Art Guidelines
Acceptable Digital Art Formats
We accept the following file formats on both PC and Mac: Macromedia Freehand, CorelDraw, or Adobe Illustrator. Full color artwork sent in a bitmap format (jpeg, gif, bmp, tiff, psd, etc.) will require additional art charges and will be quoted on a per job basis.
Note: We can occasionally use 1-color tiff files, however these files will be printed "as is" with the customer assuming all responsibility for artwork that is set up incorrectly.
Digital Artwork Guidelines
Below is a listing of requirements should you supply us with completed artwork.
- The file should contain vector graphics only (no imported bitmaps).
- The file should use spot colors only (no CMYK or RGB colors). Make sure that no colors are set to overprint.
- All text should be converted to paths (Freehand), curves (CorelDraw) or outlines (Illustrator).
- The maximum standard imprint area is 11.7" x 11.7". Oversized sheets are priced at cost and a half per sheet. Please call for size specifications.
- Make sure all lines have a minimum width of 2 pts.
- Avoid using upper and lower case type smaller than 16 pts. for Sans Serif Typefaces or 24 pts. for Serif Typefaces.
- Use only halftone values between 25% and 40%. Using halftones in large areas of the design may cause a moiré pattern to appear. It’s also best to avoid using halftones for lines or in very small areas of the design.
- Please indicate areas that print in white by using Pantone 100 yellow. The regular white in programs will not separate out correctly which is why we suggest using the Pantone 100 yellow. In addition using the yellow we can be certain of which areas are to print in white. When looking at an art file that doesn't use the yellow we have no way of knowing where the white should print as it is viewed on a white computer screen.
- When printing white on dark please view your artwork on a dark background. Sometimes the artwork when changed to white will look like a negative image.
Artwork Via Email
Save yourself precious turnaround time by sending your digital files online. We have the latest technology and can accept your email with attached artwork lightning quick.
Here are a few tips...
- When sending several medium to large files, send each file in a separate message rather than sending them all in one message.
- Please don't zip or stuff any artwork sent via email. Our anti-virus programs can't tell the difference between artwork and a virus contained within a file.
- Specify the dimensions of the design and whether or not the attached artwork is already to size or if it requires resizing.
- Specify print colors. Please keep in mind we have dozens of different shades of blue, red, green, etc. so please be as specific as possible. Since colors can look very different from one computer to the next, "use colors as they appear on screen" is unacceptable. For best results use PMS color values.
No Digital File Available?
We charge by the hour for artwork at a very competitive rate of $30/hr.
Listed below are examples of different types of artwork and corresponding time estimates to recreate it to a usable format.
one-half hour
- “Camera Ready PMT”
- Film Positive (1 color seperation)
- Reorder With Simple Text Changes
- Lettering To Be Reset With Closest Font Match
- Customer Requested Proof Changes
one hour
- Business Card Enlarged To Cap/Crest
- Screenprinted One-color Design on Garment
- Embroidered One-color Design on Garment
one hour +
- Clear Photo Copy
- Usable Fax (Large, Original can’t contain halftones)
- Scanned Art or Low-Resolution Bitmapped File
- Lettering To Be Drawn (No Font Available)
- Business Card Enlarged To Full Size
two hours +
- Screenprinted Multicolor Design on Garment
- Embroidered Multicolor Design on Garment