Below are general guidelines for converting your design file to a press-quality PDF in some of the most
commonly used programs.

Indesign

1. Choose File > Export.
2. Specify a name and location for the file.
3. For “Save As Type” (Windows) or “Format” (Mac OS), choose “Adobe PDF”, and then click Save.
4. Choose Adobe PDF Preset “Press Quality”
5. Then select the following options: Under “Marks and Bleeds” select a. crop marks b. bleed (.125”)
6. Click Export (Windows) or Save (Mac OS).

Adobe Illustrator

1. Choose File > Save As or File > Save A Copy
2. Specify a name and location for the file.
3. Choose Adobe PDF (*.PDF) as the file format and click Save
4. Choose Adobe PDF Preset “Press Quality”
5. Then select the following options: Under “Marks and Bleeds” select a. crop marks b. bleed (.125”)
6. Click Export (Windows) or Save (Mac OS).

Adobe Photoshop

1. Choose File > Save As, and then choose Photoshop PDF from the Format menu.
2. Click Save. In the Save Adobe PDF dialog box, choose an Adobe PDF preset specifying whether the Photoshop file will be printed on a desktop printer or proofer, sent to a commercial printer, distributed by email, displayed on the web, and so on. For details, see Adobe PDF presets.
3. Choose Adobe PDF Preset “Press Quality”
4. Click Export (Windows) or Save (Mac OS).

PDF

We request all our artwork to be supplied as high resolution (300dpi).
It is important that you prepare your PDF file in the correct way.
There are options which must be set for commercial printing.
Resolution (Choose High Resolution).
Compression Settings (for colour and greyscale should be down sampled to 300dpi (with “auto compression” set on high).
Font Embedding (should be set to “embed all fonts”).
Colour needs to be set as CMYK not RGB (RGB artwork will be converted to CMYK and this could affect your colours).

Microsoft Powerpoint

1. First, make sure your slide is designed to the correct size for printing.
2. Go to “Design” > “Slide Size” > “Custom Slide Size”.
3. Save the files as pdf.

Microsoft Word – MAC

1. Choose File menu, click Print, and then click Save As PDF.
2. In the Save As box, type a name for the file.
3. Locate the folder and disk where you want to save the file, and then click Save.

Microsoft Word – PC

1. Choose File Print
2. Select “Adobe PDF” as the printer
3. Under Properties
4. Select: “Press Quality” for Default Setting
5. Uncheck “Rely on system fonts only; do not use document fonts”
6. Select the appropriate size

Canva

SET UP 2MM BLEED IN CANVA

1. Drag your content beyond the artwork edge.
2. Ensure the background layer extends outside the visible artwork area.

This creates the necessary bleed area for print-ready designs.

Bleed ensures designs print to the paper’s edge without white borders. Files without bleed may have white edges.

 
EXPORTING A PRINT READY FILE FROM CANVA

3. Go to “Download” > Click the “Share” button > then select “Download”
4. Set File Type : Choose “PDF Print” as the file type.
5. Enable Crop Marks and Bleed: Tick the checkbox for “Crop marks and bleed”.
6. Download : Click “Download” to save your print-ready file.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR CANVA USERS

Canva designs are in RGB, suited for screen imagery, not print-ready CMYK. We’ll convert your file to CMYK for printing—just let us know it’s from Canva. Note that colours may appear different after conversion.