--- title: "What Are Registration Marks in Printing? - CE.SDK Glossary" description: "Registration marks are the targets outside the trim that line up every color plate. See how they differ from crop marks and how CE.SDK adds them to PDFs." url: "https://img.ly/glossary/registration-marks/" type: "page" --- > This is the markdown version of [What Are Registration Marks in Printing? - CE.SDK Glossary](https://img.ly/glossary/registration-marks/). For all pages in one file, see [llms-full.txt](https://img.ly/llms-full.txt). For an index of all available pages, see [llms.txt](https://img.ly/llms.txt). --- # Registration Marks ## What Are Registration Marks? Registration marks are small targets printed outside the trim of a press sheet. Every color plate prints them in the same spot, so the press operator can adjust cyan, magenta, yellow, and black until their targets sit exactly on top of each other. When the plates line up, the target prints as one crisp black mark, and the artwork's colors sit in register with it. CE.SDK can include registration marks in a PDF export, along with the [crop marks](https://img.ly/glossary/crop-marks.md) that show where to cut. They matter on any job where colors print against each other, or where a later step, such as a foil stamp, has to land on the print. ## What Do Registration Marks Look Like? The usual shape is a crosshair inside a circle, placed in the margin outside the trim. Some shops use the lines of the crop marks as their registration target instead. ## What Is Misregistration in Printing? Misregistration is when one color plate prints out of line with the others, so its color separates from the rest. Registration marks make that shift visible before the run continues, because a target with a colored fringe instead of a single black mark tells the operator the plates need adjusting. ### Colored edges Edges pick up a colored ghost where one ink sits off its neighbors. ### Doubled photos Photos get the doubled look familiar from newspaper color pages. ### Blurred graphics A shift of a fraction of a millimeter is enough to blur multi-color graphics. ## Registration Marks vs. Crop Marks Crop marks show where to trim, and registration marks line up the plates. Both sit outside the trim with a few other printer's marks, and all of them are cut away when the sheet is trimmed. - **Crop marks**: What it looks like: Short lines at each corner, What it's for: Show where to trim - **Registration marks**: What it looks like: A crosshair in a circle, What it's for: Line up the color plates - **Bleed marks**: What it looks like: Fine lines at the edge of the bleed, What it's for: Show how far the bleed runs - **Color bars**: What it looks like: A strip of CMYK and gray patches, What it's for: Check ink density and gray balance - **Page information**: What it looks like: File name, page number, date, and plate, What it's for: Identify the file and each plate ### Keep registration color for marks The marks use a special color, usually called registration, which puts 100 percent of every ink on every plate. Text or artwork set in it stacks four full layers of ink, far above the coverage limit most papers can take, so print shops ask that it only ever be used for marks. For a deep black in artwork, use [rich black](https://img.ly/glossary/rich-black.md) instead. ## How to Add Registration Marks to a PDF in CE.SDK ### Step 01: Turn the marks on The marks are an option on CE.SDK's PDF export, off until your product asks for them. On the web, you can let users choose crop and registration marks in the editor's Print Setup panel, where they also set the bleed. On iOS, Android, and Node.js, your integration turns them on when it exports the PDF. ### Step 02: Set the offset and line weight Your product sets how far the marks sit from the trim and how heavy their lines are. The offset uses the same unit as the page bleed, so the two are easy to compare. ### Step 03: Export the PDF Export the page as a PDF. A target appears at the middle of each page edge in the registration color, so it lands on every separation, and each mark is knocked out in white underneath to stay readable over dark artwork. The exported page grows to fit the marks, but the artwork stays where it is, and the trim and bleed boxes in the PDF still describe the same edges. ## Print-and-Cut Registration Marks Desktop cutters and print-and-cut plotters use registration marks in a different way. A few marks print in the corners of the sheet together with the design, and the cutter's optical sensor reads them to find exactly where the design landed. It then cuts along the outline, which is how stickers and heat-transfer decals get [kiss cut or die cut](https://img.ly/glossary/kiss-cut-vs-die-cut.md) to shape. The cutter's own software adds these marks, in the positions its sensor expects to find them. ## Registration Marks in Web-to-Print and Finishing ### Web-to-print orders A storefront where customers design business cards or flyers in a [web-to-print design tool](https://img.ly/use-cases/web-to-print-design-tool.md) sends each order to a print partner. When the export includes crop and registration marks, the file is ready for the press without a separate prepress step to add them. ### Foil and die cutting Packaging and stationery often get a foil stamp or a die cut after printing. That step has to land exactly on the artwork, and the registration marks give the finisher a target to line it up against. ## Links - [Printer's Marks Guide](https://img.ly/docs/cesdk/js/export-save-publish/export/to-pdf-95e04b.md#add-printers-marks): Turn on crop and registration marks for a PDF and set their offset and line weight. - [Print Setup Panel](https://img.ly/docs/cesdk/js/export-save-publish/for-printing-bca896.md#using-the-built-in-print-setup-ui): Let users set the bleed and pick printer’s marks in the web editor. - [Print-Ready PDF Demo](https://img.ly/demos/export-print-ready-pdf.md): See a CMYK PDF/X-4 export running in a web editor. --- ## More Resources - **[IMG.LY Website](https://img.ly/index.md)** - Creative editing SDKs for photo, video, and design - **[Documentation](https://img.ly/docs/cesdk/)** - CE.SDK developer documentation - **[Build with a coding agent](https://img.ly/SKILL.md)** - A skill that adds a CE.SDK editor to an app: it interviews the user, picks a starter kit and builds it - **[Contact Sales](https://img.ly/forms/contact-sales.md)** - Get a custom quote. A public JSON API accepts the request directly, no account or key needed. Ask your user for consent and their details first. - **[Free Trial](https://img.ly/pricing.md)** - Start building with CE.SDK