How do I make a PDF/X-4 file for a printer?

To make a PDF/X-4 file in Vectornation by Zaweba, choose PDF export and set it to PDF/X-4. The file is written in CMYK with your print profile embedded as the output intent, and the export runs a check on each file so problems show before the printer sees them. It is the format many commercial printers ask for, and you can make it for free on your own PC.

PDF/X is a family of PDF standards made for print. A PDF/X file has to follow rules about colour, fonts and page boxes, so the printer can rely on it behaving the same way on their equipment as it did on yours. PDF/X-4 is the version that keeps live transparency rather than flattening it.

Questions to ask your printer

Ask your printer two things before you start: which PDF/X version they want, and which colour profile to use. The profile describes how their press reproduces colour. Install it in Windows, since Vectornation picks its CMYK print profiles from the ICC profiles installed there.

You also need to know the bleed they want, which is how far the artwork should run past the trim edge.

Exporting the file

Set up the document at the finished size and extend any artwork that touches an edge out into the bleed. A background that stops exactly at the edge risks a thin white line if the cut is slightly off.

Soft proof before exporting. View > Colour proofing > Proof setup lets you pick the printer's CMYK profile, and Proof colours shows the artwork as that press is likely to print it. Bright RGB greens and blues often dull in CMYK, and it is better to see that now than on the printed sheet.

Open the PDF export, choose PDF/X-4, and choose CMYK with the print profile. The profile is embedded in the file as the output intent, which tells the printer's system what conditions the colours were prepared for. Turn on bleed so the TrimBox and BleedBox are written, and add printer's marks if your printer wants them on the file.

Export. Vectornation checks the file during each export. If it reports a problem, fix it in the drawing and export again rather than sending something that fails.

Checks worth running first

Run Preflight on the drawing first. It looks for the common mistakes before you get as far as exporting. If you would rather not set every option by hand, Print-ready PDF makes a print-ready file in one step.

Look at Separations preview (Window > Print and output) to see each ink, coverage and the highest total ink. Very heavy total ink can cause drying and set-off problems, and printers often have a limit.

Turn on Overprint preview if your design uses overprinting, so you see how overlapping inks will combine.

Keep your layers in mind. The PDF export can make layers switchable, which is handy for proofing, but a print file should usually show exactly what is meant to print and nothing else.

Other things the PDF export can do

For proofs sent by email, the same PDF export can protect the file with a password using AES-256. That is for sharing drafts, not for the file going to press, where a password would only get in the printer's way.

If the job is a box or a bag, Vectornation's finish layers put foil, spot UV, embossing and die-cuts on their own layers, which go to the printer as separate plates.

Vectornation by Zaweba is free software for Windows. It works offline with no account, so your client's artwork never leaves your PC until you send it.