A plain-English guide to the seven image formats we print from — which to use, when, and why — plus our upload limits and colour space guidance.
Most customers already have their artwork or photography in one of these common formats. If yours isn't here, drop us a line before you upload — we can usually work something out.
Lossless, high quality. Best for fine art reproduction.
Compressed but excellent if saved at max quality.
Adobe Photoshop native. Layers welcome.
Lossless. Good for graphics with transparency.
Ideal for vector artwork and typography.
Vector scalable. Logos, illustrations, diagrams.
Vector format from Illustrator and similar.
Need to send something larger? Just contact us.
The right format depends on what kind of work you've made. Here's our quick steer for the three most common scenarios.
Whether you shot it on a high-end DSLR, mirrorless or had a studio scan of your original, TIFF is the professional choice — with JPG at maximum quality a close second.
Work made in Photoshop, Procreate, Clip Studio or similar? PSD preserves your layers in case we need to check anything; a flattened TIFF or max-quality JPG is equally good for print.
Logos, typographic posters, illustrations made in Illustrator, Inkscape or Affinity? Send a PDF or EPS and we can print at any size without loss of sharpness — crucial for crisp edges at large formats.
TIFF is the professional's choice for fine art printing. Uncompressed and lossless — every pixel you captured or painted makes it all the way to the printer. File sizes are large, but the quality is uncompromised.
Lossless quality, retains 16-bit colour depth, preserves layers if saved that way, widely supported.
Large file sizes — flatten layers and check the file is under our 200MB limit before uploading.
Everyone has JPGs — phones, cameras, scanners, they all produce them. A JPG saved at maximum quality (level 12 in Photoshop, or "Best" in Lightroom) is excellent for print. Save at lower quality and compression artefacts start to show, particularly in smooth skies and gradients.
Small file sizes, universal support, excellent when saved at max quality.
Every re-save loses quality. Work in PSD or TIFF and export to JPG once.
Adobe Photoshop's native format. We can print straight from a PSD — layers welcome, as long as everything is positioned and coloured the way you want it in the final print. We'll flatten on our end.
Preserves all edit information, lossless, great for complex illustration work.
Can be very large with many layers. Hide or delete adjustment layers you don't want in the print.
PDF handles vector artwork and typography beautifully — a logo or line illustration saved as a PDF will print crisply at any size, from postcard to A1 and beyond. Can also contain raster images, so it's a flexible all-rounder.
Vectors stay sharp at any size, preserves typography and layout, widely supported.
Embed all fonts and images before exporting. Use "Press Quality" or "High Quality Print" presets.
The largest file our upload form accepts. Need to send something bigger? Just get in touch and we'll sort an alternative.
Save your file in RGB with an embedded ICC profile — sRGB for everyday work, Adobe RGB for wider gamut scans.
Measured at your final print size. See our file size guide for ideal pixel dimensions.
Send it over for a free file check — we'll look at it, tell you honestly whether it's fit for print at the size and paper you have in mind, and recommend any tweaks before you order.