Pre-Press Guides for Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop

Most professional designers use a combination of Adobe Creative Cloud applications to prepare production artwork.

Each application has a different role in the pre-press process.

Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator is especially useful for:

Vector artwork
Logos
Typography
Flat card designs
Invitation layouts
Repeat patterns
Custom illustrations

Pre-press tasks include setting the correct document dimensions, outlining fonts, checking color values, and exporting the required PDF.

Adobe InDesign

InDesign is particularly useful for:

Multi-page books
Planners
Calendars
Catalogs
Multi-page stationery projects
Variable-data layouts

Pre-press tasks include setting document dimensions, managing page order, checking margins, setting bleed, and exporting a print-ready PDF.

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is useful for:

Photographic artwork
Raster illustrations
Image editing
Textured artwork
Background images
Preparing images for print

Pre-press tasks include checking image resolution, managing color conversion, and ensuring images are large enough for their final printed dimensions.

What about Canva and Procreate?

Canva and Procreate are popular tools for independent designers and artists.

They can be useful for creating artwork, but the final file must still meet the requirements of the intended printing product.

Check document dimensions, bleed support, color handling, image resolution, and PDF export settings before submitting files.