File Supply Guidelines

When Creating Your Artwork

If at all possible, create your artwork at the same page size as you would like the finished product to be printed. Often artwork is created at a small size, say A4, and then asked to be printed at a much bigger size. When enlarging artwork many times over the result is a poor quality print with a low resolution.

Convert Fonts

To ensure that your job is printed with the fonts you have used in your artwork you must convert the fonts to curves / outlines before sending your file. If you cannot do this, then as a last resort you may also send us the fonts you have used. We can only accept PC fonts not MAC fonts.

Converting fonts to outline/curves is done in programs such as CorelDraw, Illustrator, Photoshop and Quark. If you are not sure how to convert fonts, look in the Help menu of your program for instructions on how to do this.

Use High Resolution Images

One of the most common causes of disappointment in a print project is the poor quality of images, which is usually caused by low resolution images being used.

Images used in printing projects must be of much higher resolution than those used for displaying on computer screens. Screen images normally have a resolution of 72 dpi (dots per inch) while image resolution for printing needs to be 300 dpi. If a low resolution image is printed it will be indistinct and look very unprofessional.

Therefore please make sure all the images you use are 300dpi. Also note that resolutions higher than 300 dpi will not provide a discernible improvement in image print quality.

If your final print job is very large and working at 300dpi is causing you technical problems you may go down to as low as 150dpi but please be aware that this will lower the final quality of your print. However, as a large print is usually viewed at some distance, it should be quite acceptable. Alternatively, you may use a page size that is 50% the size of the finished print and work at 300dpi.

Make sure your file uses CMYK colour space

For a Print Job, the file must be provided in CMYK, not RGB.

RGB and CMYK are known as ‘colour spaces’. RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. RGB is the ‘colour space’ used by computer monitors and digital cameras. All conventional and digital printing presses use CMYK.

If images and background tints you work with whilst preparing your job use the RGB colour space, at some stage they will need to be converted to CMYK.

If you are attempting to match a specific colour please also provide us with the Pantone PMS colour. We will do our best to print as closely as possible to the required colour. We cannot guarantee an exact match, however, as colour results vary dramatically between different types of equipment and between different substrate. Please DO NOT rely on the colours displayed on your monitor, as these vary dramatically from computer to computer.

Print & Cut

If you are having a decal or sticker run printed and you want also want it cut, you must have a path / vector line in your file that follows the contour you wish to have cut. Remember that wherever the line goes, the printer will cut, so make sure you weld or combine multiple objects. This does not mean you cannot have other vector outlines in your artwork. The vector line you want cut will be designated by us as a cut-line but it must outline the area you want cut completely, be a closed path and not connected to any other line. Preferably use an "odd" or unusual colour for the line so that it is clear to us that it is your cutline. Please do NOT outline a piece of artwork and then ask for the cutline to go around the outline. In most drawing programs outlines are not shapes and their edges are not defined by vector lines. You need to have a completely separate vector line that goes around the edge of the print, where-ever that may be.

Custom Gradients

Please build all color gradients in Illustrator or Photoshop using a gradient fill for a selected object. Do not use Illustrator's Gradient Tool or build your gradient in Quark, both of those methods use a stepped gradient that will cause banding and put a huge processor load on our RIP equipment which may crash the RIP or cause serious problems with the final gradient.

What Files to Supply?

Our first preference is to receive your project as an EPS file. Most desktop publishing and drawing programs can export in an EPS format. Along with your EPS file please also provide a PDF or JPG file as a "proof" so we can see how your artwork is supposed to turn out. Sometimes EPS files do not come across from one program to another with everything in it's correct place.

We can also accept the following files:
CorelDraw V11
Adobe Illustrator CS
Adobe Photoshop CS
Adobe PDF files (possible changes or corrections will be limited)
TIF or BMP files (possible changes or corrections will be limited)

If your version of these programs is a later one than ours you must save back to the version listed above.

Please note that JPG files are not usually acceptable as they are compressed image files with compromised quality. The only exception is when you are printing something quite small. Please also note that images prepared for use on a web-site will NOT be of a high enough quality to be printed. Please also be aware that simply placing a JPG, BMP or other image file on a page in CorelDraw and then exporting it as an EPS file does not actually make it an EPS file or improve it's quality in any way!

You may post us your file on a CD, email it to us or we can download it from an FTP server or on-line storage facility. If you are having trouble with your file because of its size, please contact us and we will step you through the best way to get it to us without compromising quality.

It is important that your file:

have all fonts converted to outlines/curves
have high resolution images (ideally 300 dpi at the size they will be printed)
have all images converted to CMYK
have a vector line defining exactly where you want the print to be cut (where applicable).