Common Export Mistakes That Cost You Time and Money
Print Lord has been receiving Canva files for years now, and while the tool has made design more accessible, it has also democratised a very specific kind of disaster: the export error.
These are not creative mistakes or design misjudgments. These are technical cock-ups that delay your job, cost you money in reprints, and make you look unprofessional. The frustrating part? Every single one is preventable.
Let Print Lord walk you through the most common export mistakes we see, what they cost you, and how to avoid them. Consider this your tough love guide to getting files right the first time.
Mistake 1: Exporting as PNG or JPG Instead of PDF Print
This is the big one. The mistake Print Lord sees more than any other, and the one that causes the most problems.
Someone designs a beautiful flyer in Canva, exports it as a PNG because that is what they use for social media, and sends it over expecting print perfection. What they get instead is a file that is the wrong size, missing bleed, at screen resolution rather than print resolution, and fundamentally unsuitable for professional printing.
JPG is even worse. Compressed, lossy, and never intended for print.
What it costs you: Delays while Print Lord contacts you to request the correct file. If you have already approved the wrong file and we print it, you get pixelated edges, no bleed, and a result that looks amateurish. Reprint costs fall on you.
How to avoid it: Always export as PDF Print. Not Standard PDF. Not PNG. Not JPG. PDF Print. It is the only format designed for professional printing. Canva has this option built in, you just need to select it.
Mistake 2: Missing Bleed
If Print Lord had a pound for every file that arrived with no bleed, we could retire tomorrow.
Bleed is the 3mm extension of your design beyond the trim edge. It exists because printing and cutting have tolerances. If your background colour or image stops exactly at the trim line, you risk white edges when the guillotine does its job.
What it costs you: If we catch it before printing, delays while you fix it. If we do not catch it, or if you insist it is fine, you get white slivers along the edges of your finished print. It looks terrible, and it is your fault, not ours.
How to avoid it: Set up bleed in Canva before you start designing. Extend your background colours and images to the bleed line (the red line in Canva). Do not stop at the trim edge. When you export, make sure the bleed option is ticked.
Mistake 3: Content Too Close to the Edge
This is the opposite problem, and just as common. Your design has bleed, brilliant, but your text or logo is 2mm from the trim edge.
Print tolerances mean that trim can shift slightly. If your important content is too close to the edge, it might get cut off, or at best, look cramped and uncomfortable.
What it costs you: Text or logos that are partially cut off, or uncomfortably close to the edge. It looks unprofessional and there is nothing Print Lord can do about it once it is printed. Reprint costs, again, are yours.
How to avoid it: Keep all important content at least 5mm inside the trim edge. This is called the safe area. Canva does not always show this clearly, so use guides or just be conservative. If it feels close, it is too close.
Mistake 4: Low Resolution Images
You found the perfect image on Google. You dropped it into Canva. It looks fine on screen. You export and send it to Print Lord. We zoom in and it is 72dpi, pixelated, and completely unusable for print.
Screen resolution is 72dpi. Print resolution is 300dpi. They are not the same, and your eyes cannot always tell the difference on a laptop screen.
What it costs you: Blurry, pixelated images in your printed work. If it is a photo-heavy piece like a brochure or poster, this ruins the entire job. Reprints, delays, and a finished product you are embarrassed to hand out.
How to avoid it: Only use high resolution images. Canva has a built-in library of print-quality images. If you upload your own, check the resolution before you use it. If Canva warns you that an image is low quality, believe it.
Mistake 5: Wrong File Dimensions
You need an A6 flyer. You set up a custom size in Canva that is roughly A6. Close enough, right?
Wrong. Print sizes are exact. A6 is 148mm x 105mm. If your file is 150mm x 107mm, it is not A6. It is a custom size that will either need resizing (which affects your layout) or printing on a larger sheet and trimmed down (which costs more).
What it costs you: Extra charges for non-standard sizes, or delays while you resize and resubmit. If we resize it for you, your carefully planned layout might not look the way you intended.
How to avoid it: Use standard print sizes. Canva has templates for A6, A5, A4, DL, etc. Use them. If you must use a custom size, double-check the dimensions with Print Lord before you start designing.
