name: print-layout
description: Prepares a design for commercial print - document setup with correct bleed and safe zones, CMYK color management, print typography, image resolution, and a full prepress checklist through PDF/X export and proofing. Use when someone asks "get this file print-ready", "what bleed do I need", "why did my printer reject this PDF", "will these colors print right", or is sending business cards, brochures, posters, or packaging to a print shop. Do NOT use for on-screen design deliverables or developer handoff - use design-handoff-doc instead.
metadata:
title: "Print Layout"
Print Layout
Print failures are paid for twice: once for the ruined run, once for the reprint. The classic disasters - content cut off at the trim, colors that shifted from screen to press, files rejected at prepress - are all preventable with numbers known before the file is built. This skill takes a design to print without those surprises.
Inputs to collect
- Trim size - the final cut dimensions. No default; this must come from the user or the printer's spec sheet.
- Printer's specifications - ask for the spec sheet or at minimum: required PDF standard, ICC profile, ink limit, and bleed requirement. If unavailable, use the defaults below and label the file "pending printer confirmation".
- Print method - offset, digital, or large-format. This sets resolution and color decisions.
- Color-critical? - brand colors or product photography that must match. If yes, plan a hard proof from the start.
Operating procedure
Follow the steps in order - color and type decisions depend on the document setup, and the checklist only means something after everything upstream is done.
Step 1: Set up the document
- Trim size - the final cut dimensions of the piece.
- Bleed - extend any artwork that touches the edge by 3mm (0.125in) past trim, so a slightly off cut never reveals white paper.
- Safe zone - keep all critical content (text, logos) at least 3-5mm inside the trim to survive cutting tolerance.
- Resolution - design at 300 DPI for the final print size; 150 DPI may suffice for large-format viewed from a distance (roughly beyond arm's length).
Step 2: Manage color
- Follow the printer's agreed color workflow. PDF/X-1a requires CMYK and/or spot colors; PDF/X-4 can retain ICC-profiled RGB/Lab content and live transparency when the printer supports that workflow. Default to converting to CMYK when the spec is unknown or names PDF/X-1a - the safest choice when nothing is confirmed - and label the file pending printer confirmation. Keep color-managed RGB/Lab unconverted only when the printer confirms a PDF/X-4 color-managed workflow. After any conversion, review out-of-gamut colors individually - vivid blues, greens, and oranges dull first.
- Obtain the correct ICC output-intent profile for the press and paper from the printer. Assigning a profile changes how existing color values are interpreted; converting to a profile changes those values. Choose the required operation deliberately, and preserve source profiles when retaining color-managed RGB/Lab content. US Web Coated SWOP (US web offset) and FOGRA39 (European coated stock) are common examples, not universal defaults.
- Use spot/Pantone colors only when specified; each costs an extra plate.
- Rich black for large dark areas (e.g., C60 M40 Y40 K100); pure K100 for small text and thin rules, so misregistration cannot blur them.
Step 3: Set type for print
- Embed or outline all fonts so the printer's system never substitutes them.
- Minimum text size around 6pt; fine text prints on a single plate (K only) to avoid registration blur.
- No hairline rules thinner than 0.25pt - they may not print reliably.
Step 4: Check images and links
- All raster images at 300 DPI at placed size, not source size - a 300 DPI image scaled to 200% is effectively 150 DPI.
- All links embedded or packaged; never deliver a file with missing links.
- Total ink coverage under the press limit (commonly ~300%) to prevent smearing and slow drying.
Step 5: Run the prepress checklist
Copy and complete before export:
PREPRESS CHECKLIST - [FILL: job name] / [FILL: printer]
Trim size: [FILL] Verified: [ ]
Bleed 3mm/0.125in on all edge-touching elements: [ ]
No critical content outside safe zone (3-5mm): [ ]
Color spaces per printer spec (default CMYK): [ ]
ICC profile attached: [FILL: profile] [ ]
Rich black on large areas / K100 on small text: [ ]
Fonts embedded or outlined: [ ]
Images 300 DPI at placed size: [ ]
No missing links: [ ]
Total ink under limit: [FILL: e.g. 300%] [ ]
Overprint/knockout reviewed (no white set to overprint): [ ]
Crop marks and bleed marks on export: [ ]
Export standard: [FILL: PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4]
Proof plan: [FILL: hard / soft]
Watch overprint especially: white text accidentally set to overprint vanishes on press and no soft proof will show it unless overprint preview is on.
Step 6: Export
- Export to PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 - confirm which the printer wants (X-1a flattens and forces CMYK; X-4 preserves transparency and layers).
- Include bleed and trim marks; set the correct output intent to the agreed ICC profile.
- Flatten transparency only if the printer requires it.
Step 7: Proof
- Request a hard proof for any color-critical job; soft proofs miss paper stock and press shifts.
- Check the physical proof for registration, color, and trim position before approving the full run.
Worked contrast
Bad handoff: an RGB PDF at trim size with no bleed, text 1mm from the edge, fonts not embedded, exported "High Quality Print". Result: prepress rejection, or worse, a run with white slivers at the edges and substituted fonts.
Good handoff: a PDF/X-4 with 0.125in bleed on all sides, safe zone respected, color matching the printer's spec (here, CMYK with their FOGRA39 output intent), fonts embedded, 300 DPI images at placed size, crop marks on - plus the completed checklist in the delivery email so prepress can verify in one pass.
Deliverable
Produce the print-ready PDF/X file plus the completed prepress checklist confirming bleed, safe zone, color profile, fonts, image resolution, and ink limits were all verified - and a note of any items pending printer confirmation.
Do NOT
- Do not trust screen color for anything color-critical - the gamut lies; only a hard proof tells the truth.
- Do not fake bleed by scaling artwork up; it shifts the composition and drops effective resolution.
- Do not build rich black from four full channels (C100 M100 Y100 K100) - it exceeds ink limits and smears.
- Do not set body text in four-color builds; misregistration turns it fuzzy.
- Do not export the "print" preset and hope - the printer's required PDF/X standard is a spec, not a suggestion.
Quality bar
Every checklist line checked or explicitly waived by the printer; bleed present on every edge-touching element; no RGB or Lab objects remaining unless the printer agreed a color-managed PDF/X-4 workflow, and even then no untagged RGB (every RGB object keeps its source ICC profile); effective image resolution ≥ 300 DPI at placed size (150 for large-format); ink coverage under the stated limit; the export matches the printer's named PDF/X standard.
Escalation
When the printer's spec conflicts with these defaults, the printer wins - they know their press. For screen-bound deliverables and developer handoff, route to design-handoff-doc; for type-system decisions before layout, pair with typography-system.
references/color-management
- Adobe Illustrator help, "Create Adobe PDF files" (helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/creating-pdf-files.html): PDF/X-1a serves a CMYK workflow; PDF/X-4 serves a color-managed workflow that keeps transparency live.
- Adobe Acrobat help, "Color conversion and ink management" (helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/color-conversion-ink-management-acrobat.html): converting changes the color values in the file; the output intent describes the press condition the file targets.
- Confirm the printer's required preset and profile rather than treating any PDF/X preset as a universal press specification.