A print-ready file has four things a screen file does not: 3 mm of bleed on every edge, a safety margin that keeps text away from the trim, images at 300 dpi at final size, and fonts either embedded or converted to outlines. Miss any one of them and the job either stops at pre-press (best case, you lose a day) or runs and comes back wrong (worst case, you pay twice). This checklist is the exact list our pre-press team runs on every file that arrives, written so you can run it yourself in ten minutes.
Work through it before you upload and your job goes straight to press — which in Dubai usually means same-week delivery instead of a chain of emails.
1. Bleed: add 3 mm on every edge
Guillotines cut through stacks of hundreds of sheets at once, and the stack always moves fractionally. If your background colour or image stops exactly at the trim line, some of the run will come back with a thin white sliver along one edge. Bleed solves this by extending the artwork 3 mm past the trim on all four sides, so the blade always cuts through colour.
Here are the exact document sizes to build — trim size, plus bleed — for the formats used most in the UAE:
| Format | Trim size (mm) | Document size with 3 mm bleed (mm) |
|---|---|---|
| Business card (UAE standard) | 90 × 50 | 96 × 56 |
| A6 flyer | 105 × 148.5 | 111 × 154.5 |
| DL flyer | 96.7 × 200 | 102.7 × 206 |
| A5 flyer | 148.5 × 210 | 154.5 × 216 |
| A4 flyer / brochure | 210 × 297 | 216 × 303 |
| A3 poster / flyer | 297 × 420 | 303 × 426 |
Note that these are true metric trim sizes. Some templates circulating online round A5 to 148 × 210 or business cards to 85 × 55 (the European size). Both will print, but the 5 mm difference on a card is visible when it sits in a standard UAE cardholder.
2. Safety margin: keep content 4–5 mm inside the trim
Bleed protects the background; the safety margin protects the content. Because the same cutting tolerance applies inwards, anything closer than about 3 mm to the trim line risks being clipped, and anything at 1–2 mm will look off-centre even when it survives. Keep text, logos, phone numbers and QR codes at least 4 mm inside the trim — 5 mm on business cards, where a shaved edge is far more noticeable.
The single most common failure we see is a phone number set flush to the bottom edge of a flyer "for a clean modern look". It comes back with the descenders on the numerals cut in half.
3. Resolution: 300 dpi at final size
Print needs roughly four times the pixel density of a screen. The rule is 300 dpi measured at the size the image will be printed, which means:
- A full-bleed A5 flyer image needs roughly 1,830 × 2,550 pixels.
- A full-bleed A4 needs roughly 2,550 × 3,580 pixels.
- A logo placed at 40 mm wide needs roughly 470 pixels wide — or, better, supply it as vector.
Two traps. First, images pulled from a website or a social media post are almost always 72 dpi and cannot be rescued — enlarging them in the layout adds pixels but no detail. Second, a phone screenshot of a logo is not a logo file; ask your designer for the AI, EPS or SVG.
4. Colour: CMYK, not RGB
Build the document in CMYK from the start. If you send RGB, the conversion happens automatically with settings you never chose, and saturated blues and greens shift visibly. Keep total ink coverage under about 300%, set body text to 100% K only, and use a rich black build for large black panels. The full explanation, including which brand colours survive conversion and which do not, is in our CMYK vs RGB guide.
5. Fonts: embed or outline
A PDF that references a font you have installed and we do not will substitute something else — and font substitution changes line breaks, which changes layout, which can push text into the trim area. Either embed all fonts in the PDF export, or convert type to outlines before exporting. Outlining is safer, but keep an editable master copy first, because outlined text cannot be corrected later.
6. File format: PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4
These two PDF standards exist specifically for printing. They lock the colour space, embed fonts and handle transparency predictably. Avoid sending native working files (INDD, AI with linked images, PSD with live layers) unless asked — links break in transit. Avoid Word and PowerPoint entirely for anything with a bleed. JPEG is acceptable only for simple single-image jobs at full resolution.
7. Multi-page and folded work: single pages, in reading order
Export folded and bound work as single pages in reading order — not as reader spreads. Imposition (arranging pages on the press sheet) happens at our end, and a file supplied as spreads has to be taken apart first. For folded leaflets, mark where the folds go and remember that the inner panel of a roll-fold must be 2–3 mm narrower than the others so it tucks in cleanly.
