Artwork Creation

Artwork Creation & File Preparation for Printing

Preparing your artwork correctly is an important step to ensure the best printing results. Properly prepared files help avoid delays, printing errors and colour inconsistencies. When submitting your design for printing, all fonts, images and layout elements should be finalized and placed correctly before production begins.

At Sticker Printing Canada, we recommend submitting press-ready artwork files so that your designs print clearly and accurately. Following the artwork preparation guidelines below will help ensure your printed products look professional and high quality.

Bleed, Trim Line and Safety Area

When designing files for printing, it is important to include the correct layout elements to prevent unwanted white borders or design issues.

Bleed – Bleed refers to the extra area that extends beyond the final trim size of your design. A bleed area of at least 3mm to 5mm is recommended to ensure the design prints fully to the edge after cutting.

Trim Line – The trim line indicates where the final product will be cut. All artwork should extend past the trim line to the bleed area.

Safety Zone – Important content such as text, logos, or graphics should stay inside the safety zone. This ensures that essential elements are not trimmed during the cutting process.

Creasing or Perforation Lines – Creasing or folding lines show where the product will be folded, while perforation lines indicate areas designed for tearing or detachable sections.

Image Resolution Guidelines – To achieve clear and sharp printing results, all images should be high resolution. Low resolution images may appear blurry or pixelated after printing. For best results:

  • Use images with a resolution of at least 300 DPI
  • Avoid stretched or distorted images
  • Vector artwork is recommended whenever possible

Font and File Preparation – Missing fonts are a common issue in print production. To avoid this problem, all fonts should be converted into outlines before submitting the final file. Before sending your artwork:

  • Outline or convert all fonts to curves
  • Group all design elements properly
  • Avoid placing text inside image files such as TIFF or JPG

Colour Mode for Printing – Computer screens display colours using RGB, while printing uses CMYK or PMS colour systems. Because of this difference, colours may appear slightly different when printed. For the most accurate colour results:

  • Use CMYK colour mode for print designs
  • Use PMS colour codes for precise brand colour matching
  • Avoid RGB colours when preparing files for printing
  • Correct colour settings help achieve consistent and accurate printing results.

Recommended File Formats – For the best printing quality, we recommend submitting artwork in the following formats:

Preferred File Formats

  • TIFF
  • EPS
  • PDF (print-ready)

Avoid Using

  • Low quality JPG files
  • GIF images

Final Artwork Preparation Checklist – Before sending your file for printing, please ensure the following:

  • Images are at least 300 DPI resolution
  • All fonts are outlined or converted to curves
  • Artwork includes bleed and trim marks
  • Colours are set to CMYK or PMS
  • Lines are not thinner than 0.3pt
  • Minimum readable text size is 8pt
  • Artwork is submitted as single design files (not multiples)

Need Help With Your Artwork?

If you are unsure whether your file is print-ready, our team can help review your design before printing. We can assist with file adjustments, artwork corrections, and preparing your design for high-quality printing. For assistance with artwork preparation or file checking, please contact us at: sales@stickerprintingcanada.com. Our team will be happy to help ensure your design is perfectly prepared for printing.