Preparing your artwork file for fine art printing: resolution, colour and format

Every print starts as a file, and every disappointing print we've ever had to talk an artist through started there too. Not with the paper, not with the frame, but with a file that was a little too small, saved in the wrong colour space, or cropped so tightly that the frame ate the signature. The good news is that file preparation is learnable in an afternoon and, once your production file is right, every future order repeats a known result. This is the checklist we wish every artist had before their first upload.

What Print Punch accepts

Upload one TIFF, JPG, PNG or WebP up to 200 MB. That single file drives the on-page preview and attaches to your order as the production file. There's no separate proof upload and no need to send anything by email afterwards; the file you preview is the file we print from.

Before production we check the selected size against the file, the crop choice, any notes you've added and any visible resolution problems. If a decision is needed we contact you before printing, so a question about your file pauses production rather than guessing. The service guide on the how it works page sets out those working rules, and the artist FAQs on files cover the quick questions.

Resolution: aim for 300 ppi at the final size

Pixels per inch only means something once you know the print size. A 3000 × 4000 pixel file is 300 ppi at 25 × 34 cm and about 100 ppi at 76 × 101 cm. Same file, very different outcome.

Work out what you need by multiplying the print size in inches by 300. A 50 × 70 cm print is roughly 19.7 × 27.6 inches, so you want about 5900 × 8300 pixels for full 300 ppi quality. For A2 (42 × 59.4 cm) you want about 4960 × 7020 pixels. For 100 × 130 cm you'd want around 11800 × 15350 pixels, which few camera files reach natively.

Don't panic if you fall short. Large prints are viewed from further away, and 150 to 200 ppi at 100 × 130 cm will look sharp at normal viewing distance for painterly work and most photography. Fine linework and small lettering are less forgiving. Below about 120 ppi at the final size you'll start to see softness up close, and we'll flag it in the file review.

What you should never do is enlarge a small file in software and call it 300 ppi. Upsampling invents pixels; it doesn't create detail. If your original scan or photograph is small, the honest fix is a better capture, and the guide to photographing or scanning your paintings walks through how.

Colour space: sRGB with the profile embedded

Use sRGB and embed the profile when you export. That single habit removes a whole family of colour surprises.

Adobe RGB and ProPhoto RGB hold a wider range of colours, which sounds better and sometimes is, but only if every step of the chain reads the profile correctly. A wide-gamut file with no embedded profile, or one that gets flattened to sRGB by a web upload along the way, can shift noticeably. sRGB with the profile embedded is the dependable path from your screen to our printer.

Two more colour habits worth building: view your file on a screen that isn't set to maximum brightness, and compare it to a printed reference if you have one. Screens glow; paper reflects. The guide to why print colours differ from your screen explains the gap and how to manage it. Print Punch doesn't publish a printer ICC profile and doesn't include an automatic physical proof, so the paid test order is your proof. Build it into your launch plan.

Format: TIFF for masters, JPG for most uploads

A TIFF saved at 8 bits per channel with no compression, or lossless LZW compression, is the cleanest master file. It can be large; a 50 × 70 cm file at 300 ppi in TIFF is typically 100 to 150 MB, which is why the 200 MB limit exists.

A high quality JPG (quality 10 to 12 in Photoshop terms, or 90 to 100 percent elsewhere) is almost always fine for printing and far smaller. The compression artefacts at that quality are invisible in print. Avoid re-saving a JPG repeatedly, because each save compresses again. Export once from your master.

PNG works, particularly for digital illustration with flat colour, but it has no CMYK option and large PNG files can be bigger than the equivalent TIFF. WebP is accepted and compact, though fewer artists use it for masters.

Whatever you choose, flatten layers, remove alpha channels unless you need transparency for a planning preview, and avoid saving with a printer's colour profile embedded unless you've been asked to.

Proportions: match the file to the size you'll sell

Every Print Punch size has a fixed proportion. Framed paper and unframed prints come in A2 (42 × 59.4 cm), 50 × 70, 60 × 90, 70 × 100, 100 × 130 and 120 × 150 cm. Framed canvas adds squares and a few more rectangles. If your artwork's proportion doesn't match, something has to give: a crop, a border or a custom size.

On paper products you can choose an even 5cm unprinted white border, which absorbs small proportion differences without cropping. On canvas, the preview offers "Fill and crop" (the artwork is centre cropped to fill the face) or "Keep full artwork" (the whole image is shown and the remaining area is visible as fit space). Check the edges in the preview every time; the guide to standard sizes and aspect ratios lists each size's ratio so you can plan ahead, and the border or edge to edge guide covers the border choice.

If none of the listed sizes work, request a custom size from the product page. Our team confirms dimensions, method and price before anything is printed.

Safe edges: keep what matters away from the boundary

Even with a perfect proportion match, a few millimetres at the edge can be lost to trimming or hidden by a frame rebate. Keep signatures, titles, faces and important detail at least 1 to 2 cm inside the artwork boundary at final size. If your signature sits right in the corner, consider whether you'd rather it printed inside the image or added by hand later.

This matters more on canvas, where the artwork wraps to the canvas edge and sits inside a floating frame. Anything in the outer centimetre may fall on the edge or behind the shadowline.

