As a general rule, aside from printing on full colour products, we require all artwork to be supplied in Ai (Adobe Illustrator), EPS, or PDF Vector format. Vector artwork is very important, please see the info in the table here. Most of our products are screen printed and therefore require vector artwork, apart from the full colour products like transfer printed bags, white notebooks and pads, badges and magnets. For transfer, full colour litho and digital print processes we can receive files in bitmap PDF, TIF and JPEG formats as long as they are 300dpi at actual size, and sufficient quality and not overly compressed as that will result in unsatisfactory print quality.

It is important that it is not just an embedded JPEG or similar bitmap file in the EPS, PDF or AI (Adobe Illustrator) file, it needs to contain vector paths. You can usually tell if it is not vector – if you zoom in closely you be able to see the pixels that make up the image. Where spot colours are used, eg for screen printing, please supply the pantone references to be printed in the artwork, not RGB or CMYK four colour process colour references.

Always remember to:

• Convert all fonts to outlines/paths or supply fonts required
• Include all the correct copy you require remember to get this approved by all stakeholders before sending to us
• Avoid large areas of print
• Adhere to the products’ minimum font size
• Specify Pantone references for all colours
• Don’t forget to check the print area of the product

Please be aware that if you send us a small GIF, PNG or JPEG logo from a company website it is unlikely that we will be able to print it, please request a suitable file from the logo designer. Website graphics are usually highly compressed and small.

Redrawing Artwork

Our Art room can help with all artwork but please speak to the logo designer first as they will usually have created the logo in a vector application. If you are unable to supply artwork in vector format where required, there is a possibility that we may be able to redraw it in to a print ready vector file.
Please be aware that it might not be possible to match fonts or complex designs precisely. However due to the time consuming nature of the conversion process an artwork charge will be applied at a rate of £40 per studio hour, depending on the complexity of the design.

Printing on Jute Bags

If you are ordering a jute bag, please give consideration to the print surface and be aware that the artwork may need to be adapted accordingly to ensure that it is suitable for this substrate. Jute has a very heavy weave, this means that all text needs to at least 30pt, reversed out designs should be avoided and the artwork should not contain fine details as they might fill in when printed.