How to proofread cards before sending designs to print?

How to proofread cards before sending designs to print?

Name card printing services allow businesses to easily order custom-designed cards in bulk for networking, promotions, and more. However, before finalizing your card designs and sending them to print, it’s crucial that you thoroughly proofread to catch any errors or issues. An experienced proofreader helps ensure your cards look polished and professional. 

Read Aloud and Slowly

Best technique for catching errors during proofing is to read the card copy out loud and slowly. Our brains often skim over text when reading silently. But when reading aloud, you’re more likely to notice typos, awkward phrasing, repetition, and other mistakes. Have someone else read the text as well, as a fresh set of eyes helps spot issues you gloss over. Ensure to review your card’s typography choices to confirm text is easy to read. Very small font sizes or low-contrast colors make the card copy hard to decipher. Though aesthetically pleasing, stylized or intricate fonts also impede legibility. Stick with simple, clean fonts in sizes no smaller than 8 points for the body text. Use larger sizes and high-contrast colors for headlines and emphasis.

Review Spacing and Alignment

Evaluate the card layout to verify alignment and spacing are correct. Uneven or inconsistent spacing between paragraphs, headings, and columns gives designs an amateurish look. Check that elements are properly centered or aligned. Confirm text wraps and hyphenates appropriately without leaving big gaps. Straighten crooked lines or images. And be sure the card bleeds extend evenly on all sides. Carefully check any dates, times, addresses, phone numbers, URLs, prices, item specifics, or other details for total accuracy. Scrutinize proper noun spellings like company names or locations. 

For contact cards, verify you have the person’s accurate job title, department, and other info – nothing looks worse than giving out incorrect business cards. Review all images at 100% size to ensure they are high resolution without pixelation or fuzziness. Images pulled from websites are often of low quality. Request the original high-resolution photo files from the image owners. Confirm the images are clear and sharp when enlarged, with no artifacts or jagged edges. For best printing quality, images should be 300 dpi resolution. printthatnow is the best place for Business card printing.

Look for widows and orphans

Widows and orphans refer to standalone words or very short phrases at the end or beginning of a paragraph, separated from the rest of the sentence. These detract from the design aesthetic. Solutions include editing the paragraph text to avoid a single word standing alone or using non-breaking spaces in key places to keep words together. As a final check, evaluate the card design as a whole for consistency across all elements. Make sure spacing, sizes, colors, layout, fonts, etc. align across the front and back of the card and from card to card. 

Confirm branding elements like logos, colors, and fonts all adhere to brand style guidelines. Look for any design elements that seem out of place or don’t match the overall aesthetic. In addition to proofing digital files on screen, printing out hard copies reveals issues not visible on monitors. Colors, image quality, and alignments show inaccuracies on printouts. Have a few test prints made before the full print run to make a final check.

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