File Preparation

Color Management

We strive to provide the perfect color print every time. To help our customers get the most accurate color possible, we've created a short downloadable guide that illustrates how to prepare files for printing in Adobe Photoshop.

Today's best printers have not kept up with the ability of monitors to display millions of visible colors. Going from a computer monitor (RGB) to a printer (CMYK) results in a reduction in the visible color spectrum. This reduction is often unnoticeable, but could cause some color shift if your image includes extremely vibrant or saturated colors.

Keep in mind that every computer monitor is unique and will display colors differently. Setting your ICC Profile to Adobe RGB (1998) will minimize color discrepancies but will never give you 100% accuracy 100% of the time.

To learn more about our color management process or to see detailed written instructions for color management and proper file preparation, please see our color management section below.

Preparing files for print

In Adobe Photoshop:

  • Ensure your file has an embedded Adobe RGB (1998) ICC Profile.
    • With the image open in Photoshop, select Edit > Convert to Profile. Do not select Assign Profile, as this will likely cause a shift in color.
    • Set the Destination Space Profile to Adobe RGB (1998).
      • It is likely your Source Space will be sRGB IEC61966-2.1, so you should see little to no color shift. However, if you are coming from another Source Space such as ProPhoto RGB, which is larger than Adobe RGB (1998), you may experience some color shift due to gamut compression.
Understanding Proper Color Management

Accurate color is only possible with a proper workflow, accurate ICC profiles, and a basic understanding of proper color management principles.

Color management is a system of different imaging devices, such as your camera or scanner, a computer and its monitor, or a printer, and the process of properly changing the way colors are interpreted on the different devices to ensure the colors appear the same to the human eye.

Each device in the color management workflow has its own limitations for how much color it can capture, produce, or display. The amount of color a device can capture or produce is called the device's gamut.

We use an ICC profile to help convert colors from device to device. An ICC profile is a table of color values that represents the colors a specific device can produce, along with measurable values that allow us to properly change colors from one device's color gamut to another device's color gamut.

Unfortunately, camera capture technology has drastically outpaced printer technology. As a result, even though we use advanced printers, our printers still can't produce nearly as many colors as most cameras and scanners can capture. In situations like this, we use a mathematical principle called Rendering Intent to substitute color values that are as close to the original as possible, but that exist in the smaller gamut device. This is known as gamut compression and can result in small color shifts in print.

In order to ensure we know the colors in your files, we request that a color profile be saved inside the file when preparing the file for printing. This lets us know what the color values are and how to convert the colors to work on our printers. The profile that is embedded in your file is known as a source profile.

We use Adobe RGB (1998) as our preferred source profile and calibrate our printers with a G7 process to ensure neutral print density.

Now you have a basic understanding of proper color management. For more information on color management, please contact our customer service department.

File Preparation

There are two different ways to size your image. One adjusts your image automatically and uniformly by changing the canvas size; the other allows you to have more control over how your image is sized by using the cropping tool. Click below for downloadable guides illustrating the file prep processes.

Quick Tips!

  • File names cannot exceed 40 characters in length.

Still have questions? Use our Contact Us page. We'd be happy to answer all of your questions.

File Preparation
In Photoshop
  • Ensure the file is the proper size and resolution.
    • With the image open in Photoshop, select Image > Image Size.
    • Set your Image Width and Height to the finished size plus 0.25" for bleed. Your image may not be an exact fit, but make sure the smallest dimension includes 0.25" of bleed.
    • Check to see if Resolution displays 100 or greater. 240 is best.
    • If you have a decimal in Resolution, delete the numbers following the decimal. This will increase the size of your image slightly, but we will take care of that in the next step.
  • You now have two options for cropping your image:
    1. Change the canvas size uniformly.
      • Select Image > Canvas Size.
      • Set your Width and Height to the finished size plus 0.25" for bleed.
      • Ensure Relative is NOT checked.
      • Click OK.
      • A warning box may appear telling you the canvas size may cause some clipping. Click Proceed.
      • If the clipped image looks good, save your image. If you want to control how your image is clipped more precisely, undo the canvas sizing and try option 2.
    2. Crop the image manually.
      • Select the Crop Tool.
      • Set to Ratio.
      • Enter your desired Height and Width dimensions plus 0.25".
      • A crop box will appear around your image. Move the image so the portion outside the box is what will be clipped.
      • When you're happy with your selection, press Enter.
      • Your image is now the proper size.
  • Save the file as a JPEG, quality 10 or higher.
    • With the image open in Photoshop, select File > Save As.
    • Choose your file destination and name.
    • Select Format: JPEG.
    • Ensure Embed Color Profile: Adobe RGB (1998) is checked.
    • Click Save.
    • In the next pop-up window, select Quality 10 Maximum and click OK.

Your image is now ready to be uploaded on our website!