These are our top tips on how to get your digital file to us and ready for printing so you can get the best results.
File Size
All files need to be a minimum of 300 dpi to ensure a high enough resolution for a good quality print. It helps to make the image the size you'd like your physical print to be run at.
Remember you can always make images smaller but making them larger will reduce the quality, so make sure you are starting with your image as large as possible.
For example, if you want to make an A4 print, it might be better to make your original file larger than A4 so if at a later date you want to print it at A2 you can.
If you are taking the images off a camera or scanner make sure you are taking the raw file if possible and are not converting it to a jpg (which can change colours) or reducing the dpi (which will affect the quality of the print and the sizes you can print).
The largest our giclee printers can print is 109cm wide x 1500cm long (42" x 590"). Please contact us for larger sizes.
File Formats
We prefer the following file formats without compression TIFF, PSD, PDF or AI. If you are working with layers, please remember to flatten them.
JPG files are compressed files, and the information in them will be compromised. We can still print from JPG files of a high resolution, but we cannot enlarge them.
Colour
For the best results please make sure your files are Adobe RGB colour profile. We can print images with other profiles, but these can produce unexpected results. For more information see our article on colour profiling.
Remember your computer screen is backlit remember when you print out the work there will be a difference in the colours as they will not be lit from behind on paper.
Gamut warnings. When you go into files you can see the Gamut warnings these let you know what colours can be created on a computer screen but are currently beyond the capabilities of a standard printer.
Some colours like fluros and metallics can be added back in using silkscreens and hand-mixed paints but this is an extra cost.
You might want to adjust these colours or you can see how they come out when printed they might still be OK, if not you can adjust them to get them closer to the screen colour.
You can't exactly ‘colour match’ a digital artwork but if you print out a test print or strip and you wanted to adjust the colours you can do this and then run another print to check the changes are what you want.
How To Send The Files
If you can attach your file to an email and send it, it probably isn’t good enough to print from.
Digitally we recommend using either Dropbox or WeTransfer and sending it to sales@harwoodking.com.
Or you can bring in your files to the studio in person on a USB or hard drive.
We do check files before printing so if there are any instantly obvious issues we will get back to you.