ARTWORK TIPS: WHAT KIND OF ART DO YOU NEED TO PROVIDE?

Vector Art is Different from Bitmapped/Raster Art

Having smooth artwork for imprinting is critical to your image and brand. Vector frequently is the only type of art that a factory or manufacturer will accept. If a factory declines to reproduce a logo on one of their products, that decision is beyond the control of Image Marketing. The only choice is to provide vector art. Ultimately it will save time on the project and cost for re-creating your design.

The beauty of vector art is that it will enlarge or reduce in size and maintain top-notch quality. Vector images use mathematics to create shapes with lines, points, and curves. Vector images are infinitely scalable. No matter how large or small you size it, the lines and fills will always stay crisp with no image loss. A logo can be as small as a dime or as large as a billboard while still looking clean and sharp. Colors can easily be changed to fit the different needs of each printing process.

File names for vector art files must end in one of these: “.eps”, “.ai”, “.svg”, and maybe “.pdf”. 

Example:   “MyCustomLogo.eps” or “MyCustomLogo.ai"

Changing the characters in the filename from “.png”, “.jpg”  or even ".cdr" to one of the examples above will not change the file quality. They must be properly exported from the original software/application that they were created in.

At this time we do not accept, for our commercial printing processes: MS Word, MS Publisher, Corel Draw native, Canva native, and Inkscape native. There may be others, so please consult with us at the beginning of your project. We will help you through the process in the quickest and most cost-effective manner. There may be solutions that we can guide you towards.

Keep in mind that “.png”, “.jpg” and ".gif" files are bitmap, or raster, graphics. They are a compliation of dots and usually are very grainy around the edges because they were created or saved at a very low resolution (less than 300 dots per inch). This will make your graphics look sloppy and unprofessional. Bitmap/Raster files do not allow for easy editing, such as quick color changes or enlargement. Increasing their dimensions will result in a loss of quality and sharpness which gives an undesirable, jagged quality.

In most cases, we will be producing your art on a product or on paper so the CMYK color space is necessary. PNG files are always in the RGB color space no matter what the file was originally created in. The intention for PNG format is to place it on electronic devices, not to reproduce on branded merchandise or paper. This is another reason for sending vector files. If yours are currently are in RGB, it can be a simple process to convert to CMYK.

Do you have a photo in your art? Please ask us how to make sure the resolution is high enough for great printing results. We have tricks of the trade.

No matter the decorating process, low resolution art can impact a project. Here are some examples of art so you can see for yourself that there is a difference.

 

                    

 

 

 

Note: Small and low resolution files can also have a negative effect on embroidery.

Fonts and Text Within Your Art:

Please make sure that all your text/fonts have been converted to Outlines (also called Boxes) before saving to any other file format or sending to Image Marketing.

Why? Because the fonts you use may not be on our computers. Once you convert the text to Outlines, they become objects instead of editable text. Even if our computers have a font with the same name, there is no guarantee that our version is identical to your version, which can cause the written word to look different and for it to flow in undesired ways.

Example of original/editable text vs. outlined text:

              

Note: Recently we have experienced significant font issues with files created in Canva. Please contact us right away if you intend to use these online tools to create your artwork.

 

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