All About Artwork
A Custom Imprinted Promotional product is a direct reflection upon your company or organization. We want to ensure your message or identity is crisp, clean, and consistent. Although we use state of the art printing processes, the final product will only look as good as the artwork submitted to us. For these reasons, we list our requirements for submitting artwork below. The most common obstacle we have to overcome in order to print your logo on items is having too low of a resolution file to successfully print your item. You can always make a large image smaller without losing quality, you usually can not make a small image larger as needed for printing without losing quality or causing pixelation (rough edges). Please read below for exact requirements.
Image Programs In Order of Preference:
Adobe Illustrator® - (Preferably saved as vector art)
Adobe Photoshop® - (.eps format)
Corel Draw® * IBM-PC only - (Type converted to "curves" and file exported to "Adobe Illustrator EPS" format)
Macromedia Freehand® - (Type must be converted to "curves" and file exported to "Adobe Illustrator EPS" format)
Other Programs - Save artwork as Vector in .eps format
(We may not be able to view other program files, please convert them to adobe formats.)
Be sure to read Specific program instructions below for instructions for each artwork program.
Fonts:
If you are using a special font, it is critical that you include the font when sending your artwork, you may select the font by finding it in your font directory and saving it to your desktop, then attach it with your artwork when sending. If you use the Style palette to modify your font, it must be converted to outlines, or saved as a rasterized flat layer image.
File Sizes:
All Files must be a minimum of 600 DPI (Dots Per Inch), this will usually be a very large file. If the image you plan to send is on a webpage, there is a 98% chance that it is too small for use in printing. Please make sure you contact the designer of the image for the original large version of the image.
This Is All Gibberish To Me!! - or -
I do not have it in the format needed!! - or -
I need you to make me a logo or custom message!!
Relax, we have you covered! We have a Graphic Artist in house that can recreate your logo and add whatever else you need to print on your items. He is subcontracted and charges $45.00 per hour to recreate your logo in the large file format needed. He is very quick, and most logos can be recreated in less than one hour. Also, you may also consider showing this page to your graphic designer so they can get you the appropriate copy which is usually the original creation, non web version of your logo.
We can not accept .jpg, .gif, .doc word files, or any other low resolution format.
(Word Doc files are OK if you are printing typeset or regular text only.)
Sending Artwork
We accept files via upload to our server, e-mail, on 3.5" floppy disks, 100MB Zip disks, CD-ROMs. We prefer using our file upload form to minimize any possible quality loss.
Ftp:
Upload Your ArtworkMail: Please contact your account representative if you would like to send in your artwork via regular mail.
Please do not mail us your only original copy of artwork. Always make us a copy to avoid possible loss or mail damage.
Specific Program Instructions
Adobe Illustrator - Macintosh or IBM Compatible
1. Change all text into "outlines" in your document.
2. Color your text and graphics with standard Pantone or CMYK color mixes.
3. If you are using an imported graphic in your Illustrator document, be sure to include the original graphic file. Place graphics at 100%.
4. Save the file as an Illustrator EPS, selecting version 6.0 or higher when given the option.
5. Save and create artwork in Vector Format
Adobe Photoshop - Macintosh or IBM Compatible
1. Files must be saved as a Macintosh TIFF with no LZWcompression.
2. Do not color an image in Photoshop.
3. Please submit black and white bitmap images at 600 dpi or higher.
4. Images that come to us at lower resolutions than what is recommended will be output as sent. We can not raise the resolution successfully
5. Color all text and graphics according to standard Pantone or CMYK color mixes in a layout application (like QuarkXPress or PageMaker).
6. All files need to be submitted at the size being used for printing.
7. For business cards, if bleeds are needed, allow 1/8" on each applicable side in a layout application.
Corel draw - IBM Compatible (MUST be exported to illustrator format)
Always export your files according to the following specifications and be sure to include your supporting graphics when sending to us. When creating your files, please create only one page per document. Pages after the first one are lost when exported.
1. Color all text and graphics with standard Pantone or CMYK color mixes.
2. Place all graphics at 100%.
3. Export as an EPS file.
4. Always select the “text to curves” option to eliminate font information from your file.
Macromedia FreeHand - Macintosh or IBM Compatible
1. Be sure to "convert to paths" all text characters in your document.
2. Color your text and graphics with standard Pantone or CMYK color mixes.
3. If you are using an imported graphic in your FreeHand document, be sure to include the original graphic file colored correctly. Place graphics at 100%.
4. Export the file as an EPS.
Common Challenges
Listed below are the most common challenges we have with customer artwork files.
File Size: Images must be at least 600 dpi to be run through the image printing process. Small images must be recreated in order to be accepted by the print process. Please send your size requirements, and send the image in the exact size you would like it printed.
Color Separations: Some printing processes require that the artwork have different layers created with each color needed able to be separated from each other. This is necessary when making several different color silk-screens.
Color Correction: Please follow standard Pantone conventions to avoid any extra charges. There is a Pantone color chart available on our site. Also review our Requirements for Color Separations and Camera-Ready Art.
Font Substitution: For files that are submitted without compatible Macintosh fonts, "create outlines" or set text to" curves" on all text in your files.
Mode Change in Photoshop: RGB to CMYK, Indexed Color to CMYK, etc. Please, DO NOT submit files in Indexed Color or files that have been compressed.
Font Style Palette Corrections: All fonts must be submitted to us in their "plain" form. Stylization within the palette does not hold through our image setter.
Extending Bleeds: If "redrawing" is needed to make the graphic bleed properly, additional charges will need to be assessed at $45.00 per hour.
Resizing Graphic: Please send all graphics sized at 100%.
Trapping: If trapping is necessary to make the file compatible with our printing needs, additional charges may need to be assessed at $45.00 per hour.
If your files require special attention to change or correct any of the "obstacles" listed above, and we are able to make the necessary changes with a quick fix, we will do so for a $15.00 charge. Anything more involved than a quick fix will require additional charges. We will contact you if the charge to remedy your artwork will exceed $15.00.
