Artwork & materials
The things that get print files rejected
Written by the people who check your files, not by a marketing department. Every guide ends with the tool that fixes the problem and the product it applies to.
What things cost
Live prices, not last year’s
What business cards cost
From $89 for 250, why the per-card price falls by two thirds, and how to read anyone’s quote.
What flyers cost
From $78.65 for 250, what size does to the price, and why 115gsm costs more than 150.
What brochures cost
From $159.50 for 250, and what the score and the fold actually add.
What posters cost
From $33.55 each for five A2s, what A1 and A0 add, and why posters start at five.
What corflute signs cost
Five for $160 to $14.30 each at thirty, delivered, and why they are sold in fives.
What pull-up banners cost
From $160 with the stand, what the wide base and blockout media add, and when to buy the print alone.
What vinyl banners cost
$74.50 a square metre, delivered from $135: what common sizes come to, and when mesh or pole pockets is worth a quote.
What stickers cost
From $29.10 for 10: what shape, size and quantity do to the price, and how to compare sticker quotes.
Setting up artwork
Before you send a file
Printing AI-generated artwork
Why another printer said no, what actually goes wrong, and what each fix costs.
Bleed, trim and safe area
How much bleed each product needs, and why text near the edge is the harder problem.
Resolution and dpi
Why 300dpi is the number for print, and why a banner does not need it.
CMYK against RGB
Why the blue on your screen is not a blue any press can mix.
File formats
What to send, what not to send, and what we can rescue.
Fonts and outlining
The reason your headline came back in a different typeface.
Canva or Word, set up right
The canvas size for every print size, and the one real limitation Word has.
Choosing stock and substrate
What to print it on
Paper weights explained
What GSM actually measures and which to pick.
Laminates and finishes
Matt, gloss, soft-touch and spot UV compared.
Restaurant menu printing
Stock for where the menu lives, six formats, and the book-to-takeaway remap.
Safety sign symbols and colours
What the shapes and colours mean under AS 1319.
Hazchem codes explained
How to read the emergency action code on a placard.
Chopping board colours
The kitchen colour code, and the chart for the wall.
Recycling and microwave symbols
What the symbols on packaging mean.
What is corflute?
The plastic sign board: what it is, how long it lasts, what it costs.
Corflute against ACM
Which sign board survives which job.
Construction site signs, NSW and QLD
What a principal contractor must display, and from what job value.
Banner materials
Mesh, PVC and where each one fails.
Signage
Before you commit to a sign
How big should a sign be?
Letter height against viewing distance, with the numbers.
How big should a QR code be?
The millimetres per square a scanner needs, and why a code that works on screen fails on a sticker.
Wrap or decals?
What each costs, how long each lasts, and which suits a lease.
Car and ute decals: what is legal
Windscreen, windows, plates and slogans, state by state.
Council approval, NSW
What to check and who to ask before you order.
Council approval, QLD
Accepted development, or a full approval — how to find out.
Election signs, NSW
Size limits and the authorisation line the law requires — two separate rules.
Election signs, QLD
No state-wide size limit — the council and the authorisation wording come first.
Election signs, VIC
For 28 November 2026: no permit on a time limit, and 600 × 900mm at voting centres.
Occasions
Print that has one day to be right
Opening a café, restaurant or food truck
What to print, what the council asks first in NSW, QLD and VIC, and when to order.
Wedding signs
The welcome sign, seating chart and order of the day: sizes that read from the door, how many guests fit, wording and when to order.
A funeral order of service
What usually goes in it, wording to adapt, the size and paper, how many to print and how soon.
Order of service examples
Five running orders written out in full: a Catholic Mass, a church service, a celebration of life, a committal and a memorial.
Funeral poems and readings
Readings, poems and hymns that can be printed in an order of service without asking, with the words, and the ones that need permission.
Wedding welcome signs
The sign at the door and the seating chart, on foam board, with the sizes that suit each.
Photo wall calendars
Twelve months of your photos, with your state’s public holidays named on the day.
When a job goes wrong
And how ours don’t
Still not sure? Run the file through the free prepress tools — they will tell you what is wrong in millimetres and dpi — or just place the order and we will check it before you pay.
Last updated .