Production Ready Artwork Tip Sheet In order to provide you with the highest quality imprinted product(s), high quality production ready artwork is required. Please have your art provider prepare art files that meet the specifications below.
For additional information on art related topics for laser engraved and promotional products, visit: www.productionreadyartwork.com
Preferred:
• 100% vector art
•All fonts converted to outlines/curves
• Save file as a PDF or EPS Acceptable:
• Art that contains Vector and Raster (Bitmapped) elements
• Raster elements should be embedded
• Raster elements should be at 100% actual imprint size
• Raster elements should be from an original 300 DPI source
• Raster elements should be in black and white
• All fonts converted to outlines/curves or rasterized
• Save file as a PDF or EPS Acceptable:
• 100% Raster (Bitmapped) art
• Raster elements should be at 100% actual imprint size
• Raster elements should be from an original 300 DPI source
• Raster elements should be in black and white
• All fonts should be rasterized
• Save file as a TIFF, PDF or EPS • DO convert all fonts to outlines/curves. • DO be sure all placed art/files are original 300 DPI and are in black and white. • DO be sure all placed art/files are embedded. Even if the art/file is embedded, it is a good idea to also send these files along with the final art file. • DO be sure all placed art/files are at 100% of imprint size. • DO save files as either PDF, EPS or TIFF. • DO be sure elements such as text point size, line weight etc. meet the requirements for the individual products printing method when the art is at 100% imprint size. • DO include a color copy and indicate PMS colors for multi-color imprints. • DO NOT use art from any files that were used in a Web site. No matter what you do to it or how it is saved, it will not be suitable for printing. • DO NOT use art from a raster file that has a resolution of less than 300 DPI. Adjusting the DPI of a lower resolution file to 300 DPI or higher will not improve the quality of the art in the file. • DO NOT use art that has halftones or gradients. Check to see if they are acceptable for the product(s) ordered. In most cases, they can not be reproduced. Check List 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- Vector Art - Images are created by mathematical formula, also called object-oriented graphics. The art is constructed of points, lines, curves and shapes that are scalable to any size without losing clarity. Vector graphics is created in drawing programs, such as Illustrator© , CorelDraw© and Freehand© . These images are very flexible to work with. PMS Colors- PMS stands for Pantone Matching System© . It is a standard color matching system used by the printing industry to print spot colors. Each ink color has a formula that the printer uses to mix the ink. Be aware that if the material being printed is a color, it can change what the chosen PMS color(s) will look like on the finished product. Also, there can be some color variation depending on the surface texture being printed. Art Specifications and File Formats: Definitions: How To Convert Fonts to Outlines/Curve: 0- Sources for Art: Printers that have printed your logo or art before (business cards, letterhead, catalog etc.), Freelance Artists or Art Services. Find these sources in the phone book, through on line searches or through trade associations. Raster Art (Bitmapped) - Images are pixel based, it consists of rows and columns of dots. Raster art is created by scanning, most desktop publishing programs and paint programs such as Photoshop© and CorelPainter© . Raster graphics can become distorted, ragged and blurry looking when reduced or enlarged, they are NOT very flexible to work with. Resolution- This is the density of the dots in a raster (bitmapped) image file, also known as the DPI or dots per inch. Sharpness and clarity of the image is determined by the resolution. What looks sharp on a computer screen may not always give you a sharp image when printed. To look good on a computer screen an image only has to have a resolution of 72 DPI. For print reproduction, usually a minimum of 300 DPI is required for an image to look sharp. If you have an image that is less than 300 DPI, changing the resolution to 300 DPI does not improve the quality, it only increases the file size by spreading the available information in the file across a greater number of pixels. Halftones and Gradients- Halftones are series of dots that represent a percentage or shade of a color. Gradients are series of dots that change in density gradually and smoothly, such as going from light to dark or one color to another. File Format- How information in a file is encoded. It specifies if a file is binary or ASCII and how the information is organized electronically. A computer program will be able to read and use only file formats that it recognizes. The file format does not necessarily have anything to do with the quality or specifics of the art or contents within the file. Examples of file formates are: PDF, EPS, TIFF, AI, CDR, JPG and GIF. • In Illustrator© , select all, go to the Type menu and choose Create Outlines, and save. • In CorelDraw© , select all text, go to the Arrange menu and choose Convert to Curves and save. • Note: These procedures will convert all selected fonts to outlines/curves. There should be a similar procedure in other drawing programs. Once this is done the text is recognized as a vector object and can no longer be edited as a font. If you want to be able to edit your text later, be sure to make a duplicate of your file before you convert the fonts to outlines/curves.