Printing errors go viral all the time—usually for an overlooked typo or unfortunate copy choice. The argument could even be made that these mistakes wind up being a good thing for a business, since all publicity is good publicity, or so the adage goes. But the reality is, print jobs can go wrong in far more frustrating and costly ways, Without preflight software to catch issues early, formatting errors, missing bleed, bad image resolution, and scaling mistakes can lead to ruined prints, wasted materials, and expensive reprints—not to mention potential embarrassment if the project is high-profile. 

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour Book is a prime example of a high-profile printing project going awry. When she decided to forego major publishing companies to self-publish this book through Taylor Swift Publications, she also gave up the benefit of well-established proofing and preflight processes. The result was thousands of copies of a book riddled with errors: blurry images, text bleeding off pages, and even entire books printed upside down. Fans took to social media to highlight these mistakes—dubbing it “The Errors Tour Book”—turning what should have been a collector’s item into an example of what happens when print quality isn’t properly checked. 

Luckily, this doesn’t have to happen to you. If Taylor Swift Publications had used preflight software, they could’ve caught many of their formatting errors prior to printing. By integrating preflight checks into your workflow, you can avoid costly mistakes, protect your brand’s reputation, and ensure every print job meets professional standards.

The Most Common (and Costly) Print Errors

If you’ve ever prepped a file for print, you know it’s not always as simple as clicking “Save as PDF” and calling it a day. A file that looks perfect on screen can turn into a disaster when printed. Suddenly, you’re looking at blurry images, muted colors, awkwardly cropped edges, or fonts that mysteriously change. It’s frustrating, it’s expensive, and worst of all, you usually don’t realize something went wrong until after the job is printed. 

Fortunately, preflight software can save you from the most common print errors that can sneak up on you.

1. Incorrect Resolution & Pixelated Images

Stop me if you’ve ever heard this before: “But…it looked fine on my screen!”

These are the famous last words of anyone who’s ever had a print job ruined by a low-resolution image. On a computer screen, even a 72dpi image might look crisp because monitors display images differently than high-resolution printers. However, when that same image is printed at 300dpi, its physical dimensions shrink if the pixel count remains the same—leading to unexpected scaling issues. If enlarged to match the intended print size, the image loses clarity, resulting in jagged edges and fuzzy graphics.

Why do the images in your final product suck? There are a few possible culprits. First, if an image was copied and pasted from a website, it likely isn’t high-resolution. Web images are optimized for fast loading, which means they have low pixel density—great for screens, but not for print. The problem gets even worse when you try to scale up a small image. Unlike vector graphics, which can be resized infinitely, raster images (like JPEGs and PNGs) lose quality when enlarged, resulting in pixelation and blurriness.

Another potential issue is color mode. If the file was designed in RGB instead of CMYK, pixelation tends to be less noticeable on your screen but more pronounced in print. This happens because RGB uses light to create colors, while CMYK uses ink, which can reveal flaws that weren’t obvious on a digital display. Without preflight checks, these subtle mistakes can slip through, only becoming painfully obvious when the final prints arrive.

2. Color Mismatches (RGB vs. CMYK)

Speaking of color—have you ever printed a file expecting bright, vibrant colors, only to end up with something dull and lifeless? That’s yet another instance of the RGB vs. CMYK problem in action.

The digital world and the physical world are two entirely different locations, and the way color is handled is proof of that (just in case you thought we were living in The Matrix). When working on a project, you are designing in RGB mode. Before printing, you’re supposed to convert files to CYMK before exporting the file. If you send the file to print in RGB mode, it becomes the printer’s responsibility to convert the colors to CYMK, and I’m sure you can imagine how good it is at doing that. Needless to say your print is going to look a little different than you intended.

Of course, even if you do convert your file to CMYK, certain colors (especially bright, neon, or highly saturated hues) cannot be replicated exactly with CMYK inks. This means your vibrant digital colors may look dull or different in print, even if they were technically converted correctly.

