Quick question: I've designed a print material in Figma using the brand components quickly without going between Illustrator. Can I create outlines, export pdf, and send them to print production? Exports are not CMYK, but I don't want to design again in Illustrator.
I actually use Figma a lot for print for a physical/ecomm side project I’m working on. Hypermatic has a plugin which lets you export to CMYK hypermatic.com/tinyimage/
How does it handle cross hairs and cut marks? Does it do preflight? How does it convert the pixels measurement of Figma into metric or imperial standards for printing? How do you set the screen (dots in different angles accumulating CMYK for colours) ratio?
Not sure about all that but I’ve had no issues with printing since using it. I do the conversion form metric to pixels before touching Figma and then just use the pixel equivalent in Figma. For what I’m doing I only use three frames so it’s set it and forget it sort of.
Of course you can print from Figma-created materials. You just have no control over the result whatsoever. Say you want to use 100% Cyan as a colour backdrop on a A5 postcard layout: You’ll find it impossible to have the printshop cut the card without white borders flashing.
There are several non-trivial issues with using Figma for actual print production: Figma has no built in accurate pixel to ppt conversion and doesn’t support metric or imperial measurements. 1/2
There are no crosshairs, edge cut margins or colour measure, although you could mimic them manually. A color conversion would have to be done with Adobe Acrobat Pro, or a preflight software. In any case, it cannot be printed „as is“ ewith the expectation of a usable outcome. 2/3
I have produced brand material using Figma, but only for PDF-output of a logo or graphical element. Affinity Publisher or Designer are a solid Alternative to Adobe, they can import PDF and can produce print-ready pre-flights. affinity.serif.com/en-us/publishe…
Unfortunately, Affinity was recently acquired by Canva, so its professional market future is uncertain. But for now it still works all as advertised.
I’ve yet to see a convincing rationale for why one should be using Figma for print. And by print I’m not talking of just being able to print what’s on a frame on the office printer, mean something that’s going to a commercial printer. I’m open to the conversation…
