Print vs Screen Design
Designing for print requires an entirely different mindset than designing for glowing digital monitors. On the web, file sizes must be as small as possible to ensure fast loading. In commercial printing, file weight is secondary to pixel density, bit depth, and color gamuts.
The Gold Standard: TIFF
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) remains the gold standard for high-end photography and graphic reproduction. TIFF supports lossless LZW and ZIP compression, 16-bit color depth, and CMYK color separation.
Handling Camera RAW for Print
When photographers shoot on location, they capture in RAW to retain maximum dynamic range. Before submitting images to print layouts, RAW captures must be decoded at maximum fidelity.
If your original captures are Canon RAW files, convert CR3 to JPG using Print quality (95) to preserve fine texture, shadow gradations, and highlight details before pre-press screening.
Understanding Resolution and 300 DPI
Physical commercial offset and digital presses require an effective resolution of 300 DPI (dots per inch) at 100% reproduction scale. A 4x6 inch print at 300 DPI requires at least 1200x1800 pixels.