8. Check the sizes that will actually be read
Two quick sanity checks that catch most legibility problems:
- Minimum type size: 6 pt for terms and conditions, 8–9 pt for body text on a flyer. Reversed-out white text on a dark background needs to be a point larger and never a hairline weight — fine serifs fill in with ink.
- Minimum line weight: 0.25 pt. Anything thinner may not hold on press.
- QR codes: at least 20 × 20 mm with a clear quiet zone around them, and always dark code on light background — inverted codes fail on many phone cameras.
9. Proofread as a PDF, not in the design file
Read the exported PDF at 100%, not the working file. Check the phone number digit by digit, check the website URL, check the trade licence details if the piece carries them, and check any Arabic text with a native reader — Arabic that has lost its ligatures during export is one of the few errors that is invisible to a non-Arabic-reading designer and obvious to every recipient in the UAE.
10. Confirm quantity and size before you commit
Print economics reward deciding once. Below are live prices for 2-sided flyers on 135 GSM glossy, in AED, VAT inclusive:
| Size | 500 pcs | 1,000 pcs | 2,000 pcs | 5,000 pcs | 10,000 pcs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A6 (105 × 148.5 mm) | AED 90 | AED 115 | AED 150 | AED 235 | AED 355 |
| A5 (148.5 × 210 mm) | AED 120 | AED 155 | AED 205 | AED 345 | AED 555 |
| A4 (210 × 297 mm) | AED 210 | AED 285 | AED 350 | AED 600 | AED 1,075 |
| A3 (297 × 420 mm) | AED 420 | AED 570 | AED 700 | AED 1,200 | AED 2,145 |
DL flyers on 100 GSM wood-free — the classic insert size for menus and mailers — are AED 110 for 1,000, AED 155 for 2,000 and AED 245 for 5,000. Compare the full range at flyer printing in Dubai, and see the GSM guide if you are still deciding on paper weight.
The pattern worth noticing: doubling the quantity rarely doubles the price. Going from 500 to 1,000 A5 flyers costs AED 35 more in total — about 7 fils per extra flyer. If there is any chance you will reprint within the quarter, order the larger run now.
How to submit artwork
- Choose the product, size, paper and quantity on the product page — the price is live, so there is no quotation wait.
- Upload the print-ready PDF at checkout, or send it after ordering on WhatsApp if the file is large.
- We run pre-press and come back to you if bleed, resolution, colour space or fonts need attention — usually the same working day.
- Approve, and we print. Standard turnaround is same-week within Dubai, with delivery onward to Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates.
No artwork at all? You do not need a designer to place an order. Send the text, your logo and a rough idea of the look through the free design service and we will build a print-ready file for you. The full ordering process is on the how to order page.
Frequently asked questions
How much bleed do I need?
3 mm on every edge is the standard for flyers, brochures, business cards and posters. Add it to the document size — an A5 flyer is built at 154.5 × 216 mm and trims down to 148.5 × 210 mm. Large-format work such as banners and backdrops uses more, so check the specification for those separately.
What happens if my file has no bleed?
Pre-press will flag it. If the design has a white border anyway, no bleed is needed and the file runs as is. If the background runs to the edge, the artwork either has to be extended — which we can often do — or scaled up slightly, which shifts the layout. Building it correctly is always cleaner.
Can I send a Word or PowerPoint file?
For simple internal documents, yes. For anything with a background colour running to the edge, no — neither format handles bleed, and colour conversion from those applications is unpredictable. Export to PDF at minimum, and tell us the intended trim size.
What is the standard business card size in the UAE?
90 × 50 mm. Build the artwork at 96 × 56 mm with 3 mm bleed and keep all text at least 5 mm inside the trim. The European 85 × 55 mm size also prints fine but sits differently in local cardholders.
Do I need to outline my fonts?
Not if they are properly embedded in a PDF/X export. Outlining is the belt-and-braces option and eliminates substitution risk entirely — just keep an editable master, because outlined text can no longer be edited.
How do I check my file is actually 300 dpi?
Open the exported PDF and zoom to 300–400%. If images look soft or blocky at that zoom, they will look soft in print. Most PDF readers also list image resolution under document properties or in a pre-flight panel.
Send the file — we will check it before it costs you anything
Every file that reaches us gets a free pre-press check for bleed, margins, resolution, colour space and fonts before a single sheet is printed. If something will cause a problem, you hear about it while it is still fixable. Call 0522100909 or send the artwork on WhatsApp +971 52 210 0909.
Ready to go? Pick your size and paper at flyer printing in Dubai and upload your file at checkout.
