Updated October 14, 2026. Written for DesignCraft 0.7.1 (what changed since).
In DesignCraft, set the bleed when you create the document (or later in File › Document Setup), stretch every edge-to-edge picture and color block out to the red bleed line, then choose File › Export PDF… and pick the PDF/X-4 preset. That preset turns on crop marks and bleed marks, and Include document bleed is already ticked. The file downloads to your computer, ready for a print shop that accepts PDF/X-4. The one thing it can't do is PDF/X-1a; more on that below.
Set the bleed before you export
Bleed is the strip of picture or background beyond the trimmed edge. The cut is never exactly on the line, so anything meant to touch the edge has to run past it, or a white sliver shows. An eighth of an inch is the usual amount in the US and 3 mm elsewhere, but the printer's spec sheet wins.
In the New Document dialog, type the bleed into the Bleed field: 0p9 (9 points, an eighth of an inch) for the Letter presets, which measure in picas, or 3mm for the A sizes. For a document that already exists, open File › Document Setup, which also has a slug setting if you want room for notes outside the bleed. A red line appears outside the page edge.
Setting a bleed only makes room. You still have to drag background shapes and full-bleed picture frames out to that red line, or the PDF will have a bleed area that is empty white paper, which is exactly what bleed is meant to prevent. Text goes the other way: keep it inside the magenta margin guides so it is safe from the cut.
Run Preflight
Open Window › Output › Preflight before exporting. It lists the problems a print shop would otherwise find for you:
- Overset text, meaning a frame holds more text than it shows. The hidden words won't print.
- Missing fonts or glyphs. In the browser this matters more than usual: the web build has five fonts (Source Serif 4, Source Sans 3, Inter, JetBrains Mono and BIZ UDPGothic) and draws any other font with a substitute.
- Missing or low-resolution pictures, flagged below 150 ppi by default.
- RGB content in a print document, which PDF/X-4 accepts (see below), so treat it as a note.
- Empty text frames, usually leftovers.
The Export PDF settings
- Save first. File › Save downloads a .designcraft copy. The browser version has no autosave.
- Choose File › Export PDF… and set Preset to PDF/X-4.
- Check Page Range (all pages unless you need fewer) and leave Spreads off unless the printer asked for spreads.
- Check Marks and Bleeds. Include document bleed, Crop Marks and Bleed Marks should be ticked. Tick Page Information if you want the file name and date printed in the margin.
- Export. The PDF downloads with the document's name.
Each preset is a starting point that sets a few fields; change any other field and the preset name switches to Custom.
| Preset | Standard | Crop and bleed marks | Compress images | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop Printing | None | Off | Off | Printing at home or the office |
| Commercial Printing | None | On | On | A printer with no PDF/X requirement |
| PDF/X-4 | PDF/X-4 | On | Off | Print shops that accept PDF/X-4 |
| Screen and Email | None | Off | On, transparency flattened at low resolution | Sending a proof by email |
| PDF/A-2b | PDF/A-2b | Off | Off | Archiving |
The marks are 0.25 pt lines placed 6 pt away from the trim, set in the Weight and Offset fields. Tagged PDF under Advanced is on by default and adds a reading-order structure (stories as paragraphs, pictures with their alt text).
What the PDF/X-4 file contains
PDF/X is a family of rules for print files: fonts embedded, colors defined for a press, page boxes declared. A DesignCraft PDF/X-4 is a PDF 1.6 file with a TrimBox at the page edge and a BleedBox at the bleed, so the printer's software knows where to cut. Fonts are embedded as subsets and text stays real, selectable text. The crop and bleed marks are drawn in the Registration color, so they appear on every printing plate.
Color is where PDF/X-4 differs from older standards. It keeps transparency live and lets RGB in when the RGB is color-managed. DesignCraft writes its own Generic CMYK profile as the file's output intent, and an RGB photo without a profile of its own is tagged as sRGB, so the printer's system converts it to ink. That is why you don't need to convert photos to CMYK before placing them.
When the printer asks for something else
PDF/X-1a. Some printers still ask for it. PDF/X-1a is the older standard: based on PDF 1.4, with transparency flattened and no color management. DesignCraft doesn't write X-1a or X-3, because that needs a transparency flattener the app doesn't have yet; its developers list it as an open gap. Ask the printer whether PDF/X-4 is acceptable. If it isn't, the file has to go through an app that writes X-1a, such as Scribus or Affinity (compared in free InDesign alternatives).
A specific color profile. If the spec names a profile such as GRACoL or FOGRA39, you can't pick it: the output intent is always DesignCraft's built-in Generic CMYK. Send the X-4 file and tell the printer which profile is in it, so they can decide whether to convert it.
A .joboptions preset. These are InDesign and Acrobat preset files. DesignCraft can't load them, so set the bleed, marks and standard by hand from the printer's spec sheet.
Spreads. If a shop asks for reader spreads (facing pages side by side, in reading order), tick Spreads. If you are printing and folding a booklet yourself, use File › Print Booklet… instead, covered in how to make a booklet or zine.
Check the PDF before you send it
Open the downloaded file in any PDF viewer and zoom in on a corner. The crop marks should sit just outside the page; the picture or background should continue past them to the bleed marks. If you see a white band between the trim and the bleed marks, the background frame stops at the page edge. Scroll through every page for substituted fonts (the text looks wider or in a different face than you chose) and for missing pictures.
DesignCraft's developers test its PDF/X-4 output against their own list of requirements (a trim box on every page, no Type 3 fonts, no unmanaged RGB), but not yet with an external validator such as veraPDF or callas. For a first order with a new printer, ask them to confirm the file passes their preflight before the run.
If the job is a single page, the flyer guide covers the layout side. Then the send-off list is short: bleed set and filled, Preflight clean, PDF/X-4 with crop marks, one look at a corner in the viewer.