A good design turns into a print disappointment inside a badly set-up file. This print file setup guide covers the basics of getting your design to production without surprises.Why screen ≠ printScreens emit light (RGB); print reflects it (CMYK). Vivid on-screen colours lose saturation in print. Screens also look sharp at low resolution, while print demands far more detail.Four core settingsResolution: 300 dpi for print. Web images (72 dpi) come out blurry.Colour mode: CMYK. See our CMYK vs Pantone article.Bleed: extend 3 mm beyond the cut line. Bleed and trim guide.Format: PDF/X for print (fonts embedded, high quality). If sending open files, outline the fonts.The five most common file errorsNo bleed — a white line at the edge.Sending RGB and getting a colour shift in CMYK.Using low-resolution (web) images.Sending open files without embedding/outlining fonts.Placing key text outside the safe zone, too close to the cut.In our experience most jobs carry at least one of these five on the first send. We run every file through preflight before production; that check prevents expensive post-print surprises.Quick preflight checklistColour mode CMYK?3 mm bleed present?Images at 300 dpi?Fonts embedded/outlined?Cut and safe zones correct?Next stepUnsure about your file? Have it checked before it goes to print. Send it to us — we’ll run preflight and report any issues. See our prepress services.Ömer Faruk Ceylandağ · Ceylan Ofset — prepress and printing, Samsun.