We estimate that 90% of project delays come from artwork that doesn’t follow our specs. The good news is that nearly all of them come down to the same ten mistakes. Avoid these, and your project will move through prepress smoothly and look the way you imagined.

1. Not using our templates

Every manufacturer has its own presses and settings, so templates from another company, or artwork designed without a template, won’t line up with ours. Always start with our templates. Files that aren’t in Groove House templates will need to be moved into them, which may add an extra charge and can delay your project.

2. Using RGB instead of CMYK

RGB (red, green, blue) is the color mode for screens. It’s additive color made of light, and combining all three produces white. CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is the color mode for printing presses. It’s subtractive color made of ink, and it can’t reproduce the full range of bright colors a screen can. That’s why a vivid neon blue on your monitor can’t be matched in print.

Save all images for your packaging in CMYK or grayscale. If we receive RGB files, we’ll convert them, but colors can shift noticeably in the process, and the result may not be what you expected. Converting them yourself lets you see and adjust the changes before you submit.

3. Using the wrong color profile

For the best match between what you see on screen and what comes off the press, apply the color profile listed in our Design Specs to all your files in Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, and set it at the start of your project rather than the end. If color is critical to your project, ask about print proofs.

4. Using low-resolution images

Images on the web are typically 72 dpi, but print needs much more detail. Your images must be at least 300 dpi at the size they’ll be printed.

It’s tempting to open a low-resolution image in Photoshop and simply change the number to 300, but that doesn’t add real detail. The computer just fills in the gaps, and the result is a blurry image with a bigger file size. The only real fix is starting with a higher-quality source: a better scan or the original photo file.

Watch your scaling too. Enlarging a 300 dpi image to 200% in your layout cuts its effective resolution to 150 dpi. Going far above 300 dpi doesn’t help either; it just makes files bigger.

5. Not using Pantone colors on the disc face

Solid colors print best on a disc with screen printing using Pantone Solid Coated inks. Choose your colors from a physical Pantone guide rather than your screen, and apply them as spot color swatches in Illustrator or InDesign.

If your disc design uses photos or blended colors, design it in CMYK instead. Keep in mind that the disc and your printed packaging are made with different processes on different surfaces, so don’t count on colors matching exactly between them.

6. Making your blacks too rich

For deep, saturated black backgrounds and large type, use a rich black: a mix of black with some cyan, magenta, and yellow. But too much ink causes problems. Overloaded black can fill in fine lines and swallow small white text. See our rich black guide for the exact values to use and the ink limits that keep fine details crisp.

7. Missing images or fonts

We need every element of your design, not just the layout file. Link your images rather than embedding them, and include all fonts. The easiest way to get everything is InDesign’s or Illustrator’s File → Package command, which gathers your layout, linked images, and fonts into one folder. If anything is missing, your job goes on hold until we have it.

8. Not extending your design to the bleed

Most of our templates have two sets of lines: the outer bleed line and the inner cut line, which shows where the piece will be trimmed or folded.

Extend your background artwork all the way to the bleed line. If it stops at the cut line, the slightest variation in trimming can leave a thin white edge. And keep all text and logos at least 1/8 inch inside the cut line, so nothing important gets trimmed off or ends up uncomfortably close to the edge.

9. Setting text in Photoshop

Photoshop builds images out of pixels, so text created there prints less crisply than text set in Illustrator or InDesign, which use sharp vector outlines. At larger sizes, the difference is minor, but small type can look soft or fuzzy. Set your text in a layout program whenever you can.

10. Submitting files that don’t match your quote

Your quote is based on specific details, like the number of pages or how your disc is printed. If your files don’t match, your job goes on hold while we re-quote. A common example is a disc quoted with a few spot colors, followed by artwork submitted in full CMYK, which is priced differently. If your design changes, let us know before you submit so we can update your quote.

Questions?

Our design specs and templates pages cover everything you need to prepare your files. If you have questions, get in touch, and we’ll be happy to help before you submit.