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OK, this is going to be a steep learning curve for most people. So you need to have a comfy chair, a coffee handy (maybe a cookie too!) and some patience. We're going to take you on a little trip down the road of desktop publishing. It can get a little bumpy now and then, but you'll make it through with our help.

Many customers ask us for tips on designing Business Cards, Brochures and Letterheads! The following four articles will be covering the most common mistakes made.

Wrong Page size. Yeah, it sounds like it would be a hard mistake to make, but this is one of the most common mistakes we see. In many cases the designer is in a rush to begin the project and starts with the default page size of the program. This is normally A4 or Letter size.

This is a problem when supplying to a printer, since many times they have automatic 'imposition' or layout applications to place your job on a 'press sheet'. When the page size is incorrect it means it won't position it correctly and can cause it to be cut at the wrong position. Obviously, you don't want this! The printer then has to re-adjust the size of the page manually, before the design is submitted to the 'imposition engine'. If there's a few pages this takes a little time, but If there's a lot of pages, it can take a long time! Even if it is seemingly little time to edit it, the printers will charge for it. (they have massive overheads!) However you'll probably find that the printers will simply reject the job and ask for it to be resupplied.

The solution? Call or email your print provider - before you start your project! Ask them about the exact dimensions for the final product. Then simply type that into your design application. This is usually under 'Document Setup' or "page Settings' in most programs. However, if you're doing it in Adobe Photoshop or another 'pixel based' application, you'll need to make the document larger again to account for bleed. We'll explain what bleed is in the next article.

Yes it's not rocket science, but unfortunately it is a very common mistake we see in Business Cards, Brochures and Letterheads! That's why we made it mistake #1.