Art Preparation
M o u s e p a d s
...a n d m o r e
G i a n t
Art Preparation, tolerances, and proofing
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Any professional format is usually fine. It is generally acceptable to submit
.tif or .jpg files at 300dpi, cmyk at the best possible quality level for .jpgs using Photoshop
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Bleed: 1/8” on all four sides for ‘hard top’ items, 1/4” for sublimation printed ‘soft top’ items
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“Margins from edge for parallel lines or text along a side: 1/8” for hard tops & 3/16” for soft top items
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Sublimation dye printing is used for printing the fabric items. It is not a medium that reproduces as
accurately as offset paper printing. We provide a .pdf or .jpg proof file for checking the art layout, but
if you require a high level of color accuracy for a corporate logo color, or anything else, a full production
proof is required. They are expensive for sublimation printed items, and offset press produced hard top
items. $225 plus shipping. That is our actual cost and is not marked up at all. Our digitally printed
hard top items, usually under 4,000 qty, cost only $15 for a production proof.
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Reversed text and graphic lines: on fabric printing, you must allow for the ‘dot gain’. The dye spreads out in the
fabric and if the text or lines are too thin, they will be difficult to read, or take on a tint of the surrounding color.
Usually a 14pt. bold text will hold up well to those issues. And 16-18pt non-bold text will perform alright when reversed
as white print in a solid color background.
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How to get the art to us: You can just email any file that is 10mb or under. In fact, one of our mail servers has
recently increased the limit on incoming attachments, but you’ll need to specify in the body of the email that a large
attachment is present so we can retrieve it directly from the email server. If needed, very large files can be uploaded
via ftp. We will email you instructions if you need to use that process.
Call us first! You’ll avoid some potential art preparation pitfalls,
especially with the sublimation dye process.
We’re here to help make your ordering and art preparations process
FASTER, EASIER, & TROUBLE-FREE !