Color mismatches—even subtle differences—can completely alter the look and feel of a print job. This is especially bad for brand colors, where consistency is essential. A logo that prints in the wrong shade? That’s a reprint. A marketing campaign where the colors don’t match across materials? That’s a reprint. Even the smallest color inconsistencies can get expensive to correct.

3. Scaling & Cropping Errors

When designing for print, it’s easy to focus on what’s happening in the center of the layout—the main text, the imagery, the elements that grab attention. But what about the edges? You might spend hours fine-tuning a design, making sure everything looks perfect on screen—only to receive the final print and realize some text was cut off or there’s an awkward white border around the edges. When preparing a file for print, one of the most common mistakes is not accounting for bleed and trim lines. 

Bleed ensures that background colors or images extend slightly beyond the final trim line, so there’s no risk of an unintended white border. Without it, even the slightest shift in the cutting process can result in thin, unprofessional-looking edges or designs that look incomplete. 

Even with proper bleed, you still do not want to place text or key design elements too close to the edge. Even if the file is the correct size, printers need a safety margin to ensure that nothing critical gets trimmed off. If a logo, headline, or important detail is too close to the trim line, part of it could get cut off.

Exporting the wrong print size can cause unintended cropping or white space, as well. If the document is resized improperly or doesn’t match the printer’s specifications, elements may be stretched, shrunken, or misaligned when printed. This becomes especially noticeable for larger prints like banners and posters. With these designs, an inch or two of lost space can make a huge difference in how the design appears.

4. Font & Formatting Problems

Fonts are like Pokémon—you want to collect them all. But just like an elusive legendary Pokémon, a missing font can cause chaos when it’s time to print. You might spend hours perfecting your typography, only to discover that your sleek, modern font has mysteriously transformed into Times New Roman or, even worse, that some text has vanished entirely. 

Why does this happen? When a font isn’t properly embedded in the file or if the printer doesn’t have the same typeface installed, the software will substitute the missing font with whatever is available—usually something generic and completely off-brand. In some cases, text might not print at all, leaving behind the kind of blank spaces Taylor loves to sing about. 

Automated Preflighting is More Reliable than Manual Checks

If you’re relying on manually reviewing your print files, there are two undeniable truths you have to contend with: it’s a time-consuming process and human error is all but inevitable. You might remember to double-check image resolution but forget to extend the bleed. You could remember to convert to CYMK but forget to properly rasterize a file. Even if you remember 99% of what you need to do, just one little oversight can mess up a print job. 

How Preflight Software Prevents These Mistakes

Preflight software streamlines and automates the preflight process, ensuring nothing is overlooked in your rush to get a file to print. Instead of manually scanning through layers of a design, hoping to catch potential errors, preflight tools automate the process, ensuring every file meets printer specifications.

Preflight software prevents common printing issues like white borders or cut-off designs by intelligently extending—rather than stretching—artwork past the required margins. This ensures a seamless, professional final product without requiring designers to manually adjust every file.

Built-in crop marks further streamline the preflight process by ensuring that each file is correctly formatted for cutting and finishing. Without proper crop marks, a print shop may misalign trims, leading to off-center elements or unintended borders. Preflight software eliminates these risks by automatically embedding crop marks, so printers can produce accurate cuts with every job.

Let Ashore Preflights Handle the Details

Print errors are embarrassing, costly, and completely avoidable. From missing bleed and pixelated images to font substitutions and improper scaling, even the smallest mistake can throw off an entire print job. Ashore Preflights takes the guesswork out of preparing print-ready files, ensuring every detail is optimized before production begins.

Ashore Preflights takes the hassle out of print preparation with automatic bleed extension, built-in crop marks, and lightning-fast processing. It streamlines your workflow, eliminates manual errors, and saves you valuable time. Whether you’re creating banners, packaging, signage, or high-volume marketing materials, Ashore Preflights ensures your files are flawless and print-ready the first time around.

Why risk costly reprints? With Ashore Preflights, you can review, optimize, and finalize print files in a fraction of the time. Try it today and make print prep the easiest part of your workflow!