Export your poster to PDF

When you are finished with the design of your poster, it's time to send it to the printer. But before you send it, you have to export the poster file to PDF, so that it is ready for the printing process! Before you export your file to PDF, make sure you added bleed to your document. This is the area outside the document edge. It gives the printer a small amount of space to account for movement of the paper and design inconsistencies. You can read here how to do this for various tools. After that come back here and export your file to PDF. On this page you can find how to do this for various tools. 

Check it for the tool of your choice:

Adobe Illustrator

  1. In Adobe Illustrator, go to the top navigation bar (with 'File, Edit, Object, etc...').
  2. Go to File > Save As.
  3. In the 'Format' dropdown menu, select 'Adobe PDF (pdf)'.
  4. Give your file a clear name and click Save.
  5. Next to 'Adobe PDF Preset:' select 'Press Quality' from the dropdown menu.
  6. In the left menu (with 'General, Compression, etc. ...') select 'Marks and Bleeds'.
  7. Under 'Bleeds' check 'use Document Bleed Settings'. This is the bleed you used in your document (see ...).
  8. Click 'Save PDF'.  

Microsoft PowerPoint

  1. In PowerPoint, go to the top navigation bar > File.
  2. Choose 'Export...'.
  3. In the 'File Format' dropwdown menu, pick PDF.
  4. After naming your file, click 'Export'.

Affinity Designer

  1. Go to the top navigation bar > File.
  2. Choose 'Export'.
  3. In the popup menu, select the PDF icon.
  4. For 'Preset' choose 'PDF (for print)'.
  5. For 'Raster DPI' choose '300'.
  6. Check 'Include bleed'.
  7. Click 'Export'.