Welcome to Paperboy JA, your trusted partner in printing solutions. We understand the ins and outs like no other. Explore our comprehensive support pages where we've diligently addressed the FAQs that matter most to you.
Curious about bleed and its application? Wondering what constitutes a Print Ready PDF? Look no further. Navigate through our user-friendly interface to find answers to these queries and more. Simply click on Support at the top of the page or use the intuitive left-hand menu.
While we strive to cover every aspect of your printing journey, we acknowledge that questions may still arise. Contact us on
Email: info@paperboyja.com
Call: (876) 922-5483, (876) 648-5943
Ink that extends beyond the trim edge of the page ensures it reaches the edge after trimming. Due to slight movements during printing, always include a 5mm bleed on all edges where necessary. If you don't provide bleed, white lines may appear after trimming.
How to apply bleed
The concept of applying bleed is consistent across all desktop publishing programs. Extend the object box, whether it's an image or color, beyond the edge of your page. When creating the PDF, set your bleed margins to 5mm.
In Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Adobe Photoshop, you can't add bleed when creating a PDF. Instead, make your page or image size 10mm larger from the start, treating the extra 6mm (5mm on all sides) as bleed. This will be trimmed off during production. For example, an A4 page, which is 210mm x 297mm, should be set to 220mm x 307mm to include bleed.
Crop marks, also known as trim marks, are lines printed at the corners of your paper to indicate where to guillotine. When an image or color extends past these crop marks, it is considered bleed. Ensure your crop marks are set to the finished size of your order.
When printing your artwork, we use sheets that are larger than the final size and trim them down using crop marks as a guide. For example, we can place two A4 sheets side by side on an SRA3 sheet, a process known as imposing the A4 2up on a sheet. After printing the imposed job, the crop marks indicate where to cut, ensuring your job is finished to the correct size.
Flyer Sizes:
4" x 6" (101.6mm x 127mm)
5.5" x 8.5" (139.7mm x 215.9mm)
8.5" x 11" (215.9mm x 279.4mm)
Tabloid - 11" x 17" (279 x 432mm)
Letter - 8.5" x 11" (215.9 x 279.4mm)
Legal - 8.5" x 14" (215.9 x 355.6mm)
A0 - 841mm x 1189mm
A1 - 594mm x 841mm
A2 - 420mm x 594mm
A3 - 297mm x 420mm
A4 - 210mm x 297mm
A5 - 148mm x 210mm
A6 - 105mm x 148mm
A7 - 74mm x 105mm
1/3 A4 (DL) - 99mm x 210mm
SRA3 Plus 320mm x 460mm (max print area
310mm x 440mm)
Business Cards
3.2" x 2" (81.28 x 50.8mm)
Below is a guide to different paper weights to consider when printing. Paper weight is measured in grams per square meter (GSM). Generally, the higher the GSM, the heavier and thicker the paper. Choosing the right paper weight is crucial; even the best design can be undermined by the wrong paper choice. For instance, a business card printed on 200gsm paper feels insubstantial, and a greeting card made from paper that's too light won't stand up properly. Use this guide to select the correct paper weight for your project:
80 – 100gsm
Standard office paper used in desktop printers or photocopiers, rarely used for brochures.
110 – 120gsm
Common for stationery like letterheads and compliment slips.
130 – 170gsm
Heavier and more durable, suitable for posters, leaflets, flyers, and book pages.
170 – 200gsm
Midway between paper and card, ideal for brochure covers and high-quality posters or double-sided flyers.
250 – 300gsm
Considered card weight, excellent for book covers and adding a quality finish.
350 – 400gsm
Typical for good business cards; 350gsm is also suitable for book covers, though consider the implications for stitching and folding.
400gsm and above
Luxury business cards can reach up to 1190gsm, providing a thick, high-quality feel.
When designing a book, consider both the interior paper weight and the cover requirements. Heavier paper often conveys a sense of quality and professionalism, while lighter paper can suggest value and cost-effectiveness.
