Print Design in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Print Design in Kharkiv — from business card to packaging and signage

Print is the class of design where mistakes cost the most. If you find an inaccuracy in a website mockup, you fix it in 5 minutes and redeploy. If the mistake shows up in a 5,000-card run or a 1,000-box packaging order — that's wasted money, lost time and missed deadlines. That's why I treat print design in Kharkiv with production-grade discipline: I think about the printer at the same time as composition, about the paper at the same time as colour, about bleed margins at the same time as typography.

I'm Alex Filiuk, Senior UI/UX and graphic designer with 15 years of experience. In that time more than 300 print items have shipped to production — business cards, letterheads, folders, newsletters, brochures, catalogues, packaging, labels, leaflets, restaurant menus, outdoor advertising. Clients include companies from Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region, from Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, the USA and Europe. On this page I've gathered everything a business owner or marketing lead should know before commissioning print design in Kharkiv: what the process looks like, what pre-press is, how to avoid typical mistakes when working with printers, how much it costs, which medium suits which task.

Why Kharkiv's print market is its own story

Kharkiv has it all: offset printers with strong equipment, digital boutique shops for short runs, wide-format manufacturers for outdoor advertising, packaging plants. The market is dense, prices are competitive (especially compared with Kyiv). That's why clients from Lviv, Lutsk, Khmelnytskyi and Ternopil come to Kharkiv for print — savings can reach 20-40% at the same quality.

But there's a catch: design and production are different professions. Most Kharkiv printers have an "in-house designer" who can quickly typeset your business card from a template for $5-15. It looks like "design" too. In practice, it's a recycled stock template already used by dozens of businesses in town, with no understanding of your audience, no branding logic, no legibility check. If you're a local café on Sumska street or a medical centre on Pushkinska, and a customer sees your card next to 5-7 others — there's no chance to stand out.

I work not as a "designer attached to a printer" but as an independent specialist with the full cycle: design, pre-press, coordination with the manufacturer, run control. It costs more than a template at the printer, but the result pays back within months through stronger recognition and lead conversion. If you're planning a serious market entry — consider the comprehensive route: branding, logo, print collateral in unified logic.

What media I design

Print is a broad category, so I split it by sub-category. Each one has its own approach.

Corporate print

• Business cards. Standard (90×50 mm or 85×55 mm), shaped, with embossing, foil, lamination, soft-touch finish. Single- and double-sided. Special attention to bleeds — mistakes here are visible to the naked eye.
• Letterheads. A4 with logo, contacts, requisites, background and a text area. I work on legibility — so the letterhead is convenient to fill out by hand and print on an office printer.
• Envelopes. Euro (DL), C5, C4. With logo, with stamp, with a clear window for the addressee.
• Corporate folders. For documents, presentations, commercial proposals. With flaps, business-card slots, embossing.
• Presentation templates. PowerPoint or Keynote with slide templates — cover, content, charts, quotes, contacts. For businesses that often run tenders or consulting sessions.

Marketing print

• Leaflets and flyers. A6, A5, DL, custom formats. For direct marketing, events, store openings.
• Brochures. Tri-fold, z-fold, gate-fold, leporello. For service or menu presentations, event programmes.
• Newsletters. Periodic printed updates for the customer base — especially relevant for medical centres, schools and B2B services in Kharkiv.
• Product catalogues. 16, 24, 32, 48, 64+ pages. The hardest print format in terms of layout — needs a logical structure, navigation, a unified typographic grid, product photography.
• Posters and placards. A3, A2, A1, A0 — for events, exhibitions, promotions.

Packaging and labels

• Cardboard packaging. Product boxes, with a dieline from the manufacturer, in various formats: tea, perfumery, confectionery, technical.
• Flexible packaging. Doypacks, vacuum bags, films for FMCG.
• Labels. For bottles (wine, oil, honey, cosmetics), for jars, for blister packs, shrink sleeves.
• Shopper bags and paper bags. Branded, with logo, for retail and HoReCa.
• Coffee bags, cups, napkins. For F&B venues with full branding.

Outdoor advertising

• Signs. 3D letters, lightboxes, façade panels. I work hand-in-hand with the manufacturer — agreeing the dieline, colours, mounting.
• Banners. Street banners, façade banners, billboards, citilights — designed for viewing distance.
• Wayfinding. Indoor wayfinding for shopping centres, medical institutions, restaurants, hotels.
• Vehicle branding. Service vehicles, delivery, corporate transport — artwork designed for the 3D form of the car.

HoReCa print

• Restaurant and café menus. Standard folders, laminated sheets, leporello, QR menus, wine lists, kids' menus.
• Tent cards and tabletop pieces. For tables — additional offers, specials, promotions.
• Coasters, napkins with logo.

