Paper and surface
Paper weight (gsm)
What does paper weight in gsm mean?
Gsm is the weight of one square metre of the paper. 80 gsm is ordinary office paper; 300 gsm already feels like card. The higher the number, the thicker and stiffer the sheet. For business cards it is unwise to go below 300 gsm, because a thin card bends in the hand.
Print.az offers business cards in 300, 350, 400, 600 and 700 gsm. The 600 and 700 gsm options feel notably heavy and premium. Flyers work well at 130-170 gsm, and certificates need at least 250 gsm.
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Lamination
What is lamination and what types are there?
Lamination is a thin protective film applied over the print. It protects the paper from moisture, tearing and scuffing, and it changes the appearance at the same time. There are three main types: matt, gloss and Soft Touch. The choice is both aesthetic and practical.
Gloss lamination makes colours livelier and suits image-heavy designs, but it shows fingerprints. Matt does not reflect light, looks more restrained, and can be written on with a pen. Soft Touch produces a velvety surface you notice by feel.
See lamination options
Carbonless paper
How does carbonless paper work?
Carbonless paper makes a copy without carbon sheets. The back of each sheet is coated with microcapsules: the pressure of a pen bursts them and the dye transfers to the sheet below. Cash orders and waybills are printed exactly this way.
Two or three parts are typical: the first copy for the customer, the second for accounts, the third staying in the book. The parts are printed on different colours so it is obvious at a glance which belongs to whom.
See strict accountability forms
Mesh banner
When do I need a mesh banner?
Mesh is used wherever wind has to pass through. The material is perforated with microscopic holes, so the wind does not fill it like a sail. For building facades, fencing and anything at height, mesh is chosen instead of solid banner material.
The trade-off for wind resistance is that the image looks slightly less saturated, because part of the surface is open space. Viewed from any distance the difference is effectively invisible.
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Printing and colour
CMYK and RGB
Why do printed colours differ from what I see on screen?
Because a screen and a press create colour differently. A screen mixes light (RGB); printing mixes ink (CMYK). Some bright colours available in RGB — neon greens and blues especially — cannot be reproduced with CMYK inks at all and print noticeably duller.
Convert your file to CMYK before sending it to print, so you see the result in advance. If you send RGB, the conversion happens automatically and the outcome may not match what you expected.
See file requirements
Pantone
What is a Pantone colour and when do I need one?
Pantone is an international catalogue of pre-mixed inks. Each colour has its own number, such as Pantone 185 C. Unlike CMYK, the colour comes from one specific ready-made ink rather than a mix of four — so it prints identically every time.
Pantone is used when brand colour is critical: if a logo must be exactly the same red every time, CMYK can drift slightly and Pantone will not. Tell us the colour number when you place the order.
Corporate print products
Offset and digital printing
What is the difference between offset and digital printing?
The difference is quantity. Digital printing works straight from the file, needs no set-up and is cheaper on small orders. Offset requires metal plates to be made — the set-up is expensive, but every copy after that is very cheap. On large runs offset wins by a wide margin.
The rough crossover is a few hundred copies. Digital makes sense for 100 business cards, offset for 5,000 flyers. You do not need to choose when ordering — we select the right method for your quantity.
Calculate quantity and price
Sublimation
What is sublimation printing?
Sublimation is a method where the dye turns straight into gas under heat and soaks into the material. The dye does not sit on top of the surface but enters the substrate itself, so the image cannot rub off and cannot be felt by hand. Print.az uses it for printing ceramic mugs.
It has one limitation: it only works on white or light surfaces with a special coating. That is why we use DTF rather than sublimation for garments — DTF performs on fabric of any colour, including black.
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DTF printing
What is DTF printing?
In DTF (Direct to Film) the design is printed onto a special film first, then transferred to the fabric with a heat press. A layer of white ink is laid beneath the colour, which is why DTF works on fabric of any colour including black. Print.az uses this method for garment printing.
The result can be felt slightly by hand, since the layer sits on top of the fabric. In exchange there is no restriction on the colour or composition of the garment — it performs equally on cotton, polyester and blends.
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Foil stamping
What is foil stamping?
Foil stamping transfers a thin metallic layer onto paper using heat and pressure. Unlike ink, foil reflects light and shifts as the viewing angle changes. It is used for names and logos on certificates, invitations and premium business cards.
Gold and silver are the usual choices, but copper, blue and holographic foils exist too. Foil does not rub off or fade, which is why it is preferred on documents meant to be kept for years.
Order certificates
Print run
Why does the unit price fall as I order more?
Because most of the cost of printing is preparation — checking the file, setting up the press, matching the colour. That work is roughly the same whether you print 100 copies or 1,000. As the run grows, those fixed costs are divided across more pieces.
On Print.az business cards the discount is explicit: 10% at 250, 15% at 500 and 20% at 1,000. If you know you will reorder soon, taking more in one go is the cheaper route.
Calculate your volume discount
File preparation
Bleed
What is bleed and why does my file need it?
Bleed is the part of the design extended beyond the trim line, usually 3 mm on every side. A guillotine never cuts to micron accuracy. Without bleed, the smallest shift leaves a thin white strip along the edge of the card.
Important text and logos should do the opposite — stay at least 3 mm inside the trim line, or they risk being cut off. Background extends outward; content stays in.
See file requirements
DPI (resolution)
What resolution do I need for printing?
The print standard is 300 DPI — 300 dots per inch. Screens only need 72 DPI, which is why an image taken from the internet looks fine on a monitor but prints soft and broken up. Enlarging an image afterwards does not restore detail that was never there.
A simple check: open the image at 100% zoom at the size it will print. If you can see pixels on screen, you will see them on paper. Large formats such as banners are fine at 150 DPI because they are viewed from a distance.
