What is a print-ready PDF?

A print-ready PDF has the size, bleed, color, and resolution your printer needs. Here's what goes into one, and when to use PDF/X.

Know what a PDF keeps

PDF is the standard file format for print. It holds your whole layout in one file, so it prints the same on the printer's equipment as it looks on yours.

• Vectors stay as paths, so shapes and lines print sharp at any size.
• Text is either embedded with its fonts or converted to outlines. Either way, the printer doesn't need your font files.
• Images keep the pixels they have, unless the export is set to downsample them. Check them first with What is DPI?
• Effects and transparency may be flattened into images, depending on your design tool and the PDF standard you export to.

Check your PDF before you send it

A PDF exported for screens usually isn't ready for print. Before you send one, check that it has:

• The right page size, with the finished size marked as the trim. See What is bleed?
• Bleed on every edge that artwork touches, and crop marks only if your printer asks for them.
• Images at about 300 DPI at their printed size.
• CMYK color, converted with your printer's ICC profile, unless they ask for RGB. See What are color modes?
• Fonts embedded or outlined.
• Pages in the right order, as one multi-page PDF or separate files, whichever your printer wants.

Mark the trim size in the file

A PDF can store more than one size for each page. The trim box is the finished size after cutting, and the bleed box includes the bleed around it.

Prepress software reads the trim box to position and cut your pages, even when the file has no crop marks.

Use PDF/X when your printer asks

PDF/X is a family of ISO standards for sending print files. A PDF/X file must embed its fonts, name the printing condition it was made for (its output intent), and set a trim box or art box on each page.

Not sure which one to send? Ask your printer. Using Figma? Print for Figma exports PDF/X-4 with trim boxes. See Export with a preset.