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Workflow3 min read

Checking Your Proof

What to look for before approving

What is a proof?

A proof is a digital preview of your printed piece. It shows exactly how your artwork will be positioned, trimmed, and finished. Think of it as a final safety check before we start the press.

When your proof is ready, you'll receive a link to review it on printa. You can approve it instantly or request changes.

What to check

Text content — read every word. Check spelling, phone numbers, email addresses, website URLs. Typos caught now cost nothing; typos caught after printing cost a reprint.

Layout & positioning — is everything centered correctly? Are margins even? Is the logo the right size?

Colors — do the colors look approximately right? Note: your screen is RGB, the print will be CMYK, so slight differences are normal.

Bleed & safe zone — is important content too close to the edge? Will anything get clipped during trimming?

Image quality — do photos look sharp and clear, not pixelated or blurry?

What not to worry about

Exact color matching — your screen and our press use different color systems (RGB vs CMYK). The proof shows approximate colors, not exact. A slight difference is normal and expected.

Crop marks and bleed area — the colored area outside the trim lines will be cut off. It's supposed to be there.

File size or DPI shown in the proof — we've already scanned your file. If there were quality issues, you'd have seen them during upload.

Ready to upload?

Our preflight scanner checks bleed, DPI, colors, and fonts automatically.