Best output file format and settings for printing flyer design with text

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2020-03-01 22:55:57

Hello,

I have a flyer design that I'm ready to export and to send to the printer. The flyer has text in it (35px size). Are there any recommended output file formats and settings for files with text for printing?

Thanks.
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2020-03-02 12:34:35

Will you be getting this printed at a print shop of some kind or will you be printing at home? If it's the former, each place will usually have their own recommendations — for example, that it must be an 8-bit color image in PNG format, possibly with a specific color profile applied. As different places can have their own slightly different requirements, it's best to check with them.

Also, generally speaking, the image settings and sizes should be set before you start working on your design and, while you're working, you can use soft proofing with a CMYK profile to make sure the colors you're choosing are available in the CMYK color space. Another question: did you set up the size of your flyer using print units (inches/cm) with a specific resolution or did you use pixels for the size?
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2020-03-02 13:35:46

Hi Andrius,

I will have it printed at a print shop. I haven't yet chosen a print shop but one that I was looking at had the option for uploading either jpeg files or pdf. But I was wondering when exporting to jpg whether or not the sharpness of the text would get through in the final printed flyer.

Do I maybe need to convert all the text into a shape if I export to jpeg?

I made the flyer from a new document that has the exact size of the final printed flyer, and I set it up using print units with 300 pixels/inch resolution. I assume that the text will look fine since when I view the design at 100 % everything looks good.
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2020-03-02 14:01:32

OK, in that case, the image format will have no effect on the sharpness of the final image and you don't need to merge anything at all. JPEG is a fine option, I'd simply make sure to export at around 100% quality to make sure there's as little compression as possible. If your image is the correct size, sharpness should almost never be an issue with any format. The only trouble you might have is with the colors of the image if you've used ones that are especially saturated, which cannot be reproduced using CMYK colors.

For that reason, before printing, I'd also turn on the following option in Pixelmator Pro: View > Soft Proof Colors > Generic CMYK just to double-check what the image will look like when printed and fine-tune the design with that option enabled.
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2020-03-02 14:35:03

Ok, thanks for the info...
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2020-03-03 09:47:22

Happy to help!

P.S. I'd love to know how you get on with this and whether your printed flyer turns out OK.