Exporting a Print-Ready PDF File from Illustrator or InDesign

When exporting your design files, it’s important to ensure your file is print-ready. Whether you have little to no experience with it, or it’s been a while since you had to prepare a file for printing, it’s always good to have a quick reminder on the specifics. So below you’ll find everything you need to make sure your designs get printed in the quality it deserves.

Quick check before exporting a file:

Remove any objects from the artboard that are not intended to be printed; including any extra layers, swatches, links or extra objects
Check links that are missing or that need to be updated
Make sure the Bleed Area is completely filled with your background content
Check if there’s no important content outside the Safety Margin
Double-check your spelling and any design related flaws
Delete any templates you used, or at least enable the visibility of that layer
The document color mode should be set to CMYK
Images should be at least 300dpi
Outline your text to avoid any font related issues

Adobe Illustrator:

1. Go to File > Save A Copy

2. Set the Format to “Adobe PDF (Print)”, name the file and select “Save”.

3. Select the “Press Quality” preset.

4. Under “Marks and Bleeds”, check the “Trim Marks”.

Check the “Use Document Bleed Settings” box to include the Bleed Area you defined during the setup of your file. In case you haven’t done this during the setup, make sure to check the minimum size of the Bleed Area for your type of document. For business cards, we recommend you to add at a Bleed of 0.125”.