Print Ready Microsoft Word Documents!

If I had £1.00 for every time a customer said to me “I have print ready artwork” and then supply a Microsoft Word document, I would be a rich man sat on a beach somewhere drinking cocktails. Unfortunately this is not the case so I thought I would post some information for those looking to design their own artwork for print.

If your chosen design software is Microsoft Word then STOP NOW!

Microsoft Word is capable of creating some complex layouts for brochures, newsletters and similar that will print great to your desktop printer, but it is not a professional design program that is suitable for producing flyers, posters, banners, etc.
More importantly, Microsoft Word is not designed for creating digital files for commercial printing.

If you don’t require high volume printing, Word may work fine for all your needs. However, if you intend to have your artwork printed commercially, be aware that while some printers will accept your Word files, you can often expect to pay dearly for them to re-draw your artwork from scratch, which is the case 99% of the time.

Commercial printers require certain specifications with regards to the artwork they print, such as bleed, CMYK colour mode, resolution, the list goes on, unfortunately Word cannot address any of these requirements.

The only time a Word document design would be of any use would be to give your chosen professional graphic designer a rough idea as to what you are looking to acheive. Your rough layout ideas will be a huge help and time saver for your designer, which in turn may save you some money if they are charging by the hour. They can then turn your ideas into a professional looking brochure, business card, flyer, poster, etc.
If you choose to do this then don’t spend hours tweaking and perfecting the design, it will be used as a rough guide only.

It is possible to design your own artwork, but you really need to be using professional design software like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Corel Draw or similar.