November 13, 2010

7 Important Points in Preparing Final Artwork


In this article, I will discuss about the preparations in a final artwork. What is the final artwork? Those who do not know, the final artwork (FA) is a term for the final design files ready to print. There are several important points that must be considered in preparing the final artwork. These points are very important to avoid mistakes at the time of printing that may impact on the poor production results.

Bleed


Preparing Final Artwork

When any image or element on a page touches the edge of the page, extending beyond the trim edge, leaving no margin it is said to bleed. It may bleed or extend off one or more sides. Photos, rules, clip art, and decorative text elements can bleed off the page. Elements that bleed off the page can sometimes add to the cost of printing if the printer must use a larger size of paper to accommodate the bleed allowance. To reduce costs, if possible redesign to eliminate the bleed or reduce the page size enough to fit the work on a smaller sheet of paper.

A bleed is usually an intentional design element; however, sometimes an untentional bleed can occur when the page is trimmed too much.

Implementation of this function is used to apply to brochures, business cards, books, magazines, posters, etc..

Convert Font


Preparing Final Artwork

Fonts for the final artwork must be converted first into the shape of the curve. This is to avoid missing fonts or fonts that are not recognizable. Moreover, for fonts that are not installed by default on most common OS like Windows and Mac.

Resolution


Preparing Final Artwork

Adjust resolution printing needs. A good standard resolution is 300 dpi. But make an exception for large prints such as billboards. For this type of outdoor print like this, good resolution is 72-150 dpi.

Color Mode


Preparing Final Artwork

Make sure the color mode on the artwork has been converted to CMYK and not RGB. Because, the process of printing and printing can only handle CMYK mode, and usually, the printing press / print will automatically convert RGB to CMYK color mode. This certainly will affect the quality of color in design. So, make sure the color in accordance with the desired design in CMYK color mode.

Crop Mark


Preparing Final Artwork

Crop Mark is a secant that serves as a guide when cutting. Crop Mark used to limit what parts are to be cut, folded, and so on. Some graphical applications have been provided to make the Crop Mark function automatically.

Artwork Size


Preparing Final Artwork

Make sure the file size of your print design is the actual size (Actual Pixels). Of course we do not want the picture to pixelate as artwork file sizes smaller than actual size.

Image link


Preparing Final Artwork

Some graphics applications such as Adobe Illustrator by default display the picture (image) with a link to a folder on your computer. This is to save the capacity of artwork files that we're working on. If the file is transferred to another computer, then the picture should appear on the design could not be found. The principle is the same as the font, we can use the embed function to insert the image in full on the file.

Share This Post

Stay Update

Fresh inspiration delivered right to your inbox

8 Comments

Nice article. Thanks for the CMYK mode thing!

Cheers!
Abhimanyu

Reply

Thanks for encouraging words! @Abhimanyu

Reply

These were very useful ideas! Making an artwork is not that easy...you must be very careful with anything you do in order that the output of your artwork will be mistake-free and it will be great...Thanks for sharing...

Reply

@Imprimir fotos
Agreed; There are just a few simple rules to follow when creating your artwork that will help to insure a quality output from our printers. Thanks for the comment, imprimir fotos!

Reply

Thank you for giving such a great article. Making an art is not an easy job. This article will be helpful to all

Reply

Thanks for comment, Glad you found it useful

Reply

A very nice article with such great tips that will help a lot of artists. You must be careful in preparing the final artwork and make no mistakes.

Reply