Artwork Guidelines

Before submitting your files, please follow our handy artwork guide to ensure there are no delays with your order.

File Format

There are two types of formats, raster and vector. Both have their own uses, but what are the differences between them?

Raster

Rasters, or bitmaps, are the primary choice for photos, paintings and textures. They are created with a collection of bits, or pixels, that when scaled correctly appear more blurred or pixelated the larger they become.

To ensure a high-quality output, all images submitted must have a high-resolution of at least 300dpi at the actual size. Anything lower than this will likely result in a blurry, pixelated image once scaled to the actual size.

Images saved from websites are generally low-resolution and unsuitable for printing, even if you upscale using image software it will not increase the quality of the image.

Common file types for rasters are .PDF, .PSD, .AI, .EPS, .JPEG, .TIFF and .PNG. We do not recommend submitting files from Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher as these programs are not designed for commercial printing.

Vector

Vectors are the primary choice for logos, text, and illustrations. They are a mathematically described object, that can be scaled up or down to any size with zero loss of quality.

The most common file types for vectors are .PDF (our most preferred), .AI and .EPS.

Colours

Our printers use CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) to reproduce a colour, using dots to make up the image. We can also accurately match to Pantone colours where applicable using the four colour process. When submitting your files, always use CMYK to ensure the best possible output. Please do not use RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colours as they cannot be printed accurately.

Fonts

All fonts should be either be embedded, converted to outlines or if supplying the original artwork, they must be clearly marked in a folder. We assume all fonts supplied are correctly licensed and take no responsibility for embedded fonts.

Bleed & Crop Marks

If your artwork includes colour or images printed to the edge of the sign, please add 5mm bleed to each side to avoid white edges on the finished product. Please indicate the edge of the finished product with crop marks to ensure we trim it correctly. Our in-house design team can apply these if required.

Sending your files to us

Once you are happy you have followed the above guidelines, please send your files to [email protected] with any relevant artwork information and your web order number. If your files are larger than 15mb, we recommend using a free-to-use file sharing website such as WeTransfer.