Over several weeks, it’s become very apparent that smoke and mirrors can rule the roost. In a period where a client working with a third party has been challenged with poor digital materials, knowing what you are working with becomes hard, especially if you want consistency.

A mish-mash of artwork, poor quality PDF’s, differing standards and lack of the right stuff, just leaves a sour taste with all involved.

Anyone can create artwork – Wrong!

It might seem that way, but a seasoned experienced professional, will create artwork which is fit for purpose, ensure reproduction, and be robust. The construction of the elements on a page is critical to sharp good clear reproduction. A good graphic designer or print professional will use Indesign or Quark for page layout. Why? Both these software packages work with the right file formats for important, they have built-in colour management.

My logo is a PNG file – Ouch!

A good print professional/graphic designer will look for a logo to be a vector-based file, which means it will be sharp and reproduce at whatever size. It also allows for a multitude of reproduction methods to be used, from print, garments to signage. Don’t be fooled by the file size. A good quality one can be small when it’s a vector-based file like and .eps .ai .svg .pdf. Equally when we see a .jpg or .png in kb (yes very small size) we know it won’t reproduce with any clarity.

All PDF files are the same – Wrong! 

PDF files can be created for different purposes, and to a technical eye, there are 100s of different specifications, which they can be created to. This varies with how they handle fonts, manage colour, the level they compress images to and many other items. So not all PDF files are artwork. If you need to ask, PDF x1a and PDF x4 are the standards we use.

So, in the same way, you won’t approach a fishmonger to do the conveyancing on your house sale. A good print professional, when handling your project fully, will give you consistent results, artwork which will reproduce sharply and consistently, logos which have clarity, along with PDF’s which print with accuracy. Please note if you require a print specification – ask whoever is doing your artwork, we use a separate setting for proofing oppose to printing.

Point worth noting, printers are not web designers, and likewise, web designers are not printers. Just they both design and make pretty pages doesn’t mean they have the same skill sets.

So commissioning a piece of print, check that whoever is doing your artwork is experienced and knows what they are doing. Check their Linkedin profile, see what clients say about them. As the phrase goes compare Apple with Apples and not Pears.