Files made with AI

AI tools such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, Gemini or Canva make striking images fast. But they make them for screens, not for print. Before it goes to press, an AI-made file almost always needs checking and a little work.

Low resolution

Most AI images come out at about 1024 to 2048 pixels on the long side. At 300 dpi that is enough for roughly 8.7 to 17.3 cm: fine for a business card or a small flyer, not for a poster or banner. AI upscaling helps photos a little, but it often invents detail and cannot fix blurry lettering. Check the size with the pixel calculator.

Unreadable lettering

AI draws letters rather than typing them. That is why you often get spelling mistakes, letters that don't exist and words that are simply unreadable, especially in Greek. Because the text is part of the image, we cannot correct spelling mistakes, wrong digits or words: it cannot be edited or converted to curves, and at small sizes it blurs. To change it, it has to be retyped from scratch in design software. See also text sizes.

Important. Check every word letter by letter, along with the phone number and address. One wrong digit in a phone number prints on every copy.

No bleed or safe margins

AI doesn't know where the print will be cut. It puts text and key elements right up to the edge, and the image has no bleed. The proportions are often wrong too: a square image will not fit a 90×50 mm business card without being cropped or stretched. Print needs text at least 3 mm inside the edge and 3 mm of bleed. See Bleed and safe margins.

Flaws that slip through

• Distortions: hands with the wrong number of fingers, warped objects, faces that seem to melt.
• Lines that should be straight: frames, boxes and tables with wavy or uneven lines.
• Altered logos: give AI your logo and it often redraws it with different colours, letters or proportions.
• Fake marks and watermarks: half-erased logos of other companies, signatures or text in the background.
• Repetition and noise: repeating patterns, fuzzy edges, smudges in flat colour areas.

Many of these go unnoticed on a phone screen. On paper, and especially at large sizes, they all show.

Logos made with AI

An AI logo is an image (pixels), not vector, so it will not scale cleanly for a sign or shop window. It may also look like a logo that already exists. To use it properly, it needs to be redrawn as vector. See Vector or image?.

Important. Don't ask AI to "fix" your existing logo. Send us the original file so it stays the same on everything you print.

Mockups can't be printed

AI often produces mockups: the label already on a jar, bottle or box, with perspective, shadows and reflections. That is a presentation image, not a print file: we cannot print labels from a mockup. We need the flat label artwork at final size, with 3 mm of bleed and text at least 3 mm inside the edge.

Colour

AI images are RGB and are often very vivid, almost neon. Converted to CMYK, they come out softer. See Colour: RGB, CMYK and what prints.

How to do it right

1. Ask the AI for the image in the right proportions (for example landscape for a business card) and at the largest size it offers.
2. Leave empty space for the text. Don't ask the AI to write names, phone numbers or addresses.
3. Add the text and your logo afterwards in design software, or leave that to us.
4. Send us the file to check. We can set it up for print: bleed, margins, text and a vector logo.