File Preparation and Submission Guidelines

Printing Can Be Complicated. We Are Here to Help.
To avoid delays and common printing mistakes, you can review our File Preparation and Submission Guidelines before uploading your artwork. This will ensure that all your orders go through the process worry-free.


TEMPLATE GUIDELINES (Use our Templates or need help with print definitions)

Bleed
Bleed is the section of the artwork that will be cut off when the final printed product is trimmed to final size. The purpose of which is to continue a background color, image or design all the way to the edge of the card. On our templates, the red lines indicate the bleed section. Please make sure all backgrounds are extended all the way to this line.
Bleed size is typically 1/8 of an inch (or 0.125) outside of the final trim size.

Trim
The trim line is where your product will be cut to the final size once the bleed area is removed. Please remember that due to cutting tolerances of printing, the cut may shift up to 1/16 of an inch in any direction. On our templates, the color blue indicates the trim line. Broken blue lines typically indicate folding areas, if any.

Safety Zone
The safety zone is an area within the trim line which helps prevent any text or type from being cut off. It is of utmost importance that no text or essential parts of your artwork be too close to the trim line. This will ensure that everything is well within the finished printed material when it is trimmed. Due to mechanical tolerance during the cutting process, any content within 1/8" of the trim line may have the possibility of being cut off.

On our templates, the green line indicates the Safety zone, which is typically 1/8 of an inch (or 0.125) inside the final trim size.

Crop Mark
Crop marks are guides indicating where the paper should be cut to produce the correct size. These marks are usually located on the corners of a template. Aside from the blue lines that indicate the trim size, crop marks are also typically included as an added measure.


ARTWORK GUIDELINES

Color Mode
The full color printing process requires artwork to be saved in four-color CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) mode. That's because printing presses use 4 plates (one plate for each color) to achieve the final combination of colors that compose the artwork image.

However, total black and white artwork or images must be in GRAYSCALE color mode in order to get that full, rich black in the final output.

Files in RGB (Red, Green Blue) as well as Pantone colors will automatically be converted into CMYK.

Fonts
As much as possible, please outline your fonts (in Illustrator and InDesign) or rasterize them (in Photoshop). This is to avoid any font issues when your job is printed.

If you are submitting QuarkXpress or InDesign files, please include a font folder containing all the typefaces used in your layout.

Please do not use a font size smaller than 8 points. Typically, very small or very thin fonts may not be readable specially when printed against dark or busy backgrounds.

Proofreading
Before submitting your artwork, please check and review all copy/text for typos or misspellings. A PDF will be available for viewing after artwork submission to provide the opportunity to check everything before your job goes into print. Once the job is approved, we cannot be responsible for any misprint or errors in the finished print.

Resolution
To ensure the best output quality, the minimum resolution for artwork is 300 dpi (dots per inch). Make sure your link files or images (specially in Illustrator, Quarkxpress, and InDesign) are in this resolution or higher.

Images need to be created at 300 dpi or higher to ensure there will not be a substantial drop in quality - typically resulting in blurry images with jagged edges.

If you are scanning pictures, please make sure the settings are for a photograph and that the resolution is also 300 dpi or higher.


SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Preferred Artwork File Formats for Submission
Press-Ready PDFs
Flattened High-Resolution TIF/TIFF or JPG.

The above file formats are preferred in order to avoid any issues with fonts, pictures, etc.

Other acceptable file formats
InDesign
Adobe Illustrator (.ai or .eps)
Adobe Photoshop (.psd, .tif, .jpg)


When submitting these types of files, in a separate folder please include all fonts, images and other graphic elements used in the artwork.

Artwork must be within the PHATprints.com specifications (see artwork guidelines).


File Size
For files larger than 10MB, we recommend that you compress your file using software programs like WinZip (for Windows) or StuffIt (for Mac). You can also send your artworks by signing up for a free account on YouSendIt.


Uploading Time
Uploading file may take a while depending on the speed of your connection and the size of your artwork. Uploading a 4MB file would take about 5 minutes on a DSL connection.

If you are submitting artwork files in a CD, there is no need to compress the files.

We will review each file after it has been uploaded. If we find any problems, we will inform you immediately to avoid delays. If no errors have been found a Proof of your job will be sent to you via email within 1 business day.


If you are submitting artwork files in a CD, there is no need to compress the files.


For assistance, you may call our Customer Service at 715-362-0990.


Related topics: Glossary of Printing Terms and Paper Stock.