Stages of work on print collateral

I work via a transparent process where each stage has a fixed deliverable you can see. No "trust me and wait" — you know what's happening every week.

1. Brief. You fill in a questionnaire or we meet in Kharkiv (60-90 minutes). We discuss: which medium, which run size, for which audience, which printer you plan to use, which materials (paper, foil, varnish, embossing) you want to consider.
2. Technical brief and dieline. I align technical parameters with your printer: format, bleeds, ICC profile, minimum coverage, export format. If it's packaging, we get the dieline.
3. Concept. 1-2 fundamentally different visual directions, with reasoning. You choose one and we proceed.
4. Detailing. I bring the chosen direction to its final form — precise typography, colours, photography, graphic elements.
5. Revisions. 2-3 rounds of comments. Each round is structured feedback, after which I implement all changes at once.
6. Pre-press. CMYK, profiles, bleeds, outlines, export in the required format.
7. Coordination with the printer. We hand over files, get a digital proof, sign off the colour. If needed, I attend the run with you in person.
8. Delivery. Working files (AI/INDD/PSD), final PDFs (print and web), project archive.

How much does print design in Kharkiv cost

The price comes from the scope of work, not from geography. Reference points (exact figures are in the "Pricing" block):

• Basic items — business card, letterhead, envelope. Flat rate "per unit".
• Standard package — corporate kit (card + letterhead + envelope + folder) or a series of leaflets/flyers.
• Premium package — catalogue, packaging, POS series, full HoReCa kit (menu + tent cards + checklists + lamination).
• Branding + print — the most cost-effective format if you're launching a new brand or doing a rebrand. Logo, colours, typography and all media in unified logic.

If you order print together with branding, a website or ad creatives — the combined package costs less than the sum of individual services. It's business logic: one context, one typographic logic, shared market research.

Pre-press: why it's a separate stage and what you're paying for

Pre-press is the preparation of the layout for a specific printer. It isn't a "technical formality" — it's a separate craft that distinguishes good design from "design that doesn't print". Here are the key aspects I work with.

• CMYK and ICC profiles. Each paper has its own profile: coated glossy, coated matte, uncoated newsprint, design paper, board. The same colour looks different on different papers. I convert colours from RGB to CMYK tied to a specific profile — the one your Kharkiv printer uses.
• Total Ink Limit. The total ink coverage (C+M+Y+K) shouldn't exceed 280-320% depending on the printing method. Otherwise the paper doesn't dry in time, ink "spreads", and defects appear. I check TIL across all dark areas of the layout.
• Bleed and safe zone. Bleed of 2-5 mm beyond the trim — so there are no white slivers after cutting. A safe zone of 3-5 mm inside — so important text or objects aren't cropped at trim.
• Fonts to outlines. All fonts converted to curves (vector forms) — guaranteeing the printer outputs your typeface, not a default Arial substitute.
• Overprints and trapping. When two colours overlap, their interaction has to be configured correctly — otherwise white seams appear at the joints.
• Resolution. 300 dpi for offset and digital, 150-200 dpi for wide format. Anything less means artefacts, pixelation, blur.
• PDF export. Standard PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 — that's not "a PDF like in MS Word", it's a separate print standard that the printer can open without conversions.

If a "designer" hands you a JPG or PNG "for print" — that's a guarantee of problems on the run. JPG is unsuitable for print in principle: no vector objects, no fonts, no bleeds, no CMYK. It's a marker that the person doesn't understand the production process.

Kharkiv printers: how to pick a partner

In Kharkiv I've worked with various manufacturers — from large offset houses to small digital boutique shops. Tips for choosing:

• Run size and method. Up to 500 — digital print (fast, no plate setup). 500-5,000 — borderline, compare prices. Above 5,000 — offset, cheaper per unit.
• Material quality. Ask for paper samples — different printers have different inventories. Don't work with anyone who says "we have one paper, 200 g, no others".
• Willingness to do a proof. A good printer always produces a digital colour proof before the run. If not — that's a red flag.
• Technical specs. A printer with pre-press culture will give you a clear brief: ICC profile, export format, bleeds. If the answer is just "send a PDF" — ask which PDF, for which paper.
• Finishing options. Varnish, embossing, die-cutting, foil, spot UV — not every printer has its own equipment, some outsource. That affects timelines.

If you haven't picked a Kharkiv printer yet — I'll recommend trusted ones for your task. It's free, part of the work.

