Producing a professional looking poster is not an easy task if you don’t have some basic design knowledge. In this blog post we’ll list some tips to make sure your next poster printing UK experience is painless and easy. When it comes to printing no one likes surprises after all!
Here is a checklist for you to follow before sending a poster to your chosen printing services. Read up more on the subjects you’re not familiar with.
1. Make sure you’re working in CMYK and not RGB colour space when designing for large format printing.
2. If you’ve been working in RGB – convert to CMYK before sending the poster to your printer.
3. Don’t use RGB black, it will look washed out when printed.
4. Use vector images for large format printing.
5. Choose the right resolution – files designed for print should be 300 dpi.
6. Decide on the right size for the poster (popular sizes: A2, A3, A4).
7. Choose the right paper (some good choices are: 170gsm Silk or Gloss Art FSC or 150gsm)
8. Check that all fonts are working before sending the files over to printing services.
9. Spellcheck, spellcheck, spellcheck!
10. Ask the printer how much bleed is there to be given (it’s that little bit around the edges)
11. Send your files as PDFs or TIFFs, don’t compress the files.
12. Consider litho printing as opposed to digital printing if you have a large run of posters.
13. Find the right printing services – ask around and read reviews online.
There are a lot of intricacies involved in poster printing UK. A good printer will give you advice, but you need to do your own homework. Familiarise yourself with the nomenclature such as RGB, CMYK, bleed, TIFF, so that you can speak the same language.