How to export a print-ready PDF, step by step

A print-ready PDF is really just one dialog filled in correctly, once. Get the settings sheet a printer wants — PDF/X-4, CMYK, bleed, marks — and your file sails through preflight without a single email back and forth. Here is the exact recipe in Popcorn Editor.

Before you export#

Three things should already be true before you open the export dialog. If they are, everything below is just clicking:

• Color mode is CMYK (print). Set it under View → Color mode. Printing is done with ink, and CMYK soft-proofs your colors on screen so what you see is close to press output. Spot colors also only separate from a CMYK document.
• Bleed is set. Open File → Document setup… and add your bleed (usually 3 mm). Turn on View → Show bleed and make sure every background runs all the way to the red guide.
• Images are at final size. In a CMYK document the editor flags any image whose effective resolution drops below 300 PPI, right on the canvas. Clear those warnings before you export.

If any of that is unfamiliar, read What "print-ready" really means and RGB vs CMYK first — they cover the mental model this recipe assumes.

Open the Export dialog#

Click Download in the Share split-button (it's also in the File menu). That opens the Export design dialog. Under Output Format, choose PDF.

If your document is already in CMYK, Popcorn Editor opens straight to the PDF/print tab for you.

Choose the color space#

Set Color space → Print (CMYK). The hint under it confirms what you're getting:

Production CMYK PDF (PDF/X) of the selected canvas, color-managed on the server.

The other option, Digital (RGB), builds an editable RGB PDF in your browser — great for screen proofs or opening in Illustrator, but not what a commercial press wants. For print, stay on Print (CMYK).

Pick an output profile#

The Output profile dropdown decides which ICC profile your colors are rendered against:

The rule is simple: ask your print service which profile they want. They print to a known condition every day and will tell you. Match it and your colors land where you expect.

Set the PDF/X standard#

Under PDF/X standard, choose PDF/X-4. It's the supported standard here, and the right one for modern work: it keeps live transparency intact and embeds the output profile so the press knows exactly how to interpret your colors.

Confirm the bleed#

The Bleed field is seeded from your Document setup value, so it usually already reads 3 mm. It's editable per export if a particular job needs more — the field accepts up to 20 mm. Whatever your printer specified, make it match here.

Turn on crop & registration marks#

Enable Crop & registration marks. Crop marks show the press where to cut; registration marks let them align the CMYK plates. A Mark offset field appears (default 3 mm) that pushes the marks clear of the trim so they never sit inside your artwork.

Turn marks on for any commercial print job. For a quick print on your own desktop printer, you can leave them off.

Text: outline or keep it editable#

By default text is emitted as selectable runs. You have two knobs:

• Outline text converts every character to vector outlines on the server — RIP-safe, no font reliance. Nothing can substitute the wrong font at the printer because there are no fonts left, only shapes. This is the safe default for handoff.
• Editable text (best effort) keeps text selectable so it can be edited in Illustrator or InDesign. Spacing is approximate, and some effects (drop shadows, gradient fills, sheared or clipped text) flatten or outline anyway.

Pick Outline text unless your printer specifically asks for editable text.

Set the image resolution#

Some parts of a design must rasterize — gradients, effects, and placed images. The Image resolution dropdown controls their resolution: Auto, 150, 300, or 600. 300 is the safe default for hand-held print like cards, labels and flyers. Reach for 600 only for very fine detail, or 150 for large-format pieces viewed from a distance.

Leave overprint on#

Keep Overprint / rich black enabled. It handles overprinting inks and rich black correctly — important so that technical inks (die lines, varnish, white ink) mark the sheet without knocking a hole in the artwork beneath. Leave it on unless your printer tells you otherwise.

Exporting more than one canvas#

If you selected several canvases, a Multiple canvases choice appears:

• Single PDF (pages) — one multi-page PDF, one canvas per page.
• Separate files (ZIP) — a separate PDF per canvas, bundled into a zip.

Choose whichever your printer prefers for the job.

Read the Print checks#

Just above the export button, the Print checks panel lists anything worth a second look before you commit — images below 300 PPI, spot colors that would flatten or rasterize, spot names that collide, and ink-handling notes. For example:

2 image(s) below 300 PPI (lowest 180 PPI) — may print soft or pixelated.

This panel is informational and never blocks the export — but treat it as your last line of defense. Fix the warnings here rather than discovering them on the proof. If it mentions a spot color being lost or rasterized, that's usually a sign to double-check your color mode or the object's effects. For the full list of what it catches, see the preflight checks reference in the docs.

Export#

Click Export print PDF. The RIP runs entirely in your browser — no upload, no saved-design requirement — and the button reads Generating print PDF… while it works. When it finishes, the file downloads automatically, named with a -print.pdf suffix.

That's it: a PDF/X-4, CMYK, bleed-and-marks file color-managed to your printer's profile. Hand it off with confidence.

Where to go next#

For a field-by-field reference to every control in this dialog, see The Export dialog. To go deeper on the production side — output profiles, marks and rich black — read Exporting a print-ready PDF.