Adobe Illustrator

Does your artwork have bleeds?

PsPrint requires .125" bleeds on all four sides of your artwork (i.e., 4"x6" postcard image with bleeds would have dimensions of 4.25" x 6.25" in your artwork file.) If your image has a white border on all four sides, bleeds are recommended but not required. If your image is not white on all four sides, you MUST include bleeds in your files. More information about bleeds.

Does your artwork have borders?

The cutting process for printed materials has a mechanical tolerance of about .0625 or 1/16 of an inch. When using a border in your artwork, it is essential that your design use at least .25 or 1/4 of an inch of white space from your border to the cut line to maintain a symmetrical appearance. More information about borders.

Create Guidelines

• Make sure you are on the layer labeled "My Artwork"
• Show rulers - (View>Rulers)
• Click on the rulers and drag a guideline to the specified marks. This will help you line up your text/images to our template guides.
• Note the instructions included in the template

Create a Boundary Box

Make sure the stroke and fill are transparent.

• Choose the rectangle tool
• Create a box with the proper dimensions of your entire artwork plus .25" for bleed

What is Resolution?

For an image to print properly, the image must be at least 300 pixels per inch (PPI) at the final output size. DO NOT try to change from a low resolution to a higher one by increasing the DPI in your imaging program. More information about resolution.

What is CMYK color mode?

The color mode of submitted files must be CMYK. If your files are submitted using any other color standard, such as RGB or Pantone, they will be converted to CMYK. Conversion from one color standard to another may cause colors to shift. More information about CMYK color mode.

Does your artwork contain gradients?

Gradients are commonly used in printing and in most instances produce good results. Gradients can be represented in a file as a mathematical equation (Vector) or rendered by the application into a series of pixels (Raster). Whether created as rasters or vectors, gradients below 10% may not reproduce accurately. More information about gradients .

Does your artwork contain solid black?

When you want an area of solid black within a document, 100% black (K) will not result in a solid, saturated black. Instead, use Rich Black, as represented by C:50% / M:40% / Y:40% / K:100%.

• Select All (Ctrl A / Cmd A)
• Object > Flatten Transparency

• Make sure to check
  “Convert All text to Outlines”
  “Convert All Strokes to Outlines”
• Make sure to uncheck
  "Preserve Alpha Transparency"
  "Preserve Overprints and Source Color"
• Save file as PDF 1.3