Plain-language print guides
New to printing? Start here.
Seven plain-language guides to ordering, quotes, paper, bleed, resolution, print-ready PDFs, and fonts.
How Print Ordering Actually Works
The path most print jobs take from first call to finished product: quote, file, proof, press, delivery — and why a price can't exist until the specs do.
Read the guide ↗02What's in a Print Quote?
A print quote bundles a few kinds of cost — setup, finishing, paper, and the press run — into one piece price, usually shown across a few quantities.
Read the guide ↗03Paper, Decoded: lb, pt, and gsm in Plain English
Paper weight gets measured three different ways — pounds (lb), points (pt), and grams per square meter (gsm) — and every shop has a go-to paper, called a house stock, worth asking about.
Read the guide ↗04What Is Bleed, and Do I Really Need It?
Bleed is extra image that extends past the edge of your design so that, once it's trimmed, the color runs all the way to the edge of the paper instead of leaving a thin white line.
Read the guide ↗05Resolution and DPI, in Plain English
Resolution is how much visual information is packed into your image. A small file has a small amount of information — stretch it out to print bigger, and that same information has to cover more space, which is what makes it look blurry.
Read the guide ↗06How to Save a Print-Ready PDF (From Whatever You Design In)
A print-ready PDF is a file exported (not just saved) as a PDF with fonts embedded and bleed included, so it prints the way it looks on your screen.
Read the guide ↗07Fonts Without Paying: How Font Licensing Actually Works
A font is licensed software, not a free asset — some fonts are free to use, some require a paid license. Separately, if a font isn't set up right in your file, it can go unnoticed until the proof stage.
Read the guide ↗