Tell us what the piece has to do and where people will see it, and we suggest a format, size and stock. A smaller run of something better often beats a big run of something forgettable. You can also look through our work to see how we lay out longer documents.
Print design services
Artwork your printer won’t send back.
Our print design services cover everything an organisation puts on paper, card, vinyl or board. Every file arrives print-ready, so any printer can run it.
What it covers
What do print design services include?
Print design is the layout and artwork for anything that ends up printed: the leaflet in a buyer’s hand, the sign above your door, the box your product ships in. We design each piece to match your logo and website, then prepare the files to the standard printers ask for.
It suits companies, charities, schools and venues that print regularly and want this year’s leaflet to sit comfortably beside last year’s sign. You pick the printer. The files work there first time.
Services
Which kind of print do you need?
Each service has its own page, with the sizes, stocks and questions that matter for that job.
| Service | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Brochures | Sales leaflets, folded or stapled, that explain what you sell |
| Business cards | The card you hand over at a meeting, in your country’s size |
| Cards and invitations | Weddings, launches, galas and seasonal greetings |
| CD and DVD artwork | Album covers, booklets, disc labels and streaming art |
| ePublishing | Ebook covers and interiors in EPUB or PDF |
| Flyers | Single sheets for events, offers and door drops |
| Food menus | Table, takeaway and wall menus that are easy to order from |
| Magazines | Covers, page grids and templates for regular issues |
| Newsletters | Company and member news, printed or sent by email |
| Packaging | Boxes, labels and sleeves, drawn on the maker’s cutting template |
| Photo albums | Wedding, family and event albums, designed for your chosen lab |
| Signage | Shop fronts, banners, window graphics and wayfinding |
| Stationery | Letterheads and envelopes, plus the Word templates staff write in |
Print-ready
What comes with every print file
Whatever the job, the artwork leaves us set up for the press as well as the screen.
- Bleed and a safe zone3 mm of bleed for UK and South African printers, 0.125 in for American ones, with text kept well inside the trim.
- The right colourCMYK for full-colour work, and Pantone references wherever a brand colour has to match exactly.
- A press-standard PDFUsually PDF/X, with fonts embedded and photos at 300 ppi at the size they print.
- Your source filesThe editable artwork is yours, so later changes and reprints never depend on us.
- A lighter screen copyA smaller PDF for email and your website, wherever the job calls for one.
Print & design
Related services
Questions
Questions about print design services
Question not here? Send it to us and we will answer it directly.
Ask a questionDo you print the work as well?
No. We design the artwork and supply print-ready files, and you choose the printer, from a shop round the corner to a large online firm. That leaves you free to compare print prices and reorder wherever you like. If your printer has its own template or file rules, send them over and we prepare the artwork to match.
Why does one print job cost more than another?
Mostly the number of pages or panels, how much of the text and imagery is ready, and how many versions are needed. One flyer is quicker than a stitched booklet, and adapting a design to extra sizes takes less time than starting each from scratch. Your fixed quote breaks this down before any work begins.
Can you match the colours on our existing print?
Usually, yes. If your brand has Pantone references we use them; if not, we find the closest Pantone and CMYK values and record them for future jobs. Colour still shifts between coated and uncoated stock, so we explain what to expect and suggest asking your printer for a hard proof on important runs.
Which file formats will we receive?
Your printer gets a PDF set up to their specification, normally PDF/X with crop marks and bleed. You get the editable source files, plus logos and graphics as vector EPS or SVG and photos as high-resolution JPEG or TIFF. Large signs may need artwork drawn to a reduced scale, which we agree with the sign maker.
Not sure which format fits?
Get a quote for print design services
Send us the job: what it is, roughly how many copies you plan to print, any sizes your printer has given you and the date it must be in hand. You get back a fixed price and a list of the files you will receive. Every one of our print design services starts that way.