The tactile experience is essential in customer perception, so ensure your paper choice enhances rather than detracts from your design. Additionally, consider using luxurious paper to further elevate your design. We offer an excellent range of luxury papers that can help achieve outstanding results.
Tent Fold
The sheet is folded in half horizontally, creating 4 pages: front cover, back cover, and two internal pages. This type of fold is often used for place names.
Roll Fold
The sheet is creased twice to produce 6 pages. The right-hand panel is typically trimmed 2mm smaller (depending on paper weight) to ensure it folds neatly into the two larger pages. This fold is commonly seen in utility bills, where an A4 sheet is folded into thirds.
Z Fold
This fold involves two creases, resulting in 6 equally sized pages. A common example of this fold is a leaflet.
Gate Fold
The sheet is creased twice, creating 6 pages with the right and left panels half the size of the center panel. These smaller panels fold inward to meet in the middle. Wedding invitations often use this type of fold.
Half Fold
The sheet is folded in half vertically, resulting in 4 pages: front cover, back cover, and two internal pages. Birthday cards typically use this fold.
CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black—the inks combined to create your printed materials. RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue—the colors of light that a computer screen mixes to display images. In other words, RGB is used for viewing colors on digital screens, like this website.
Borders and Artwork
Due to the slight movement that can occur during printing and finishing, it is recommended to keep your artwork at least 5mm from the edge of the page if it is not meant to bleed off. This area is known as the "safe area." Avoid placing printed borders too close to the edge, as they may appear uneven after trimming.
Overprint
Check your overprint settings carefully. All overprinting must be correct in a print-ready PDF, as it may not be immediately obvious to the printer. Using the overprint preview in Acrobat will help you see which colors will overprint and which will remain unchanged.
White Text
Do not set white text to overprint. Setting a color to overprint means laying one color over another. Since white in CMYK terms is 0%, overprinting zero ink on top of another color will make it disappear.
Bleed
It is crucial to supply all your artwork with a 3mm bleed. Click here for a detailed explanation.
Layers
Applications like Adobe InDesign can create PDFs with layered content. Printing a PDF with layers may result in only the visible layer being printed. Always "merge" or "flatten" layers when creating a print-ready PDF.
Multiple-page PDF
Do not impose the pages or save them as reader’s pairs; this is not print-ready. We require a PDF with single pages running from the front cover to the back cover. If blank pages are needed in the final book, include them in the document. For saddle-stitched books, the number of pages must be divisible by four (e.g., 24pp, 32pp, 40pp). If your PDF has 10 pages, add 2 blank pages to make it work.
Why Pages Should Be in Running Order
Ensure your document is supplied in numerical order, with the cover as the first page and the back cover as the last. This ensures your document is printed correctly and in the desired order.
Pages vs. Leaves
A leaf is a sheet of paper, and a page is typically one side of a sheet. Therefore, a leaf of paper can be two printed pages (2pp) if double-sided or one printed page (1pp) if single-sided.
Check Your Folding
For documents that require folding, such as invitations or leaflets, verify the folding before supplying the PDF. Print a copy on your desktop printer to ensure the pages back up correctly and the text doesn’t run into the folds, unless intended.
CMYK vs. RGB
All our presses, both large and small, use cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks to transform your digital files into printed media. Ensure your artwork is set up in CMYK. If you use RGB images or colors, we will convert them to CMYK for you, but the colors may appear different when printed.
Avoid Rich Black Text
Rich black is a mix of all CMYK colors. No registration is perfect, and there is always a slight shift. To avoid registration issues, ensure all black text is set at 100% black. This means the text is printed only with the black plate, eliminating potential problems.
Solid Black Areas
In digital printing, less ink is needed to achieve a solid black. Overusing ink can reduce print quality and may require lamination to protect the printed layer. For a rich black solid, use these values: 30% Cyan, 30% Magenta, 30% Yellow, and 100% Black, resulting in 190% total ink coverage.
