The last pitfall is especially dangerous.
Almost every day, we are sent AI-generated artwork for print. There’s no question that generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude have introduced a brand new option for churches looking to create fast and easy church graphics.
Generative AI has come a long way since the warbled text and nonsensical images it produced at inception. Results are starting to look more and more like real work done by professional graphic designers. But there are still a number of major things that AI gets wrong about church printing. Continue reading to learn the 4 biggest pitfalls that we come across and how to work around them.
Disclaimer: The intent of this article is not to shame anyone for their use of generative AI, or even discourage the use of AI in the church space entirely. But rather, let this article help you navigate this tool in the context of church printing.
Pitfall #1: Just because it looks good on your screen, doesn’t mean it will print well.
“It looks perfect on my iPhone, why did the print turn out so blurry?”
The most common issue with AI generated graphics for print is the resolution and color mode. Your generated door hanger might look sharp and bright on your phone or computer screen, but images for print have entirely different requirements.
Screen Versus Print Resolution
AI models output images that are meant to be viewed on screens. High quality printing usually requires a resolution of at least 300dpi (dots per inch), and AI images default to a much lower resolution, typically around 72dpi. Printing a low resolution image will result in a final product that is visibly pixelated or blurry.
The Workaround
To help alleviate this problem, you can prompt the AI model to output an image that is 300dpi for whatever specific size you are printing at. This will result in an image that has the appropriate number of pixels to be printed at that particular size.
RGB Versus CMYK Color Mode
AI generates images in an RGB color mode. This means that the colors are intended to be displayed on a lighted screen with three colors of light: red, green, and blue. The colors in an RGB image can be perfectly replicated by most digital screens. However, printers use the CMYK color mode. Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are the colored inks that printers combine to create colors. Certain bright colors that can be produced by a lighted screen simply can not be replicated by mixing inks together. So when you send an RGB image to print, expect colors to shift darker and duller from what you saw on your screen.
The Workaround
While most image generators can not natively export CMYK documents, you can still use a program such as Adobe Photoshop or Affinity Photo to convert the RGB export to the CMYK color mode. This will give you a better idea of how the colors will look in print.
Pitfall #2: Not including proper bleed and safety margin.
“Why is my text getting cut off?”
Almost everything that gets printed is cut from a large sheet. In order to ensure that important details aren’t cut off from your artwork, two things are required: safety margin and bleed. Bleed means that your artwork extends past the dimensions where the material will be cut in order to account for any inaccuracies in the machinery. Safety margin gives your important text and images extra room from the edge to ensure they won’t be cut off.
ChatGPT is not a pre-press professional. When you tell AI to “generate a 4x6 card”, there is no accounting for safety margin, bleed, or print resolution. This can result in important text and images being cut off.
The Workaround
Specify that bleed and appropriate safety margin be included in your image. Typically, correct bleed can be achieved by adding ⅛” or 0.125 inches to each dimension of the printed piece. For example, a print-ready file for a 4 x 6 card would actually measure 4.125 x 6.125.
Pitfall #3: Remember who’s reading it and from what distance.
“I gave ChatGPT all the right details, but why does it feel difficult to read?”
This pitfall is a killer. Too often, we’ve had files submitted to us with text that is perfectly readable when viewed on a screen, but completely unreadable when printed. This can mean costly reprints and headaches that are easily avoidable. Here’s the problem. AI is generating an image for you to look at on your screen. It does not take into account the final printed size, viewing distance, or reading conditions.
Font Size
For comfortable reading of handheld materials, keep the smallest text on your printed materials around 8-10 pt. Go much smaller than this, and you’ll have to strain your eyes to read it from a comfortable distance. For banners and signs that will be read from a medium to long distance, this minimum size is much larger.
Text Hierarchy
In the same way an AI model doesn’t understand viewing distance and text size, it doesn’t always do a great job with text hierarchy. In graphic design, this is the method of using size, color, and positioning of text to demand attention from the reader in the order of importance that you intend. If you don’t specify which details are the most important, AI will not inherently know. This can lead to designs where important information is hard to notice and other less important text is more visually demanding.
Visual Clutter
This aspect of AI generated graphic design is the most obvious to the untrained eye. True creativity comes from a lack of information, rather than abundance. AI inherently lacks this creativity, and instead tends to create designs that “tell, don’t show”. This leads to graphics that feel visually overstimulating, with every square inch being taken up by graphics or text.
The Workaround
Option 1: If you feel like you know what your church’s printed piece should say, but you lack the creative skills to bring it to life, ask the AI to generate the background for you and add the text yourself in a free online program such as Canva. This way, you have precise control over the size and hierarchy of the text.
Option 2: Give the AI model the exact text you want it to use, specify a minimum font size (10pt, for example), and label each line of text as heading, subheading, or body.
Pitfall #4: AI can’t quote the Bible.
“There’s a word missing from John 3:16! Why didn't the AI catch this?”
If there’s one thing you take away from reading this article, it’s this: Do not trust AI to write out passages from the Bible. Too many times, I have seen AI generated artwork with Bible verses containing spelling errors, faulty grammar, missing words, and incorrect references. NEVER ask AI to generate passages of Scripture without triple-checking that every word is correct.
Why is this the case? There are a few reasons.
1. AI generates “likely” text. It doesn’t take quotations from an authoritative source, like the Bible. It uses all of the data it has been trained on to essentially guess what the next word will be in a Scripture passage. This can lead to AI mixing two different passages with similar themes, blending biblical translations, or misremembering verses entirely.
2. AI will not properly attribute the use of copyrighted Bible translations. Because AI does not directly copy quotations from a specific version of the Bible, it will not properly attribute the use of copyrighted translations if it even manages to correctly transcribe from one. This can lead to lawsuits or other legal problems if this text is printed in certain applications without permission from the copyright holder.
3. Even if AI manages to get a Bible translation correct, or if you type out the passage word-for-word for it to copy, there can still be issues when actually generating an image of the text. Words get jumbled, punctuation gets missed, and readability of the final product is still a concern.
The Workaround
As Christians, we believe that the Bible is THE authoritative source. AI does not use the Bible itself when generating Scripture passages. Make sure that you are extra careful when creating graphics with AI containing Scripture. Double check every single detail. And when possible, copy and paste the text yourself.
If there’s one thing your church printing should get right, it’s God’s Word.
I hope you don’t come away from this article feeling discouraged or overwhelmed. My goal in writing this is that you’ll be more informed moving forward when deciding whether or not to use generative AI for producing tracts, invitations, signage, and graphics for your church or ministry.
AI opens up unique opportunities for churches without the resources to hire an experienced graphic designer. Just remember that AI is not perfect, and there are many things to consider before hitting the big red “Print” button.
LifePress offers another option for churches without a graphic designer: a library of over 1,000 beautiful templates across dozens of products tailored to churches just like yours. Browse our collections online, edit them in your browser, and trust that our church printing experts will handle the rest.