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Printing Tips And Guidelines For Print Dallas Products

So You Want To Use Your Own Design? We Salute You! =D

There’s no better feeling than putting together an awesome, jaw-dropping design and having that printed onto a nice set of business cards made out of thick, high-quality stock!

We believe in providing you with nothing less than the best, top-grade products possible because there’s nothing worse than receiving a product you can’t use due to a sloppy print job. Following technical specifications allows us to make sure that never happens.

Whether it’s for business cards, banners, fliers, door hangers, vehicle wraps, brochures, menus, or any product that we provide here on Print Dallas, we make it our number one priority that your custom designs are printed with 100% accuracy.

But to make sure we’re able to do our jobs and give you the best results possible, we kindly ask you to read through this article to ensure that your submission fits our technical requirements.

Getting Down To Business With Print Dallas

That said, right below this paragraph is a list of our current technical requirements. Because customers can only place orders for business card and banner products at the moment, the currently listed technical requirements shall cover those two categories for the time being, but as we expand the Print Dallas website to include more product categories, we’ll update the guide accordingly.

Additionally, if you would like to learn more about a specific technical requirement, just scroll down past the list and you’ll find a short definition for each term as well as links to Wikipedia articles and other online resources for more in-depth explanations and examples.

Alternatively, if you’d just like to get in touch with us and talk about it, just give us a call at 214.600.1370 or shoot us an email at info-at-printdallas-dot-net!

The Print Dallas Tech Spec List

  • Bleed: All files must have a .125? bleed on each side.
  • Colors: Supply your files in CMYK color. Pantone or RGB colors will either be converted or rejected!
  • Live Area: Keep all critical text and artwork at .125 inches inside the trim.
  • Transparencies: Flatten all transparencies before uploading files.
  • Accepted Files: Photoshop (PSD), Illustrator (EPS or AI), CorelDraw (CDR or EPS), Adobe Acrobat PDF, TIFF, or JPEG.
Tech Spec Definitions

For each technical specification that we’ve listed above, we’ve provided definitions in layman’s terms along with links to Wikipedia articles and other informative online resources that you can check out for more in-depth and detailed information.

  1. What is bleed and why is it important?

    2. In the printing industry, the term “bleed” is used to describe the space between the edge of the paper or stock material being printed on and the actual printing itself. This is essential to ensure that there are no white lines or additional space along the edges of the product being printed or that any of the printing itself isn’t accidentally trimmed off!

    To read more about bleed and how it works, click here to read a comprehensive and highly detailed article about it on Wikipedia.

  2. What do CYMK and RGB stand for, and what are they used for?

    3. CMYK and RGB are both color models that are used for color printing. The way they differ is in the way the colors are applied in each process.

    The CMYK model, which stands for “cyan, magenta, yellow, and key” is applied by using a series of printing plates in each color as well as a special printing plate in black. The black printing plate is used to provide lines and contrast for the image being printed.

    Contrary to the CMYK model, which is subtractive, the RGB (red, green, blue) color model works by combining different amounts of red, green, and blue on either a superimposed black or white background to create a wide range of colors.

    While it can be used for printing, the RGB color model is most often used to generate color images on electronic devices such as TVs, computers, and cell phones, and isn’t as accurate or reliable as the CMYK color model for high-quality printing applications.

    Below is a list of links you can visit to find out more about the CMYK and RGB color models.

  3. What is the “live area”?

    4. The live area, which is also commonly referred to as the “safe zone”, is where all your important textual information is placed. For more detailed information,
    click here to read an article by Ciara Panacchia about preparing files for printing.

  4. What are transparency effects and why do they need to be flattened?

    5. In graphic design, transparency can be simulated in objects, which can be useful in giving objects more of a 3D or multi-layered texture. Of course, not all programs interpret or understand transparencies in exactly the same way, which is why they need to be flattened before you export your files and send them to us.

    In short, this involves rendering each layer of your design individually and exporting them as separate files. If you don’t know how to do this, just consult the user guide or manual of your graphic design software.

    For further information, check out the following links:

Still Lost? Just Hit Us Up!

If you’re still lost or need help, just give us a call at 214.600.1370 or email us at info-at-printdallas-dot-net and we’ll walk you through it all!

Downloading Print Dallas Visual Templates

If you’d like to download and use our visual templates that we’ve created for our business cards and other products, please visit the template page!

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