In this blog, we give you a summary of what is your responsibility, and what is your designers when it comes to signing off a piece of artwork for print.

What you need to check:

• Is the print spec correct? Check the size and is as you’re expecting. When you’re signing off a pdf and printing it to you’re own printer it’s often expanded or contracted to fit an A4 page. Make sure you tick 100% or actual size when you print it so you see it at the final format, this is also so you can check that the copy size is legible on it’s actual printed size.
• Where do you want them to be delivered? Check the delivery address is correct and remember if they are going out to several different places, it might be more cost effective for the printers to send them directly.
• What paper weight do you need? Letterheads are usually 100gsm offset so you can print over it on your laser printer, but a business card should be 350gsm or even 450gsm so it feels good quality and won’t bend easily. See more about different materials in our blog M is for materials.
• Double check the contact details you sent to your design agency which go on the printed artwork. You could even phone the number to check it is correct!
• Think back to whether it meets the original brief. Take a look at our B is for brief blog for more help with this.
• If you sent your design agency images to include, do you have permission to use them? This is especially if they include people. If you’ve provided the photos then it’s your responsibility to ensure you have the rights to use them.
• If you have included logos from other organisations or charities, do you have permission to use them?

After you’ve signed the artwork off you’re taking responsibility for the information being correct so any changes or re-prints after this may incur a cost. Make sure you check everything carefully!

What your designer will check:

• We ensure that the artwork is proofread by different members of our team than the person who’s designed it before it is sent to a client to ensure that any mistakes are picked up as early as possible.
• Before any artwork job is sent to print, we will check that we have the correct rights to use any photos we’ve bought or commissioned ourselves.
• We’ll also check that any images you have provided are high resolution and will print well. We’ll colour correct them, where necessary, and converted them to CMYK for the printer.
• We will ensure that fonts are correct and your brand guidelines have been adhered to (if you have them).
• We will add bleed and save the artwork in a print ready format appropriate for the format of the job and the printer.

As you can see, the final sign-off of a piece of artwork requires the co-operation and diligence of both you and your design agency. If everyone knows their responsibilities, the process can be smooth sailing and you will be delighted with the final result!

If you would like to get in touch with us regarding any print or design requirements, we’d love to hear from you.

Alison Bowett
Marketing Manager at JG Creative.