See file requirements
Vector and raster
What format should I send my logo in?
In vector format where possible: AI, EPS, SVG or a vector PDF. A vector file is built from mathematical curves rather than pixels, so it scales to any size without losing quality. JPG and PNG are raster formats and pixelate when enlarged.
The practical difference: the same logo in vector will be equally sharp on a business card and on a five-metre banner. In raster you need a separate high-resolution file for each size.
See file requirements
Fonts as outlines
Why do fonts need to be converted to outlines?
Converting to outlines (curves) turns text from letters into graphic shapes. You can no longer edit it, but it looks identical on any computer. If fonts are not converted and the printer does not have that typeface, the text is silently substituted and the layout falls apart.
In CorelDRAW: select the text → Convert to Curves. In Illustrator: Create Outlines. Exporting a PDF with fonts embedded works too. Save an editable copy of the file separately before you convert.
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Print-ready PDF
What makes a PDF print-ready?
A print-ready PDF meets four conditions: it is built at final print size, it has 3 mm bleed on every side, its colour mode is CMYK, and its fonts are converted to outlines or embedded. Images inside it should be 300 DPI at final size.
PDF is preferred because it opens the same way regardless of the program the artwork was made in. Print.az also accepts CorelDRAW (.cdr), AI, EPS and PSD files. Word, PowerPoint and Excel are not made for printing — fonts and sizes shift on a different machine.
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Safe area
What is the safe area?
The safe area is a margin inside the trim line; all text, logos and anything important must stay within it. Keep at least 3 mm. It is the opposite of bleed: bleed extends past the edge, the safe area pulls back from it.
A shift of a few tenths of a millimetre when cutting is normal. Type placed close to the edge either gets trimmed or looks cramped even when it doesn't. On bound work, allow a wider margin on the binding side — around 5 mm.
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Finishing
UV varnish
What is UV varnish and how does it differ from lamination?
UV varnish is a clear coating cured instantly under ultraviolet light. The difference from lamination is this: lamination is a film covering the whole surface, whereas UV varnish can be applied to selected areas only — just the logo, for instance.
Spot UV over a matt surface is particularly striking: the logo catches the light while everything else stays flat, creating a difference you both see and feel. Used on folders, catalogue covers and premium business cards.
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Die-cutting
Can a sticker be cut to any shape?
Yes. Die-cutting means cutting to any outline rather than a rectangle — the shape of a logo, a circle, a star or a complex silhouette. The cut line must be supplied in the artwork as a separate vector path so the machine can recognise it.
When preparing the file, draw the cut contour on its own layer and tell us it is there. Very thin protrusions are best avoided, as narrow sections break during application. Slightly rounded corners make a sticker last longer.
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Numbering and series
Why do accountability forms need numbering?
Numbering makes every form unique and makes a loss visible. If there is a gap in the sequence, it is immediately obvious that a form is missing. The series is a letter prefix that separates different batches or departments from one another.
Print.az numbers forms automatically during printing. You decide which number the sequence starts from — continuing your previous batch, for example. Book binding can be included in the order.
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Eyelet (grommet)
What is an eyelet on a banner?
An eyelet is a metal ring set into the edge of a banner. It lets you fix the banner with rope or ties, and stops the material tearing at the hole. Without eyelets a banner rips from its fixing point in the first strong wind.
They are usually spaced every 50 cm and always placed at the corners. Outdoors, and especially in exposed positions, closer spacing is safer. The banner edge is folded and reinforced first, then the eyelet is set.
Order a banner
Booklet and brochure
What is the difference between a booklet and a brochure?
A booklet is a single sheet folded once or several times — opened out, it is one continuous surface. A brochure is made of several separate pages that are bound together. The simple rule: booklets are folded, brochures are stitched.
For a short presentation, a list of services or a handout at an event, a booklet is enough and costs less. For a product catalogue, an annual report or a multi-page presentation you need a brochure. Past roughly 8 pages, moving to a brochure makes sense.
See corporate print products
Folding
What types of folding are there?
Folding is how the printed sheet is creased and bent. Three types cover most jobs: a half fold (two parts, four pages), a concertina or Z-fold (panels zigzagging), and a roll fold, where the outer panel tucks inside.
The fold changes the artwork directly: a panel that tucks inside must be a few millimetres narrower than the others, or it buckles when folded. Choose the fold before the design starts — changing it later means reworking the layout.
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Creasing (scoring)
What is creasing and when do you need it?
Creasing presses a shallow channel into the paper along the line where it will fold. The sheet then folds cleanly and straight. Fold heavy paper without creasing and the fibres break, leaving a crack or a white line along the fold.
Anything that folds and is heavier than roughly 170 gsm needs creasing: folders, invitations, heavy booklets, greeting cards. On laminated stock it matters even more, because the film makes the crack more visible.
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Perforation
What is perforation?
Perforation is a line of small cuts across the paper. Part of the sheet then tears away cleanly along a straight line, with no scissors — and until it is torn, the line holds firmly.
It is used on receipts, tickets, coupons and controlled forms: one part goes to the customer, the stub stays in the book as the record. Combined with numbering and a series, it makes every sheet traceable.
See controlled report forms
Binding
What binding methods are there?
Two are used most. Saddle stitch — pages are folded in half and stapled through the spine; cheap, slim, and right for 8 to 64 pages. Wire or plastic spiral — holes are punched along the edge and a coil is threaded through; the book opens fully and lies flat.
Catalogues and brochures usually take saddle stitch. Anything that has to stay open while it is used — manuals, notepads, calendars, menus — is more practical on a spiral. With saddle stitch the page count must divide by four, because every sheet gives four pages.
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