Fonts & Images for Print

Designing for print doesn’t have to be complicated. With a few proven guidelines for typography and imagery, you can create artwork that looks professional, prints cleanly, and communicates your message clearly.

This guide covers the essentials so you can avoid common mistakes and prepare print-ready designs with confidence.

Fonts & Typography

Good typography makes your message easy to read and visually appealing in print.

Key principles

Prioritise readability over decoration
Use spacing to improve clarity
Keep font choices simple and consistent

Give your text room to breathe

Cramped text is hard to read and can look unprofessional once printed.

Common spacing considerations:

Leading, line spacing

The vertical space between lines of text. Too little leading makes paragraphs feel dense and tiring to read.

Kerning, letter pairs

The space between specific letter combinations. Poor kerning can cause letters to overlap or visually collide.

Tracking, overall letter spacing

The uniform spacing across letters in a word or paragraph. Excessive tracking can reduce readability, especially in body text.

Best practice

Adjust spacing subtly to improve legibility. Avoid extreme tightness or looseness in long passages.

Balance style with legibility

Decorative fonts can be appealing, but they should never interfere with readability.

Choose fonts that remain clear at small sizes
Avoid highly decorative or script fonts for body text
Pick a typeface that supports your message rather than distracts from it

Script and handwriting styles may look elegant, but they are often difficult to read in print, especially at smaller sizes.

Don’t use too many typefaces

Too many fonts make a design look cluttered and inconsistent.

Recommended approach

Use one or two typefaces per design
For text-heavy items, consider one family with multiple weights
Create hierarchy with size, weight, and spacing, not extra fonts

Example

A single family like Helvetica offers light, regular, bold, and condensed styles for headings, subheadings, and body text.

Typography takeaways

Limit fonts to one or two
Use spacing to support readability
Avoid decorative fonts for long text
Establish hierarchy through size and weight

Images & Graphic Elements

Images are often the first thing people notice in print. The right imagery communicates your message quickly and effectively.

Why images matter

In busy environments, an image can speak faster than text. Strong visuals attract attention, reinforce branding, and guide the viewer’s response.

Types of images and when to use them

Photographs

Best for realism, accuracy, and building trust. Ideal for products, people, and real-world scenes.

Illustrations and cartoons

Great for abstract ideas, creative expression, or simplifying complex concepts.

Logos

Support branding, credibility, and recognition.

Icons and symbols

Effective for directions, instructions, and quick visual cues.

Choose imagery based on your audience and the result you want to achieve.

Print-ready image guidelines

For high-quality print results, ensure your images meet these standards:

Minimum 300 DPI
CMYK colour mode where applicable
High-resolution originals, not screenshots
Suitable file formats such as PDF, TIFF, or high-quality JPEG

Low-resolution or web-optimised images may look fine on screen but often print blurry or pixelated.

Image takeaways

Match image type to your message
Use high-resolution, print-ready files
Avoid low-quality web images
Let imagery support your design, not overwhelm it