as PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 if the printer asks for it.
A common mistake
Taking “print-ready” from a template site or design app to mean ready for any printer. Each printer has its own sizes, bleed, color profile and file rules, so a file is only print-ready for the printer whose specs it was made to. Read their file guidelines before you export.
How to fix it
If your printer sent the file back saying “Please send a print-ready PDF,” the fix page has the step-by-step way to do it yourself, and a fixed price if you’d rather have it done.
Where else it comes up
Related terms
All print terms in the glossary, or run your file through the free print-ready checker.
Free download
The print-ready file checklist
The seven checks every file goes through before it leaves us. Useful whether or not you ever send us a job.
Your print-ready checklist.
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Not sure what your file needs?
Ask a question or send the file in the chat. A designer usually answers within minutes with a fixed price, and nothing starts until you say yes.