How to make a print-ready menu PDF: bleed, crop marks, colour and paper
A checklist to hand your printer a menu file they will not send back: bleed, crop marks, safe margins, resolution, colour, paper weight and lamination.
Most menu print jobs are delayed by the file, not the press. Missing bleed, RGB photos, fonts not embedded. Here is the checklist we apply to every Menu Atelier export and that you can use with any tool.
Bleed: 3 mm on every side
Paper shifts slightly during cutting. Any colour or image that touches the edge must extend 3 mm beyond the trim line so no white sliver appears. An A4 menu is therefore exported at 216 × 303 mm.
Crop marks and safe zone
Crop marks tell the guillotine where to cut. Keep text and logos at least 5 mm inside the trim (10 mm looks better). On a bifold, keep 8 to 10 mm clear of the fold.
Resolution and images
Rasters at 300 dpi at final size. A photo occupying 80 mm wide needs about 950 px. Logos should be vector (SVG or PDF) so they stay sharp at any size.
Colour
Presses print CMYK. Very saturated RGB blues and greens shift when converted. Pick colours that survive conversion (Menu Atelier’s presets do), and expect dark backgrounds to print slightly lighter than on screen. Ask for a printed proof if the brand colour is critical.
Fonts
Embed them or outline them. A PDF with fonts embedded prints anywhere; one without will be substituted, which is how Comic Sans ends up on a fine dining menu.
Paper and finishing
- 300 to 350 g board for a menu held in the hand; 250 g for inserts.
- Matte or silk finish for legibility; gloss shows fingerprints.
- Matte soft-touch lamination protects against spills and lasts a season.
- For bifolds, ask for scoring before folding so the board does not crack.
Every Menu Atelier download includes bleed, crop marks, embedded fonts and 300 dpi faces. If you would rather not deal with any of this, the print & ship option handles prepress and prints on 350 g laminated board.
