Russell Printers has been in business since 1905, first as E.H.Russell & Co, and then as Russell Printers Ltd since 2006. We wouldn’t have remained a trusted name in printing for so many years if we didn’t consistently deliver on our customers expectations, but whilst we guarantee quality, there are a few printing mistakes that you might be making on your end.
Here are the 5 most common printing mistakes that our team sees day in, day out. Check for them today to avoid any delays in getting your materials printed, packaged, and delivered to your door, but don’t worry yourself too much. Whether you bring your final design into the office on a memory stick or email it to us as an attachment, we will check it over ourselves and ask you to confirm that all is well before getting started on your order.
1. Including Too Much Text
When drumming up interest in a new product range, event, or venture, it’s tempting to overload a printed design with all the information that could possibly be needed.
You want your target audience to know the exact details – when it is happening, how long it will be on for, where they can find you – but any more than this and you risk overwhelming them with too much information. This also makes it harder for those who are genuinely interested to find the details they need, so keep it simple with your business name, contact details, and core message, delivered in just a few lines of text that are easily recalled later.
It’s also a misconception that you can avoid cluttering a design by opting for a smaller font size. Fonts below 6pt are illegible on printed materials, resulting in lines and lines of blurred text that the audience is unlikely to read even if they could, so make your text a good size and include only the necessary details.
2. Cluttering The Design
It’s not just too much text that will overwhelm the design. Images, graphics, logos and illustrations are all impactful assets that capture attention and complement your messaging, but clashing colours and overlapping elements will put even the most interested party off your materials.
Just as the core messaging needs to be simplified, you must also refine your visual design by stripping it back and removing excess assets. Balance a few relevant images with punchy taglines and plenty of whitespace, or opt for one visual to anchor the design and add the essential branding elements over it.
It’s also important to not give into the pressure to fill every millimetre of the design, as whitespace will separate the different elements and give the audience time to process the information. It’s also important to leave a bleed area to prevent any assets from being cropped during printing, so group all your critical elements together within the safe area and maintain a 3mm bleed for the best results.
3. Missing Spelling Mistakes
No one wants to send a large order to print only to discover a glaring typo minutes later, but spelling mistakes and grammatical errors aren’t just embarrassing – they can actually damage your brand and cost your business.
One wrong spelling will result in the entire order needing to be reprinted, especially if it is in an email address, phone number, website link or postcode. Without the correct information, potential customers won’t be able to contact you or find your business, and may even decide that they would be better off with one of your competitors. After all, if you don’t notice simple spelling errors in your own business materials, then how can they trust your brand to handle their operations with care?
It is absolutely essential to get all the information right before you send the proof to us, and we highly recommend asking a member of your team to read your design through to check for any issues that you may have missed.
4. Incorrectly Formatting Images
No matter how good a photo looks within your design, if the image itself is poorly formatted or low-resolution, then it will look blurry when printed.
Avoid these printing mistakes by choosing images that are available in a PNG format (rather than JPEG) and have a resolution of at least 300dpi, as these can be scaled without losing quality. Quite simply, the higher the resolution, the higher the quality, especially for smaller prints such as leaflets, flyers, and business cards.
The final check to tick off your list before you send the design to us is to check that the colour mode is set to CMYK, not RGB. RGB designs are set to be viewed digitally, whilst CMYK is the colour mode for print, which means that the colours you have chosen may look different in physical form. The final proof that you receive from us will show how the colours will appear when printed, so make sure that you review it thoroughly to allow for any last-minute adjustments before we start your order.
5. Not Checking The Final Design
You’ve dedicated time, effort, and creativity to your design, so don’t stumble at the final hurdle. Conduct one last check for:
⦁ Spelling errors.
⦁ Incorrect details.
⦁ Low-resolution images.
⦁ Cropped assets.
And make sure that all suggested edits have been carried out correctly.
It’s important that you don’t rush these final checks as there is still time to amend the design before getting in touch with us, but never, ever correct any errors yourself once the order has been completed. One of the worst printing mistakes you can make is using Tipp-ex on your assets, as this will not only look highly unprofessional but will also take much longer than simply having the design rectified and reprinted (especially if you have a large order).
Avoid Business Printing Mistakes with Russell Printers
Your printed materials are in safe hands with us.
We will be happy to answer any questions and show you samples of our products, either in our office or at your premises. Simply contact us on 0121 359 0783 or email info@russellprinters.co.uk for high quality business printing services that you can rely on.
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