Artwork Specifications | Flatdog Design & PrintFlatdog Design & Print

Supplying artwork

When sending artwork please ensure that you ALWAYS include the following details:

artwork details

Sending by website

Find your way to our contact us page, there you will find an online entry form where you can send us your contact details, product orders and upload your artwork. You must fill out all entries in the form.

Sending by email

Please email all details (see checklist above) along with the attached artwork files to the following address: [email protected] If you have a designer sending files on your behalf, please forward them the details so that they can be supplied along with the finished artwork.

Bleed, Die cutting etc

Bleed

Bleed is a printers term for colour that is printed beyond the finished size of a page. Due to the cutting process not always being 100% accurate, illustrations that spread to the edge of the paper can leave unsightly white slivers of unprinted paper along the edge of the page. This can be avoided by ensuring that the background of your artwork flows beyond the finished size required. If the background is white, then bleed is obviously irrelevant, it would however, be good practice to always supply finished artwork with bleed in place. We require that, where needed, a bleed of 3mm be used. Additionally, it would be a good idea not to place any text or important imagery too close to the finished edge.

Die Cutting

We offer a full range of ready made dies as well as a custom die making service. Please contact us for more information

die cutting

Colour Issues

RGB Images may suffer from colour shifts due to CMYK converstion prior to printing. It is therefore suggested that all files are supplied in CMYK colour mode as not all RGB colours can be reproduced with the CMYK printing process. When using large areas of solid black, the colour breakdown should be 100% black 50% cyan. Black areas without cyan cause ink saturation problems and should be avoided. It is also worth steering clear of 4 colour blacks as they prevent the ink from raising too high and can cause other areas of colour to appear washed out.

colour

File Types

Wherever possible, files should be supplied as flattened, CMYK artwork at a minimum resolution of 300dpi in either JPEG or TIFF format. Vector files (Illustrator, Freehand, etc.) are prone to numerous software bugs and if possible should be avoided as a format for finished artwork. If there is no option but to send vector files, please ensure that all fonts are converted into outlines. Be aware that when conversion or software errors occur there may be a charge for putting the files right. Please avoid sending Microsoft Word documents for print as this is not a print ready application and extra charges will be incurred due to reworking unsuitable artwork.

files

Paper sizes

The image below shows the most common of the standard paper sizes including both the finished sizes and bleed sizes. All artwork should be supplied at a resolution of at least 300dpi (dots per inch) in order to be of a suitably high quality. See below for a full list of our standard paper sizes (with & without bleed) up to and including A0.

sizes