A vague print brief costs everyone time and money. The printer quotes based on guesses, the client gets surprised by the result or the bill, and the job takes longer than it needed to. Most people don't print often enough to know what their printer needs to hear, so they ring up, ask for "1,000 brochures, full colour" and assume that's enough.
It isn't. But getting it right isn't complicated. Here's what a good print brief looks like, why each detail matters, and what to expect from a commercial printer who knows their craft.
Before any job goes to quote, your printer needs nine pieces of information. Send these in one go and you'll get a faster, more accurate quote. Leave gaps and you'll spend the next three days going back and forth.
If you're supplying artwork yourself rather than asking the printer to design, there are five things your file needs to be print-ready. A good designer will know all of this. If you're putting the file together yourself, here's what to check.
| Specification | What's needed | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| File format | Print-ready PDF with fonts embedded | Avoids font substitution and layout shifts on the printer's machine |
| Colour mode | CMYK (not RGB) | Screens display in RGB, but printers reproduce in CMYK. Files supplied in RGB will shift in colour when printed |
| Resolution | 300 DPI minimum at final print size | Lower resolution images look fine on screen but pixelate when printed |
| Bleed | 3mm beyond the trim edge on all sides | Stops white edges appearing if the cutting blade shifts even slightly |
| Safe zone | Important text and logos at least 5mm inside the trim edge | Stops important content getting cropped during trimming |
If any of this is unfamiliar, send what you have and ask the printer to check it before they go to print. Most will do this as part of the proofing process.
GSM (grams per square metre) tells you how heavy a paper is. Heavier paper feels more substantial but costs more and may not suit every application. Here's a rough guide.
| GSM | Common uses | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 80–100 GSM | Standard office paper, photocopier sheets, short-life flyers | The lightest option. Cheap but feels flimsy in the hand |
| 115–150 GSM | Letterheads, single-sided flyers, magazine pages | Common for mid-range marketing pieces |
| 170–200 GSM | Premium flyers, postcards, brochure covers | Feels noticeably more substantial than office paper |
| 250–300 GSM | Business cards, presentation folders, premium postcards | The standard weight for a card that doesn't bend in your wallet |
| 350–400 GSM | Premium business cards, swing tags, hardcover book covers | The thickest stocks suit jobs where the feel of the card is part of the message |
Stock also comes in coated and uncoated finishes. Coated stocks (silk, gloss) sit on top of the paper and produce sharper, more vivid images. They're better for photography-heavy work. Uncoated stocks absorb ink and have a softer, more natural feel. They're better for text-heavy work and for any job where someone needs to write on the printed surface.
If you're not sure what suits the job, ask the printer to send samples. Most commercial printers keep a swatch book of common stocks for exactly this reason.
A printer who quotes blindly off your initial email is taking your order. A printer who asks questions is doing their job. If your printer doesn't ask about at least some of the following, that's a sign they're working at the order-taker end of the market.
If your printer asks none of these, the job will likely come back fine, but you've left value on the table. A consultative printer will save you money on quantity, time on proofing, and grief on the finished result.
Elgin has been providing commercial printing services in Melbourne since 1965. Everything is produced in-house at the Carlton site, which means the same team that quotes the job runs the press, finishes the work, and packs it for delivery. Nothing gets handed off to a third party. That's how problems get caught early and how a brief that's missing details gets clarified before it's too late to fix.
Got a job coming up? Send through your brief – even if it's a rough one – and Elgin will come back with what they need to quote it properly.