Artwork Requirements

The quality of your imprint depends upon the quality of artwork supplied to us! All orders requiring artwork must be sent in as Black and White CAMERA READY vector art. Laser copies of 1200 DPI resolution are also acceptable. For Four Color Artwork (ColorBrite items), please refer to our ColorBrite specifications on the web. Whether you are Mac or PC based, we are able to accept your graphic files if you meet the requirements listed. To ensure this and avoid delays or art charges please adhere to our specifications. For Four Color Artwork (ColorBrite items), please refer to our ColorBrite specifications.

NOTE: OUR DELIVERY SCHEDULE MAY DEPEND ON THE QUALITY OF THE ARTWORK SUBMITTED AND UPON ANY CHANGES MADE TO THE ARTWORK ONCE THE ORDER HAS BEEN WORKED ON.

 IMPRINT:

 Artwork can be accepted from the following programs:

  1. Adobe Illustrator - CC or Lower
  2. Photoshop - All EPS, PDF files (layered if possible)
    They must be 600 dpi or higher at 100% of final size or larger.

Please Note: Vector Art is preferred. It provides the best quality and allows images to be resized without loss of sharpness and detail.

If scanned images are used with artwork, they MUST be sent as a separate file scanned at 600 dpi or higher. (If not actual size, scan at a higher resolution. This will prevent loss of quality.)

 

ALL FONTS MUST BE CONVERTED TO OUTLINES, CURVES OR PATHS (VECTOR). IF SUPPLYING IMAGE FILES, FONTS NEED TO BE RASTERIZED.

 

WE DO NOT ACCEPT:

Gif files, Page layout files such as Quark or Pagemaker, Word processing documents such as MS Word/Power Point, Photocopies or PMT�s of photocopies, business cards, letterheads, fax transmissions, etc. (These formats are too low of a quality to ensure you a quality imprint.)

 

Please Note: Artwork with tight registration, halftones, screen tints and/or bleeds must be reviewed by our Art Department for approval. Avoid very fine lines, both in type and illustrations. For Four Color imprints see ColorBrite specifications on the web.

 

DIGITAL LABELS:

Colors:
These items will be printed using a full color process imprint, also known as CMYK printing. Full color process printing uses a combination of four inks that reproduce a wide range of colors at the cost of only four colors. If your branding has very specific color guidelines, please provide them to us as a CMYK breakdown (ex: C10 M50 Y40 K15), or provide a Pantone value the factory can reference. However, we cannot guarantee an exact Pantone match when printing using a full color process. If you have concerns regarding the outcome of your imprint coloration, we can arrange a pre-production sample for you. Additional charges may apply, and pre-production samples may not be available for rush orders. If you would like to request a pre-production sample, please let us know and your Account Manager will contact you with further information. See below for helpful details.

4-Color Process:
Colors must be CMYK. Not all RGB or LAB colors can be rendered in CMYK properly. Therefore, you can make any necessary adjustments before sending your file.
Custom-named colors must be provided as process colors in the swatches palette, not spot colors.
4 color process grays, should be created from black, or they may produce undesired results in CMYK. The percentage must not be below 18%, or it may not print.

Spot Colors:
All colors must be a valid Pantone+ Solid Coated name. (Ex: Pantone XXX C) If not, it will not be recognized, and will be produced from a varied CMYK breakdown that can render undesired results. (Examples of non-compliant names: Pantone XXX a description C, Sky Blue, PMS Green 347, etc.) Soft edge/Transparencies/Layer effects 
Soft edges/feathered edges/transparencies get the best results when produced on white substrates.
When these type of effects (including layer effects such as overlay, multiply, etc.) are created in the software (Ex: Adobe Illustrator), they can have undesired results when going into production.

Gradients:
Gradients created from Pantone Solid Coated colors yield undesired results. These may need to be converted to a strictly CMYK breakdown in order for the gradient to be smooth. However, the colors will be altered, and may not look like the Pantone Solid Coated colors originally desired.

 

COLORBRITE SPECS

VECTOR FORMAT

When possible, please send vector files in Adobe Illustrator format. Vector files are scalable without loss of detail when scaling. If vector files cannot be supplied and redrawing is required on any or all of the components, another day needs to be added to the production time.

4 COLOR PROCESS SPECIFICATIONS

IMAGES:
  • Artwork must be @ 100% (final size) or larger.
  • Must be @ 300dpi or higher.(If the artwork is smaller than the imprint area, then the dpi needs to be @ 600dpi.)
  • There is no accurate way to redraw 4 color process images and we cannot redraw photos.
  • * Note: Increasing the size of the image will decrease the dpi of that image.
FONTS:
  • All fonts used in the design must be converted to curves, outlined or rasterized. (This is to prevent any font related issues.)
MINIMUM TEXT / LINE THICKNESS:
  • See Fig 1.
  • The ideal line thickness is 3 pts for opacity. All printable areas within the artwork should be a minimum of 3 pts thick (.0417").
  • * Note: Areas less than 3pts. will print, but might not be opaque enough, except white. Ideally, white will be opaque as small as 1pt. (.0139"). Anything less than 1 pt will not print.

Figure 1 - Line Thickness

COLORS:
  • Colors should be CMYK. Not all RGB colors can be rendered in CMYK. Therefore, you can make any necessary adjustments before sending your file.
  • Blues need to have a difference of 35% or more between Cyan and Magenta. If not, they will print purple.
  • Grays should be created from black or they may produce undesired results if CMYK.
SOFT EDGE / TRANSPARENCY / OVERPRINT:
  • Design needs to be a solid shape without soft edges, transparencies or overprints.

SPOT COLOR SPECIFICATIONS

FONTS:
  • All fonts used in the design must be converted to curves or outlines. (This is to prevent any font related issues.)
MINIMUM TEXT / LINE THICKNESS:
  • See Fig. 2
  • The ideal line thickness is 1 pt. All printable areas within the artwork should be a minimum of 1pt thick (.0139")
  • * Note: Areas less than 1 pt. will not print.

Figure 2 - Line Thickness

COLORS:
  • All colors must be a spot color and designated as such.
  • If the file contains a combination of images that are CMYK or RGB and have spot colors, the job will be done as a 4-Color Process. See our 4-Color Process specifications.
SOFT EDGE / TRANSPARENCY / OVERPRINT:
  • Design needs to be a solid shape without soft edges, transparencies or overprints.