Understanding Print Tolerances at Printed.com

At Printed.com, we take great pride in delivering high-quality printed products. However, it's important to understand that within the printing and finishing process, certain industry-standard tolerances must be allowed for. These tolerances are common across the industry and result from the physical limitations of printing and finishing machinery.

Standard Tolerances by Product Type:

• Flat Products: 1–2mm

• Folded Products: 1–2mm
  Note: The lip of the fold should always appear on the back of the product, not the front.

• Foiling: 2–3mm

• Stickers: 1–2mm

Why Do Tolerances Occur?

During production, very slight movements can happen at each stage—whether printing, trimming, scoring, or folding. While these movements are minimal, they can accumulate, especially on jobs that go through multiple finishing processes.

• Printing Press Movement: Known in the industry as an X/Y axis shift, even a 1mm misalignment can become more pronounced after further processing.

• Finishing Variations: Guillotines, folders, and other finishing devices also have a small mechanical tolerance. If a sheet is even slightly off during one step, each subsequent step (like folding or trimming) can increase the visible discrepancy.

What This Means for Your Order

While we work hard to minimise these variations through regular maintenance and calibration, it's important to note that:

• Minor alignment issues within the tolerances above are considered acceptable and expected within industry standards.

• In such cases, reprints or refunds may not be offered following our investigation, unless the issue exceeds the allowed tolerances or is clearly a fault beyond expected mechanical variation.

We are committed to delivering the best possible quality and take any concerns seriously. If your order appears to be outside of these tolerances, please reach out to our customer service team with photos and details for review.