Artwork Guidelines

On almost all of our products, we require artwork to be set as CMYK with a 3mm bleed. If your artwork contains RGB or Spot Colours and you cannot change this to be CMYK we will convert them to CMYK. This may result in a colour variance for which we cannot be held responsible.

All artwork must be supplied in PDF format. If your artwork has more than one page we require a multi-page PDF.

Ideally, all fonts in print ready artwork should be converted to outlines to avoid any potential font embedding issues. We also recommend ­flattening artwork if you can to avoid any transparency problems in ‑final print.

Please note: If we are printing a job CMYK – we do not offer to match to an existing spot colour sample.

Colour on screen vs Colour in print

The colours of your artwork will always look brighter and richer on-screen as it’s a backlit screen and the colours are made up of three colours Red, Green and Blue (RGB), in print the colour will always be slightly darker than how it appears on a computer because the colour is reproduced from four colours, the standard printing process colours Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) then printed onto paper or board (which can affect colour) then left to soak into the stock and dry.

Crop/Trim Marks & Bleed

We require all artwork with crop/trim marks added to each corner.

We also require all artwork set with 3mm bleed to each edge – this ‘bleed’ edge will be trimmed off in production but it is necessary as any colour or images need to ‘bleed’ over the finished size so that you get a nice clean edge (no paper showing on the edge). See artwork guides for further instructions.

Safe Area

We recommend keeping all text, logos etc inside the ‘safe area’ to avoid any possible cutting issues. There’s an inevitable movement with print in the cutting process and if you have text close to the ‑finished size line it may be cropped. We advise you to set the safe area 5mm in from the ‑finished size line.

Spot UV Varnish

When creating artwork for Spot UV varnish we require a 4 page PDF. Page 1 & 2 is the artwork which needs to be printed, front and back and page 3 & 4 are the Spot UV Varnish plates. Please set the artwork for Spot UV Varnish in 100% Black (k) and make sure it aligns perfectly with the printed artwork. See Spot UV artwork guides for more information.

Hot Foil Business Cards

When creating artwork for Hot Foil varnish we require a 4 page PDF. Page 1 & 2 is the artwork which needs to be printed, front and back and page 3 & 4 are the Hot Foil plates. Please set the artwork for Hot Foil in 100% Black (k) and make sure it aligns perfectly with the printed artwork. Please make us aware of what colour foil you’d like. See Hot Foil artwork guides for more information.

Embossed Business Cards

When creating artwork for Hot Foil varnish we require a 4 page PDF. Page 1 & 2 is the artwork which needs to be printed, front and back and page 3 & 4 are the ‘Emboss’ plates. Please set the artwork for Emboss in 100% Black (k) and make sure it aligns perfectly with the printed artwork. Please take into consideration that the indent left on the reverse of the card following the emboss. Any artwork that overlaps this will be very difficult to read.

Booklets

Please provide artwork for booklets in single pages set in reading order example: page 1, page 2 and so on.

Presentation Folders

Please provide artwork both with and without the guides over the top.
Please extend any colour as far past the Finish line as you possibly can.