Screens show colour as light (RGB); presses print it as ink (CMYK: cyan, magenta, yellow and black). Every print file the Product Designer makes is in sRGB, which most print shops, DTG and sublimation printers take as it is. An offset press or a print shop that works in CMYK may ask you for CMYK files. This guide turns them on and checks the first one.
When You Need It
| Your printer says | What to send |
|---|---|
| "Send PNG" or "any PDF" (DTG, sublimation, most digital printers) | The usual PDF or PNG: nothing to change |
| "Send CMYK" or "PDF/X" (offset, some digital presses) | The PDF in CMYK from this guide |
| "Use our profile" and sends you a file ending in .icc or .icm | The PDF in CMYK through their profile (Step 2) |
Step 1: Ask Your Printer for Their Profile
Ask which colour profile they print with. Most coated-paper presses in India and Europe print to Coated FOGRA39, which Mercayo has ready. If they give you their own profile file, keep it at hand for Step 2.
Step 2: Turn on CMYK PDFs
- Go to Settings › Product page. Find the Product Designer card.
- Switch on CMYK PDF for Printing.
- Under CMYK Profile, keep Coated FOGRA39, or choose Your Print Shop's Profile.
- Press SAVE.
- If you chose your print shop's profile: in the Print Profile card below, press UPLOAD PROFILE and choose their file (up to 12 MB).
What you see: the Print Profile card says "Using: Coated FOGRA39 (VIGC 300%)", or your print shop's profile by its own name with its size and date. REPLACE changes it; REMOVE goes back to Coated FOGRA39.
Step 3: Check the First File
CMYK PDFs are made for orders paid from now on (earlier files stay as they were).
- When the next designed order is paid, open it. On the Print Files card, press DOWNLOAD PDF (CMYK).
- Open the file in a PDF reader that shows colour separations (Adobe Acrobat: Print Production › Output Preview). The page is your print area plus its bleed; the trim is marked in the file, with crop marks if you turned those on.
- Send it to your printer for a proof before a big run.
What is in the file: the design as one CMYK picture at the area's print quality (300 DPI is sharp for mugs, cards and cases), converted through the profile, and the profile named inside the file so your printer's software knows what the numbers mean. Where the design has nothing, no ink is laid.
Step 4: Send the Files Every Day
- Orders › Print Queue: tick the files, press DOWNLOAD ZIP and tick PDF in CMYK among the files. Each item's CMYK PDF ends in -cmyk.pdf.
- Your print partner: in Print Queue › PRINT PARTNER, tick PDF in CMYK under Files to Send and press SAVE. Their emails and webhooks then carry a PDF (CMYK) link for each item.
Common Problems
- "This file is not an ICC profile." The file you chose is not a colour profile (it may be a PDF or an image). Ask your printer for the .icc or .icm file itself.
- "This profile is not for CMYK." It is a screen's RGB profile. Ask for their CMYK printing (output) profile.
- "This CMYK profile is not a printing profile" or "cannot convert colours into CMYK". It is a proofing or device-link profile. Ask for the press's output profile.
- The order says "No CMYK PDF: it would be over 50 MB". The print area is very large at a high DPI. Lower the area's Print Quality (150 DPI is plenty for a poster), or send the PDF and PNG, which are made as usual.
- The order says "the print profile is missing". Your own profile was removed, or Coated FOGRA39 is not ready on Mercayo's side yet. Upload your profile again, or tell Mercayo's support.
- The text in the CMYK PDF cannot be edited. In this file, words and shapes are pixels at the print size. Your printer can use the ordinary PDF, which keeps them as vectors, for anything printed very large.
- The colours look duller than on screen. Bright screen colours (a vivid green, a neon pink) cannot be printed in CMYK on any press. Ask for a printed proof before a big order.