Bleed and printer marks: don't add them

Many artists have been told by other printers to add bleed, crop marks or registration marks. Please don't for Print Punch orders unless we ask. Our production is set up around your artwork's finished size and your border choice, and added marks can end up in the print or confuse the crop. Supply the clean artwork, cropped to the image you want to see. The specifications section on the frames and materials page repeats this for reference.

Sharpening, noise and clean-up

Apply gentle output sharpening suited to the print size rather than heavy screen sharpening. Over-sharpened files show halos along edges in print, especially on smooth matte paper. If your file came from a camera, check for sensor dust spots and remove them. Check the corners for vignetting or lens softness, and the centre for any moiré from photographing a textured canvas. A five minute pass at 100 percent zoom catches most issues before they become a reprint.

Naming and versioning

Name your production files so you can find them in a year: artwork title, size, border choice, version. "Coastal-Morning-70x100-border-v2.tif" tells you everything. Keep the master separate from exports, and keep a note of which version was used for your approved test order. When a collector reorders in six months, you want to print the exact file that passed, not a near-match.

A pre-upload checklist

• Final size chosen and proportion checked against the file
• Pixel dimensions give at least 150 to 200 ppi at that size (300 ppi ideal)
• sRGB, profile embedded
• TIFF or high quality JPG, layers flattened, under 200 MB
• No bleed, crop marks or registration marks
• Important detail at least 1 to 2 cm inside the edge
• Gentle output sharpening only, dust and spots removed
• Previewed on the product page at the chosen size and border setting
• File named with title, size, border and version

After the upload

Once your order is placed, the file is reviewed, production runs, and the standard dispatch target is within 72 business hours after artwork approval. If something in the file needs a decision, we email you and production pauses until you answer. The post on turnaround, packing and shipping describes the rest of the journey.

Your production files are used to prepare, produce and support your order and any reorders you request. Access is limited to the people who need them for that work, and you can ask for a production copy to be deleted by emailing the address on the contact page, subject to records we must keep for legal and accounting reasons.

One master file, many products

The reason to get the file right once is that one master serves every product you'll ever sell from that artwork. The same TIFF that becomes an unframed fine art print at A2 becomes a framed paper print at 70 × 100 cm and a framed canvas at 100 × 130 cm. Only the crop or border setting changes per size, and the product page preview shows you each one. Surface pattern designers go one step further and build a seamless repeat from the same source for the wallpaper roll; the wallpaper repeat guide covers that discipline.

Keep the master large. You can always make a smaller export; you can't make a bigger one without inventing pixels. If your capture gives you 8000 pixels on the long side, keep all 8000 in the master even if your first product is A2. When a collector asks for 120 × 150 cm next year, you'll be glad you did.

Paper, canvas and wallpaper: how the file requirements differ

The resolution, colour space and format advice above applies to every Print Punch product, but a few points differ by surface. On paper, fine detail is reproduced faithfully, so file sharpness and dust show; spend your clean-up time here. On canvas, the weave softens detail slightly, which is forgiving of files a little under resolution but unforgiving of composition that relies on the outer edge, because the artwork wraps to the canvas edge inside the floating frame. On wallpaper, the file must be exactly 70 cm wide at final scale and seamless on every repeating edge; scale is not inferred from pixels, and the product page asks you to confirm it before Add to cart. The paper versus canvas guide and the fine art paper guide explain how each surface treats what you send.

When to ask before you order

Three situations are worth a quick message before you place an order: a file that falls well under 150 ppi at the size you want, an artwork whose proportion needs more than a 10 percent crop at every listed size, and anything colour-critical where a specific tone must match a physical reference. In the first case we can tell you what to expect; in the second, a custom size through the quote form on the product page is usually the answer; in the third, a paid test order on the exact paper is the only honest method, as the test order checklist explains. The artist FAQs cover the quick questions, and the frames and materials specifications are there when a collector asks for the exact stock. The fine art printing for artists page summarises the papers and the file requirements in one screen.

Frequently asked questions

What file types can I upload for printing?

TIFF, JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 200 MB. One file drives the preview and attaches to the order as the production file.

What resolution do I need for a fine art print?

Aim for 300 ppi at the final print size. Between 150 and 200 ppi still prints well at large sizes viewed from a normal distance. Below about 120 ppi softness becomes visible and we'll flag it during file review.

Should I use sRGB or Adobe RGB?

Use sRGB with the profile embedded. It's the most dependable colour space from screen to print and avoids shifts caused by missing or misread profiles.

Do I need to add bleed or crop marks?

No. Supply the clean artwork at the image you want to see. Bleed, crop marks and registration marks can interfere with the crop and should only be added if we ask.

What happens if my file is too small for the size I chose?

We check visible resolution problems during file review and contact you before printing if a decision is needed. You can choose a smaller size, supply a better file or accept the result in writing.

Is my artwork file kept private?

Production files are used only to prepare, produce and support your order and reorders. Access is limited to people who need them for that work, and you can request deletion of a production copy subject to legal and accounting records.

Ready to upload

Choose your product on the print formats page, upload the file on the product page and check the preview at your chosen size. If you want a second opinion on a tricky file, send us a note before you order and we'll reply the next business day.