How to send print-ready files (what we accept and what we prefer).

The format hierarchy

Every format below prints. The order is honest preference — how close each one lands to what leaves our press without a conversion step or a guess.

• Best — Press-quality PDF from Adobe Illustrator or InDesign. Vector art, outlined fonts, CMYK color mode, 0.125" bleed included. Nothing to interpret, nothing to convert. Straight to preflight, straight to proof.
• Great — Native AI, EPS, or SVG. Same vector integrity as a press PDF. We'll handle the export to a print PDF on our end. Package linked images and fonts if you're sending native AI or InDesign files.
• Good — PDF Print from Canva. Canva's built-in text and shapes stay vector through the PDF Print export. Anything you uploaded to Canva stays raster at its source resolution. Full walkthrough in How to export print-ready files from Canva.
• Workable — High-resolution raster (TIFF, PNG, max-quality JPG). Rule for large-format: pixel width ≥ printed width in inches × 100 (a 24" print needs ~2,400 px wide). For in-hand items (stickers, transfer decals), target 300 DPI at final size. Raster files can't scale up gracefully, so match the final dimensions from the start.
• Talk to us first — Word, PowerPoint, Google Docs, screenshots, tiny files. Anything from an office suite, anything pulled from a website, anything under roughly 1,000 pixels. These aren't automatic no's — they're a "let's look before you place the order." Email or send through the contact form.

Why Illustrator + PDF sits at the top

Illustrator is vector-native, print-native color-managed, handles fonts reliably, and its PDF export is what our preflight and RIP consume without conversion surprises. A press-quality PDF out of Illustrator prints exactly the way it looks on the design canvas — same crop, same color, same type.

To be clear: we're not format snobs. We print thousands of Canva PDFs, phone screenshots, and rescued JPGs every year. The hierarchy exists because each step down adds one more place something can shift between your screen and our press — a font substitution, a resolution loss, a color-mode conversion, an unexpected flatten. Fewer steps, fewer surprises.

The checklist

What preflight is actually looking for, and what you can do before you send:

1. 1. Correct dimensions or exact proportional scale. Build the file at the ordered size, or at a clean proportional scale (e.g. 1:4 for a 12×12 ft floor as 36×36 in). Note the scale in your order notes so we don't guess.
2. 2. 0.125" bleed on edge-to-edge designs. Extend background art an eighth of an inch past every edge that runs to the trim. Keep text and logos at least 0.125" inside the trim as a safety margin.
3. 3. Outline or embed all fonts. In Illustrator: Select All → Type → Create Outlines before export. In InDesign or Affinity, embed the fonts on export. This is the single most common reason type prints wrong.
4. 4. CMYK preferred, RGB accepted. CMYK is the print color model and prevents surprises. RGB is fine — we convert during preflight — but vivid RGB neons, electric blues, and pure greens can shift slightly on press.
5. 5. Raster placed at adequate resolution for final size. For large format, aim for pixel width ≥ printed width in inches × 100. For in-hand items (stickers, decals), target 300 DPI at final size.
6. 6. Flatten transparency if the PDF preview looks wrong. Some blend modes and drop shadows render inconsistently across viewers. If your exported PDF doesn't match your design canvas, flatten transparency on export.
7. 7. One design per page. Multi-page PDFs are treated as multiple designs. Our multi-design flow prices those panels as one gang-printed job with shared setup — but each page must be its own finished design.
8. 8. No trim or crop marks needed. Skip registration marks, info bars, and crop/trim marks — everything is cut on CNC cutters for accuracy, so marks just get in the way. Export at final size (plus 0.125" bleed if you have it).

What our preflight catches

Every file you upload runs through in-browser preflight before checkout. We check four things and report them in plain language:

• Resolution vs. ordered size — is the pixel count enough for a sharp print at the dimensions you picked?
• Dimension / proportion mismatch — an aspect-ratio warning if your file is 16:9 and you ordered a square.
• Bleed — is there art past the trim line on edge-to-edge designs?
• Color mode — flags RGB with a heads-up on the mild shift you can expect on vivid colors.

Preflight warnings are bypassable if you know what you're doing; blocks aren't. You enter your card at checkout, but nothing is charged until you approve your proof — we only capture payment after your approval. (Prefer email? Skip the card and we'll send a payment link after the proof.)

Designing in Canva?

The single most important thing is to export as PDF Print — not PNG or JPG. Everything else (DPI targets, the raster trap with uploaded logos, designing a dance floor wrap at proportional scale) is covered in How to export print-ready files from Canva.