Articles: guide

The guides collected here take you from an idea to a finished order. They do not assume that you work with print every day - they explain what happens to a design and what is worth looking at before you send the file.

The most common topics

Across 13 pieces in this tag the same threads keep returning:

• A design from scratch - how an advertising item comes to life, from the first sketch to the finished print.
• Free software - GIMP and Canva, the tools people reach for without hiring a designer.
• Checking before print - a simple checklist and the difference between what you see on screen and the file that goes to production.
• Ordering itself - how to work through an online order and which slips catch people out with branded items.

What to look at first

The repeat mistakes are surprisingly simple. Screens glow while paper reflects light, so a print often looks calmer than the preview. Photographs pulled from the internet look fine on a phone and lose their sharpness once enlarged. When sheets are cut, the blade always has a small margin of movement, so important wording is safer away from the very edge.

Where to begin

If you are starting out, read the guide to ordering print online first, then the checklist. If you prepare the artwork yourself, add one of the walkthroughs for GIMP or Canva. The rest will come in useful later, once you know the product.