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Graphic Design vocabulary · Print Production

Print-ready

Meaning in graphic design, with examples

/ˌprɪnt ˈrɛdi/adjectiveCore term

In graphic design, print-ready means: Describes a final file that meets the printer's requirements and can go straight to press, with correct size, bleed, colour mode, image resolution and fonts.

In Turkish: baskıya hazır

How it is used

Used in quotes, printer emails and file handover. Clients and printers ask for a print-ready PDF or print-ready artwork; preparing it is part of the designer's job, often called artworking.

Example sentences

  1. Please supply a print-ready PDF in CMYK with 3 mm bleed and crop marks.

  2. The files aren't print-ready yet; two images are still in RGB.

Common collocations

  • print-ready PDF
  • print-ready artwork
  • print-ready files
  • make files print-ready
  • bleedExtra image or background that extends past the edge of the final page, usually 3 mm, so that no white edge appears when the printed sheet is trimmed.
  • CMYKCyan, magenta, yellow and key (black): the four ink colours used in most colour printing. Mixing them in small dots creates the full range of printed colours.
  • crop marksThin lines printed at the corners of a sheet, outside the design, that show the printer exactly where to cut the paper to the final size.
  • proofA trial version of a design, on paper or as a PDF, that the designer and client check carefully for mistakes and colour before the full print run starts.

More terms: Print Production

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