Typical client mistakes — and how to avoid them

• A Word or PowerPoint file "for print". Neither Word, PowerPoint nor Canva is meant for offset printing. They're screen tools. Offset needs Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop or CorelDRAW with PDF/X output.
• RGB instead of CMYK. You see bright green on screen — and on the run it turns dull olive. That's not a "printer's mistake", it's basic print physics: the RGB space is wider than CMYK, some colours are simply physically unavailable on offset.
• Internet pictures in the layout. 90% of Google images are 72 dpi and copyrighted. Neither works for print. I work with licensed stocks (Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Unsplash) or with custom/commissioned photography.
• "Free internet" fonts. A free font may have a poor Cyrillic version (uneven serifs, missing glyphs). For a brand it's worth investing in a licensed professional font or custom lettering.
• "Do it fast, the run is tomorrow." Good design takes a minimum of 5-10 working days, even for a business card. If you arrive with "oh, it has to be done by tomorrow" — you'll get a template, not design.
• "I'll just check it at the printer myself." If you don't have pre-press experience — you won't see issues in the proof. It's better for the designer to attend sign-off with you or instead of you.

Cases: print design for businesses in Kharkiv and across Ukraine

My portfolio includes 130+ projects, a substantial portion of which involves print — either as the main deliverable or as part of full branding. Clients include retail, HoReCa, medical centres, manufacturers and IT startups from Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, the USA and Europe.

If you'd like concrete examples — visit the Projects section or get in touch via the contact form: I'll pick 5-10 most relevant cases for your niche — for instance, if you're opening a café in Kharkiv, I'll show menus and HoReCa kits; if you're launching a product in retail, I'll show packaging projects.

Specifics of the local Kharkiv market

Print collateral for Kharkiv businesses has specifics I factor in:

• HoReCa segment. Kharkiv has a saturated market of cafés, restaurants, bistros, burger joints and delivery services. Competition for the guest is at the level of branding, atmosphere and visual detail. Menus, tent cards and delivery packaging are critical media.
• Retail. Shops on Sumska street, Pushkinska, in shopping centres and on Volodymyrska compete for passing attention. Logo shoppers, branded packaging, unified price tags — an inexpensive way to stand out.
• Medical centres and dental clinics. Print here carries trust: letterheads, info leaflets, procedure brochures, doctors' business cards. Quality material signals the clinic's professionalism.
• Manufacturing. Furniture factories, food producers and packaging plants in the Kharkiv region — that's a B2B market where product catalogues and corporate folders for tenders are mandatory sales tools.
• Local vs national brands. A Kharkiv business entering the Kyiv market or going for export needs print collateral on par with capital-grade standards. It's a question of perception, not function.

My other services for businesses in Kharkiv

Print is part of an ecosystem. If you're planning a serious launch or rebrand, a comprehensive approach is worth considering:

• Branding — print as part of a complete visual system: logo, colours, typography, graphics, templates, brand-book.
• Logo design — the foundation of all print. Without a vector logo, anything bigger than A4 in print becomes a problem.
• UI/UX design — website interface in unified style with print media.
• Web development — landing or corporate site synchronised with print collateral.
• Ad creatives — banners for social, Google Ads, Facebook Ads — in unified style with print.
• SEO — so your brand is found in search across Kharkiv and the region.
• Business consulting — positioning strategy before investing in design.

Print design in other Ukrainian cities

I work not only with Kharkiv. If you have offices in several cities or are planning regional expansion — we'll build a system that scales:

• Kyiv — national brands, IT companies, chains
• Lviv — creative business, gastronomy, IT
• Odesa — retail, tourism, e-commerce
• Dnipro — manufacturing, B2B, technology companies
• Kharkiv — IT, education, engineering

The full list of locations is on the Service Areas page.

What you receive after project completion

• Working files: Adobe Illustrator (AI), InDesign (INDD), Photoshop (PSD) — for single items, multi-page editions and raster materials.
• Print PDFs: PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 with bleeds, in CMYK, with fonts converted to outlines.
• Web PDFs: for presentations, sending to clients, social media.
• Image archive: all photos in working quality, with licences.
• Technical specs: a brief for the printer with all settings (profile, format, bleeds, run size).
• Exclusive proprietary rights to the design — fixed in the contract.
• Post-delivery support: 30 days free — questions, minor revisions, coordination with the printer.

Ready to discuss print design for your business in Kharkiv?

If you have a specific request — fill in the contact form or write to email/Telegram (contacts in the website footer). The first consultation is free, up to 60 minutes. We'll discuss your business, which media you need, an approximate budget, the printers you plan to use, and timelines. After that I'll send a detailed proposal with a fixed price — no surprises, no hidden fees.

I'm ready to design print collateral for your business in Kharkiv that doesn't need rework on the run and works for the brand for years. Not "another business card", but a marketing tool with production-grade precision.