Artwork Guidelines: Spot-Color Screen-Printing

To qualify for our $40 order discount you must use the artwork template corresponding to the item number you ordered, and follow the requirements below.

Mandatory requirements

• Screen-printed artwork must be all-vector, spot-color artwork (solid colors only, no tints or gradients) with no placed or embedded bitmaps — no JPG, GIF, PNG, TIF, BMP, PSD, etc. Vector artwork means points and paths only. (Bitmaps are composed of pixels.)
  
  There is one exception for placed bitmaps: 1-bit black-and-white (not grayscale) bitmaps that have a spot-color swatch applied to them are permitted, if and only if no trapping of the object is required. For most situations, this means it must not touch or overlap adjacent artwork. Simple reverse knock-outs using bitmaps are permissible, however. This means when the bitmap object is used to cut out a shape from another object so that the plate surface shows through, since that doesn’t involve two ink colors touching.
  
  If a colored bitmap object does touch or overlap other artwork, however, it should be converted to vector art instead, either by autotracing or hand-tracing to enable trapping it on our end. We’ll be happy to vectorize bitmaps for you, but at the cost of forfeiting the $40 order discount.
  
  Do not embed any bitmap files in the document. Place them as linked files instead, and send them to us as separate companion files along with the .ai or .eps layout file.
• Vector artwork must be drawn cleanly enough to color-separate and trap properly. We will do any trapping of artwork required on this end, but vector paths must be executed professionally enough that they do not complicate color separation or trapping. This means properly closed paths, without stray points or other litter in the form of unnecessary or left-over non-printing “junk” paths, and so forth. If artwork is autotraced, take a certain amount of care when setting up the parameters for the automated trace to ensure a decent result, or else redraw the artwork manually. Autotraced artwork done as a quick-and-dirty “shortcut” may be more trouble than it is worth if the file needs trapped. If we need to rebuild or rework poorly built or poorly autotraced files or otherwise haphazardly constructed pathwork, the discount cannot be given.
• Color swatches must be used consistently and color-separate cleanly. Explicitly define spot-color swatches with Pantone swatches and apply them consistently. Don’t, for example, use a defined color swatch for some red objects but apply an undefined red color to other red objects, or use two different red swatches when only one color of red should be printed. Although we vet submitted files to catch oversights like this that would otherwise result in two different silkscreens erroneously being output for the same printed color, our job goes much faster if you prep files properly on your end.
• All fonts must be converted to outlines.
• Mounting holes must not punch through critical lettering or artwork. Or if they do and it doesn’t matter to you, you must notify us in advance, so we don’t spend time attempting to contact you about the issue or need to fix any problems on our end. Mounting holes are shown in our .eps file templates to aid in laying out artwork.
• Final file must be saved in Adobe Illustrator .ai or .eps format, any version up to CS4. Windows or Macintosh does not matter, since Adobe graphic formats are cross-platform-compatible. Most other vector artwork applications, such as CorelDraw, can save/ export files to either Adobe .ai or Adobe .eps format.
• Discount forfeited for anything other than minor adjustments that need to be made to your file on our end, though in some cases we may extend partial discount credit depending on amount of time saved. Make sure you heed all the guidelines above. If you don’t understand something, don’t hesitate to contact us — we’re glad to answer questions, since that makes things easier for everyone.

Non-mandatory guidelines to ensure best reproduction

• Try to keep details to at least 1-point in thickness. This applies to both printed ink and to any small unprinted interstices between inked areas (often called “negative space”). Details slightly smaller will often print okay, say 0.75-point, but smaller than that usually risks dropouts in the case of inked areas, or else filling in of negative space. Screen-printing cannot resolve details as fine as commercial offset printing, so keep this in mind when you are repurposing artwork originally desiged for printing on paper, or any artwork that is highly detailed. We cannot be responsible for graphic detail that either “drops out” or fills in (blobs together) because of artwork furnished to us in a poorly prepared state.
• Any placed 1-bit bitmap files should be at least 300dpi at actual output size. For non-photographic images typical of spot-color printing that should have clean/hard edges, 600dpi is strongly recommended. We are not responsible for poorly appearing printed output due to low-resolution images, such as those intended originally for use on websites at 72dpi, or other similar images.
• Don’t worry about trapping the file. We’ll handle any trapping required on our end.