Prep cleaner. Ship faster.
A press-ready guide, a printable checklist, and an instant preflight check — built to save you a round-trip with the prepress team.
How to prep your files.
Five steps to a clean handoff. Follow these and we'll quote faster, schedule tighter, and skip the back-and-forth.
- 01
Set up your document
Build at final trim size in CMYK at 300 DPI. Embed or outline all fonts before exporting and confirm spot colors match your printed swatch book — not your monitor.
- Document size = final trim size
- Color mode: CMYK (plus spots if needed)
- Raster art ≥ 300 DPI at 100% scale
- All fonts outlined or embedded
- 02
Add bleed and safety
Extend any art that touches the trim edge by 1/8" (0.125") on every side. Keep critical text and logos at least 1/8" inside the trim line so nothing gets clipped on press.
- Bleed: 0.125" on all four sides
- Safety margin: 0.125" inside trim
- Crop marks turned ON, offset 0.125"
- No registration or printer marks inside bleed
- 03
Build your die line
Place every cut, perf, score, and bleed-cut on its own top layer named 'Dieline'. Use 100% Pantone 'Dieline' as a spot color set to overprint so the line lives on top of the art without knocking it out.
- Layer name: Dieline (top of stack)
- Spot swatch: PANTONE Dieline · 100%
- Stroke set to overprint, not knockout
- Distinguish cut / score / perf with named swatches
- 04
Mark spot colors and finishes
Foil, emboss, spot UV, and other finishing passes each get their own spot-color layer. Name them clearly (FOIL_GOLD, EMBOSS, SPOT_UV) so the production team can map them to the right plate or die.
- One spot color per finish, set to overprint
- Descriptive swatch names (FOIL_GOLD, EMBOSS)
- Finish art on its own named layer
- Include a flat preview PDF for reference
- 05
Package and send
Export a single press-ready PDF/X-4 with all spot colors preserved. Include a packaged native file (links + fonts) and a PDF proof. Zip it and send via email or your favorite file-share — we'll confirm receipt within one business day.
- Press PDF: PDF/X-4, spot colors preserved
- Packaged native files (links + fonts)
- Flat PDF proof for visual reference
- Quantity, stock, and deadline in the email
Take it with you.
The same checklist, printable. Hand it to your designer or pin it next to your monitor.
Stuck on any of these? Email info@accuformdiecrafters.com with what you have — we'll tell you exactly what's missing.
Pressure-test your files.
Answer eight quick questions about your art and we'll flag the common mistakes that hold up jobs — no upload required.