What Is a Print-Ready PDF?

What Makes a PDF Print Ready

The page must be the right size for the job, meaning the finished size plus bleed, with background artwork running to the edge of the page. Text should be live or converted to outlines, fonts should be embedded or avoided, images should be high enough resolution, and the colour should be in a form the printer can use. Crop marks are added if the printer wants them.

The Boxes Inside a PDF

A PDF records several rectangles for each page. The MediaBox is the full page. The BleedBox marks how far the artwork runs. The TrimBox is the finished card, where it is to be cut. Prepress software reads the TrimBox so it can cut without human measurement. A file lacking one leaves the printer to measure by eye.

What PDF/X Is

PDF/X is a family of ISO standards, 15930, that restrict a PDF to features that print predictably. They require fonts embedded and an output intent describing the colour condition, and they forbid features that behave differently between devices. PDF/X-1a requires CMYK and PDF/X-4 permits transparency and colour managed RGB. Print shops that ask for PDF/X are asking for that discipline, and a plain PDF can look fine without meeting it.

Checks Before You Send

Confirm the page size, that the bleed is present, that nothing important is near the edge, and that the card is correct on both sides. A short list of questions to the printer saves a reprint: what size, how much bleed, whether crop marks are wanted, whether RGB is accepted, and whether they provide a proof.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a PDF and a print-ready PDF?

A print-ready PDF has the correct finished size, bleed and boxes, high enough image resolution, and colour and fonts a press can handle. An ordinary PDF may look fine on screen and still fail at a printer.

What does PDF/X mean?

PDF/X is a set of ISO standards that limit a PDF to features that print consistently, such as embedded fonts and a declared colour condition.

Does a printer always need PDF/X?

No. Many accept an ordinary PDF with correct size and bleed. The printer states what it needs, and you should ask before you send.

Keep reading

Related terms

BleedBleed is the extra artwork that runs past the edge where a printed card will be cut, so that a blade landing slightly off the line still finds ink and not bare paper. It is usually 3 mm on every side, which makes a card with an 85.6 by 54 mm finished size a 91.6 by 60 mm file.Crop MarksCrop marks, also called trim marks, are short printed lines at the corners of a design that show a printer where to cut. They sit outside the finished card area and are removed when the card is trimmed.CMYK vs RGBRGB mixes red, green and blue light and is the colour model of screens. CMYK mixes cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink and is the model most commercial printing uses. A file made in RGB must be converted to CMYK to print on a standard press, and some vivid screen colours cannot be reproduced.300 DPI300 DPI means 300 dots, or pixels, for every inch of printed length, the usual minimum resolution for photographs and raster images in print. At that density a 91.6 by 60 mm business card with bleed needs an image of about 1082 by 709 pixels, and a lower resolution prints visibly soft.

Put this into practice with your own card

Put your details on one card page, share it by link or QR code, and change them whenever they change. The printed code keeps working. No credit card required to start.

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