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Final design checks happen in two halves when you use our online designer. The designer itself scans for layout problems and won’t let you carry on while anything serious is outstanding. The other half is yours: reading every word and number, because the item gets made exactly as it looks on your screen. Tick the confirm box and the design goes with your order as it stands, with no back-and-forth afterwards, which is why production can begin as soon as you’ve paid.
Why the tick box matters #
While you design, your browser builds the actual print file: the finished size plus bleed, with all the lettering turned into outlines so nothing shifts between screen and print. That file is what we use. So when you tick, you’re confirming that you’ve checked the spelling, the phone numbers and any registration or ID numbers, that the details you typed are your responsibility, and that you’re happy for us to print it (or hand over its print file) exactly as it appears.
Put simply: software can spot a logo hanging off the edge. It has no idea whether your mobile ends 42 or 24.
Uploaded artwork is different
If you upload your own print-ready file instead, a person looks over every one for free, checking resolution, size and bleed. That check is about the file being printable, not about your wording, so the same rule applies: the words are yours to get right. See our artwork guidelines for file set-up.
The automatic final design checks #
At the foot of the designer sits a Checks button with a running count. Items flagged in red block the finish button until they’re sorted, and the screen tells you so. Amber items are suggestions you can take or leave. Next to every message is a “Show me” link that jumps to and selects the offending item.
| Red (you can’t go on until fixed) | Amber (worth a second look) |
|---|---|
| Placeholder wording left in, like “YOUR COMPANY LTD” or “01234 567890” | Anything past the dashed safe line, where it might be trimmed or folded into a hem |
| A logo or photo frame with nothing in it | Images that will print under 100 dpi on big items or 150 dpi on small ones |
| Lettering too tiny to print cleanly, such as under 6 pt (roughly 2.1 mm) on labels | Words that blend into the colour behind them |
| Text crossing the cut line, or items sitting off the design altogether | Overlaps with text, wording across a fold, or text in the strip of a roller banner that disappears into its base |
| A completely blank side | Hairline outlines too thin to show, or a line of text repeated |
It also flags phone numbers containing letters or the wrong number of digits (UK numbers have 10 or 11), plus email and web addresses that look unfinished. What it doesn’t do is spell-check. That part of the final design checks is all you.
Three ways to look at it #
Open the final check window, titled “Check and finish your design”, and you’ll find three tabs:
- Preview. Each side laid flat, with a red cut line and the finished size printed underneath.
- Mock-up. The design shown as the real thing: a banner with eyelets on a wall, a roller banner on its stand, a stack of cards, sheets lying on a desk.
- Actual size for small items. On most screens it shows the design at about life size, next to the outline of a bank card (85.6 × 54 mm) for comparison. Banners and other big items get To scale instead, which puts your design next to a 1.75 m tall figure.
Beside the tabs, a summary confirms the product, the size, whether both sides are printed, and what the print file will be: a PDF at finished size, with bleed and outlined text.
Please use Actual size on anything small. A phone number that looked chunky while you were zoomed in can shrink to a squint on a PAT test pass label that’s only 51 × 25 mm.
Your seven-point list #
- Read it slowly, then backwards. Going line by line from the bottom stops your brain autocorrecting what it expects to see.
- Check phone numbers digit by digit against a real source, like the contacts on your phone, not from memory.
- Test the web and email addresses. Type them into a browser or a new email and see if they work.
- Match registration and company numbers to the certificate or official record.
- Confirm size and sides. Is it the size you meant to buy, and the right number of printed sides?
- Hand it to someone else. A fresh pair of eyes catches the typo yours have read past six times.
- Expect a little colour shift. Screens glow; paper and vinyl don’t. Colours can look slightly different once printed, and CMYK vs RGB for print explains why.
Once it’s ticked #
Tick “I confirm this design”, then press Confirm and attach to my order. The window switches to “Confirmed and attached”, and from there you can put the item in your basket or head back to the product options. Quantity and turnaround can still be changed. The design itself can’t, unless you reopen the designer, edit it and confirm it again.
In the basket you’ll see a thumbnail and an artwork line reading “Designed online by you”, with no charge for it. On-screen previews carry a small “FatPrint preview” watermark; the print file never does. When your order is paid, the full-resolution PDF is attached and you can download it from My Account. If all you want is the file, without printing, the finished screen offers that as a separate option too.
If you change your mind #
Anything made to your design is personalised, so it can’t be sent back just because you’ve changed your mind. That’s an exemption set out in regulation 28 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. You can still cancel for a full refund before production starts. And if your order turns up faulty, damaged or not matching the design you made, tell us within 48 hours with photos and we’ll reprint or refund. Full terms are on our returns and refunds page, and what happens after you order covers the next stage.
The same final check window appears on business cards, flyers, labels, signs and every other product with the designer. First time using it? Start with the free banner designer walkthrough or uploading your logo, then come back here for your final design checks.