Transparency Effects and Spot Color
If your color palette uses only CMYK colors, transparency effects will work without issues. Importing logos or artwork with Pantone or spot colors adds these colors to your palette. Applying spot colors to text or graphics with transparency effects can cause the object to print blank or with unintended colors. Convert spot colors to CMYK in your original file before exporting to PDF.
Flattening Transparency Effects
Transparency effects must be "flattened" before printing. Flattening breaks the transparent regions into smaller, non-transparent sections that the raster image processor (RIP) can translate into a printable image. Convert spot colors to CMYK and flatten transparency effects before sending your file to print to ensure accurate reproduction.
Grey Text
In CMYK printing, grey is achieved using a pattern of dots or "screen," not a solid color. Small point sizes below 7pt or thin fonts may appear partially printed when grey. There are two ways to produce grey.
CMYK
A light grey made from all four colors will appear more solid but can cause registration issues
Black Ink (K)
A light grey made from black ink will avoid registration issues, but the dots will be more visible.
Small Font Sizes
Use caution with small font sizes. We recommend no smaller than 7pt for small format work (up to A3) and 11pt for large format (above A3). Smaller text is harder to keep in register. If small text is necessary, use 100% black to avoid registration problems.
SVG Fonts or Type 3 Fonts
SVG or Type 3 fonts can produce inconsistent results in print. Convert Type 3 fonts to standard graphical content to avoid surprises. Normal fonts can remain as long as they are embedded in the PDF.
Images
All images should be 300 dpi, which ensures high-quality print output. Place images at 100% size in your final document. For example, an image that is 50mm x 50mm at 300 dpi should remain that size in the document. Simply changing a 72 dpi image to 300 dpi in Photoshop will not increase its quality. Lower resolution images can compromise quality and result in pixelation, where the individual pixels become visible when printed.
Color Space
Ensure the file is supplied in four-color process CMYK, not RGB. If you're unfamiliar with this, don't worry—we will convert it for you, though some colors may appear washed out.
Page Size
The document’s page size should be the finished trim size.
Fonts
Embed all fonts or convert them to outlines so no fonts are needed.
Image Resolution
All scans should be at a resolution of 300 dpi at 100% of the final image size.
Embedded Images
Ensure all images are embedded in the file.
Bleed
Include a 3mm bleed on all sides of the document.
Trim Marks
Indicate any trim, score, or fold marks outside the live print area.
Safe Area
Keep all artwork at least 5mm from the edge of the page; this is considered the safe or quiet area.
Black Text
Ensure all black text is set to 100% black, not a mix of CMYK.
White Text
Do not set white text to overprint.
Multiple-page PDF
Provide multiple-page PDFs as single pages running from the front cover to the back cover, including any necessary blank pages.
Folding
If the document requires folding, ensure the artwork is set up correctly for these folds.
PDF Essentials for Printing
PDF, or Portable Document Format, is a standard file format widely used for printing. Supplying a print-ready PDF simplifies the process, eliminating the need for extra files and expediting your job through our pre-press department. With a print-ready PDF, you establish a smooth workflow between you and us, ensuring a hassle-free transition from design to print and delivery.
To ensure your PDF is print-ready, it must meet the following criteria:
Color Mode
Supply the fie in four-color process CMYK, not RGB. If unfamiliar, don't worry—we can convert it, though some colors may appear washed out.
Page Size
Ensure the document’s page size matches the finished trim size.
Fonts
Embed or convert fonts to outlines to eliminate the need for font files.
Image Resolution
All scans should be 300 dpi at 100% of the final image size.
Embedded Images
Images should be embedded within the file.
Bleed
Include a 3mm bleed around the perimeter of the document.
Trim Marks
Indicate any trim, score, or fold marks outside the live print area.
Safe Area
Keep artwork at least 5mm from the edge of the page; this ensures it's within the safe or quiet area.
Black Text
Ensure all black text is 100% black, not a mix of CMYK. -
White Text
Do not set white text to overprint.
Multiple-page PDFs
If applicable, provide multiple-page PDFs with single pages running from the front cover through to the back cover, including any necessary blank pages.
Folding
If the document requires folding, verify that the artwork is correctly set up for these folds.
