Send what you have

The guidelines below describe the ideal file. Most files we receive aren't ideal, and that's fine — it's why we have a design department. Simple fixes happen as part of your job. If your artwork needs real rebuild work, your project manager tells you what it costs before anyone touches it, not after. Nothing on this page is a trap.

Vector vs. raster, in one paragraph

Vector art is math — points and curves the computer redraws at any size, which is why it never pixelates. Raster art is a grid of pixels, so it has a fixed amount of detail: print it larger than it was built for and it goes soft. Logos and text want to be vector. Photos and hand-drawn shading can only be raster, and that's what resolution rules are for. Simple raster logos can sometimes be redrawn as vector by our design team; complex ones usually can't be converted cleanly, and we'll tell you which yours is.

Resolution: why it looked fine on your screen

Screens display around 72 dpi. We print at up to 1440 dpi. An image saved for the web can look sharp on your monitor and still print soft and blocky, because the pixels that look fine at screen size simply aren't there at print size. Enlarging a small image later doesn't add detail — it just stretches the pixels you have.

The targets: 300 to 400 dpi at final print size for color and grayscale images, and 1200 dpi for pure line art like logos and text. Large-format work viewed from across a parking lot is more forgiving than a business card read at arm's length — your project manager will confirm what your size and viewing distance actually need.

Fonts

Fonts are a smaller problem than they used to be, and one step makes them no problem at all: convert your text to outlines before saving (Illustrator calls it "Create Outlines"; Photoshop calls it rasterizing the type layer). Outlined text is locked into the artwork and prints exactly as you designed it, no font files needed. If you'd rather send live text, tell us the font name or include the file — we hold an Adobe Fonts license, so anything in the Adobe library is already covered, and Google Fonts, Font Squirrel and DaFont are solid free sources. For commercially licensed fonts beyond those, just include your license or permission to use them with the artwork.

Color: honest expectations

Print files should be built in CMYK. Screens mix light (RGB) and can show colors that ink physically cannot reproduce — neons, some bright blues, pinks and purples come out duller on anything printed, from any printer, anywhere. Blues and grays shift the most between screen and print. If your file arrives in RGB, we'll convert it during design review at no charge and flag anything that will shift noticeably.

No print shop can promise an exact color match, and we won't pretend otherwise — temperature, humidity, ink type, fabric and material batch all move color slightly. What we do promise: we take your brand seriously, we get as close as the process allows, and if color is critical to the job, ask your project manager about a printed color test. It adds time and cost, and for brand-critical work it's worth both.

Paper printing: bleed and safe zone

Anything meant to print to the edge — a background color, a photo — must extend 1/8" past the trim line on every side. That overrun is the bleed, and it's what prevents a hairline white edge when the cutter comes down. In the other direction, keep text and anything important at least 1/8" inside the trim. Cutting is precise but physical, so borders meant to look perfectly even on all four sides are the one design we'll talk you out of.

Booklets and multi-page pieces need their files arranged in printer spreads, and read best with strong contrast — dark ink on white, cream or pastel stock beats two shades of the same color every time. InDesign work must arrive as an exported print-optimized PDF; we can't use .indd files directly.

Apparel: what's different

Garment files skip bleed entirely — there's no trimming — but vector matters even more, because we separate your design into layers for screens or build an underbase for dark fabric, and clean vector art makes both exact. If your design uses a specialty ink like puff, reflective, glow or glitter, say so when you send the file so it's built into the plan from the start. Placement and size are never guesswork: you approve both on a mockup of the actual garment before anything prints.