Mistake 6: Not Flattening Transparency
This one is sneaky. You use transparency effects in Canva, elements fading into each other, drop shadows, overlays. It looks great on screen. You export as PDF Print and send it over.
If the PDF is not flattened properly, those transparency effects can cause printing errors. Colours shift, effects disappear, or the file fails to process entirely.
What it costs you: Print errors, colour mismatches, or files that will not print at all. Delays while we troubleshoot or ask you to flatten and re-export.
How to avoid it: When exporting as PDF Print in Canva, make sure the flatten option is selected. This converts all transparency effects into solid elements that print reliably.
Mistake 7: Ignoring Crop Marks
Crop marks (also called trim marks) show the printer exactly where to cut. If your file does not have them, we have to guess, or add them ourselves, which takes time and introduces risk.
For simple jobs like flyers, we can manage without them. For complex jobs like multi-page brochures or anything with precise alignment, crop marks are essential.
What it costs you: Potential alignment errors, delays while we add marks, or trim that is not quite where you expected.
How to avoid it: Tick the crop marks option when you export as PDF Print in Canva. It takes one second and prevents problems.
Mistake 8: Exporting the Wrong Version
You make edits. You tweak the headline. You change a phone number. You export. You send it to Print Lord. We print it. You look at the finished job and realise you sent the old version.
This happens more often than you would think, and it is entirely avoidable.
What it costs you: Printing the wrong version means a complete reprint at your expense. There is no way to undo a printed job.
How to avoid it: Before you export, do a final visual check. Read every line. Check every detail. Make sure you are exporting the current, correct version. If you are unsure, export with a clear file name that includes a version number or date.
The Reality: These Mistakes Are All Preventable
Print Lord is not here to shame you for making mistakes. We have seen them all, from every kind of client, and we understand that print is technical and not everyone has done it before.
But here is the thing. Every mistake on this list is preventable. Every delay, every reprint, every extra cost, it all comes down to not following the export basics that Canva makes available to you.
Wrong file type? You chose PNG instead of PDF Print.
Missing bleed? You did not tick the box.
Low resolution images? You used a picture from Google instead of a proper stock library.
Wrong dimensions? You did not use a standard template.
Print Lord can guide you. We can check your files before they print. We can catch errors and save you from disasters. But we cannot fix mistakes that you send us as final, approved files and expect to print perfectly.
What Print Lord Does to Protect You
When you send Print Lord a file, we do not just hit print and hope for the best. We check it. We look for missing bleed, low resolution images, content too close to edges, wrong file types, incorrect dimensions.
If we spot a problem, we contact you. We explain what is wrong and what needs fixing. We give you the chance to get it right before it costs you money.
That is part of the service. That is what being on your side looks like. We guard your brand as if it were our own, and that means not printing files we know will disappoint you.
But we can only do this if you give us time. If you send a file at 4pm on Friday expecting it printed and delivered Monday morning, and it has missing bleed and low-res images, we have a problem. We will do what we can, but miracles have limits.
Your Export Checklist
Before you send any file to Print Lord, or any printer, run through this:
- 1. **File type:** PDF Print, not PNG or JPG
- **Bleed:** 3mm, ticked in export settings, background extends to bleed line
- **Safe area:** All important content at least 5mm inside trim edge
- **Image quality:** 300dpi, no low-res warnings in Canva
- **Dimensions:** Exact standard size (A6, A5, DL, etc.), not approximate
- **Transparency:** Flattened in export settings
- **Crop marks:** Ticked in export settings
- **Correct version:** Final check before export, clear file name
If you can honestly tick every box on that list, your file is print-ready. If you cannot, fix it before you send it.
The Bottom Line
Export mistakes cost you time and money. They delay your job, they force reprints, and they make you look less professional than you are.
The good news? They are all preventable. Canva gives you the tools to export correctly. This guide gives you the knowledge. All you need to do is slow down, follow the steps, and get it right the first time.
And if you are ever unsure, ask Print Lord before you export. We would much rather answer a question at the start than fix a problem at the end.
On brand. On time. And with no expensive, avoidable mistakes.
That is the Print Lord promise, and we are here to help you keep it.