How to supply your Print Ready artwork

Please see our detailed information on supplying artwork in the following formats.

Click on this link to download our Templates

We accept artwork in in the following formats only;
PDF (Recommended)
Adobe Illustrator (Outlines)
Photoshop (Flattened)
In-Design (Packaged with Fonts and Image Links)

Word and Powerpoint are accepted, but only if all the fonts are present and any images are 300dpi or above.

Please save your artwork at 300dpi at full size. e.g. 85mm x 55mm with 3mm bleed edge making the document size 91mm x 61mm.

Bleed
Ensure all jobs have 3mm bleed if required. Bleed is required when images, colour or text go right to the edge of your page. To create a bleed simply extend your image(s), colour(s) or text 3mm over the edge of the page. PLEASE NOTE: If making a PDF for print, please make your PDF page size large enough to incorporate the bleed.

Crop Marks and Trim Box
Please always make your PDF with crop marks. These should be software-generated and added at the PDF-making stage (by ticking the ‘Crop Marks’ option). Please also try to ensure your PDF has a trimbox. This can be checked by going to Preferences, Page Display, Page Content and Information, then ticking ‘Show Art Trim and Bleed Boxes’. The trimbox will show up as a green line (or may show up as red if the artbox is in the same position as the trimbox). If your PDF does not have a trimbox, this can be set by selecting the Crop tool, double-clicking on the PDF, then under Crop Margins change ‘Crop Box’ to ‘Trim Box’ then set the correct values. If your trimbox should be 3mm in from the PDF page edges for example, then set Top, Bottom, Left and Right Values as 3mm. If you need help creating a PDF from your existing files, click here for a free conversion.

Spot Colours
Ensure all colours in spot colour jobs are assigned Pantone colours (or are ‘Black’). CMYK and RGB colour used in spot colour jobs will result in your job being rejected.

RGB Colours
Do not use RGB colour in full colour jobs as the resulting colour may not be as expected once converted to CMYK for print.

Black
Ensure all black text and fills have the colour value C0 M0 Y0 K100. Try to keep text below 12pt in black whenever possible, as small coloured text may not look as sharp once printed. Large solid areas of black can be ‘beefed up’ with the addition of 30% Cyan (C30 M0 Y0 K100) resulting in a deeper looking black known as ‘rich black’.

RGB Black
Please note if you use RGB black (R 0 G 0 B 0) as a vector fill colour this will be automatically converted to CMYK black (100%k) by our workflow. Please also avoid having vector RGB black joining bitmap RGB black in your design as the join will be extremely noticeable once the conversion has taken place.

Spot Colour to CMYK Version
When Pantone colours are converted to CMYK for full colour printing a change in colour is inevitable, it is impossible to exactly replicate spot colours using CMYK inks. Similarly, with RGB images, when they are converted to CMYK, there is a colour shift. Allow for this colour shift when designing your job.

Spot UV Varnish Artwork Set-up
When supplying artwork for spot UV matt laminated business cards please supply a 4-page PDF. Page 1 being the front of the artwork to be printed, page 2 being the back of the artwork to be printed, page 3 being the spot UV artwork for the front and page 4 being the spot UV artwork for the back. If you still need assistance, please download our helpful print guide from here

Images
Try to ensure all images in your design file are high-res, the standard for which is 300dpi (dots per inch). The lower the dpi the worse your image(s) will look when printed, so please bear this in mind when scanning, manipulating or sourcing images for your job. PLEASE NOTE: Images and logos saved from websites are most likely to be between 72-96dpi and are therefore unsuitable for print. We highly recommend images to be CMYK, any RGB images will be converted to CMYK in our workflow which may result in a small colour shift. Sourcing Images - always try and use professional images, low quality images will only downgrade your designs. Images can be purchased from shutterstock.com on demand and priced accordingly.

Just Print & File Check jobs
PDF – ensure you embed all fonts when making your PDF. EPS – ensure you convert all fonts to outlines when making your EPS. We will pre-flight your files before they go to press, but please ensure all fonts used in your design file are included with your job, or converted to curves/paths/outlines prior to submission. Our pre-flighting software will check for low resolution images, font issues, and colour space. We will not check spelling or grammar nor be held accountable if a spelling error is noticed once the final proof has been signed off.

Fonts
Your minimum font size should be 5pt. Please use 100% black if text is between 5pt to 7pt.

When do I upload my files to be printed?
Once you have placed your order we will email you back with an order confirmation and also a link to upload your artwork to our ftp site, once this is done a confirmation email will be sent out along with a PDF proof.

If you have any other questions about your artwork, please contact The Business Card Store customer services TODAY on 
01442 258707 or email hello@thebusinesscardstore.co.uk