Like most home printers, professional printing presses are usually equipped with one paper size, the A0 size. From this, smaller paper sizes are then cut after printing. The exact position where the large sheet is cut may differ slightly because of technical reasons. The margin of error is 3mm.

Bleed
To ensure that your printed design doesn't have any white edges, the image or design should protrude 3mm beyond the desired size on each side. This 3mm space is called "bleed". The addition of bleed compensates for uncontrollable shifts that occur during the printing and trimming process; and ensures that any content touching the edges does not leave unwanted gaps or borders.

A vector file is a graphic image that can be enlarged or reduced infinitely without loss of quality. This is because the image is made up of vectors instead of pixels. Vectors are paths that consist of a start and end point with a line, wave, circle or other shape in between.

Vector file counter: pixel file
A pixel file is the counterpart of a vector file. Examples include JPG, PNG, BMP and GIF. The biggest difference between these two is that a pixel file becomes blurred when it is enlarged, while a vector file can be enlarged indefinitely without loss of quality.

DPI is an abbreviation for dots per inch. An inch is 2.54 centimeters long. Dots per inch indicates how many points there are in an area of 2.54 by 2.54 centimeters. A high DPI is therefore equivalent to a high resolution. The term DPI is often used to indicate how sharp a printer delivers a print. For example, a DPI of 300 to 1200 is used for printing and a DPI of 72 to 200 is used for screens.

If an image has a low DPI, the image may turn grainy when you zoom in on the computer. There is no perfect DPI, but DPI is very important when you want to print something or only use it online/onscreen.

Safety area, chances are you have never knew what the safety area is for, when talking about printing envelopes. This is a margin of 10-11 mm where the printing press handles the envelopes. This part can not be printed. Text and / or images that overlap with the safety area will not be visible on the envelopes. Depending on the type of envelope, the position of the safety area may vary.

Colors you use in your design may be differ when different types of paper are used. This is because the paper is coated or uncoated. Chances are that these terms do not mean anything to you, let alone know what the difference is.

Coated paper
The main feature of coated paper is that it has a thin coating on both sides. As a result, the surface area is closed so that the color strength is greater than that of uncoated paper. However, on coated paper only 50% less color tones can be displayed. Coated paper is suitable for flyers, folders and brochures.

Uncoated paper
Uncoated paper has no coating and therefore has an open structure. Uncoated paper needs about 20% more ink because it absorbs more ink through the open structure. Uncoated paper can be used for your stationery and printed envelopes.

How canyou spot the difference?
Coated paper can be recognized by its matt or glossy finish. Uncoated paper does not have this coating.