Guide to Artwork

PDFs are the best way to provide artwork to us. You can export PDFs from most design software  or you can use software called a PDF Printer to create a PDF from the print menu of ANY other software (if you have Acrobat Professional installed, you should already have ‘Adobe PDF’ in your list of printers).

We request all our artwork to be supplied as high resolution (300dpi). It is important that you prepare your PDF file in the correct way. These options must be set for commercial printing:

• Resolution – Choose High Resolution
• Compression Settings – For colour and greyscale this should be down sampled to 300dpi with “auto compression” set on high
• Font Embedding – Should be set to “embed all fonts”
• We require the document to have a minimum of 3mm bleed however some products may need a larger bleed.

Colour needs to be set as CMYK not RGB (RGB artwork will be converted to CMYK and this could affect your colours).

We also accept the following files:

Adobe Illustrator: Include all embedded images and convert all text to curves. Save as an EPS file.

Adobe Photoshop: Set Resolution to 300dpi when starting your new document. Save file as either TIFF or JPEG.

Other files not listed above must be saved either as a EPS or JPEG.

Please note: If you need us to make changes to your file (JPEG / EPS), we will require you to re-supply new artwork as either a PSD, PDF or AI file as we are unable to make changes to flattened images (JPEG / EPS / TIFF).

Adobe Indesign: Please ensure all fonts and pictures used in your artwork are supplied to us in a separate folder using the “package” function under the “file” menu. Compress the document using Stuffit or WinZip before uploading or sending your order via e-mail.

Please include a PDF. This is for our reference to make sure that nothing is missing or moved on the artwork supplied. Please note that this will be proofed first and could cause a longer delivery time.

We cannot use the following formats for printing:

• Word
• Excel
• Powerpoint
• Publisher
• Works

We do not accept artwork in these formats. Please convert your Microsoft Office documents to PDFs before sending them to us.

Need Help?

Following these guidelines ensures that there will be no delays with your printing. If you have any problem, please don’t hesitate to call our design team on 0333 202 6989 who will be more than willing to help.