Artwork Submission Guidelines
The following is a set of general guidelines to consider when submitting artwork. Please keep in mind that while these are merely guidelines and certainly not a mandate, they have been provided to save you time and money. We kindly ask for your cooperation.
NOTE: The below guidelines are subject to change without notice and at SlicART's discretion.
Non-Digital Artwork Basics
While we do prefer digital art, non-digital artwork is accepted. Non-digital art should be at, or larger, than the actual printing size you desire. Please provide black and white original line art in addition to a color sample. We ask that hand-drawn submissions be protected against being easily smudged or otherwise distorted. Please bring your non-digital art directly to our office. They will be returned to you upon completion of the job.
Digital Artwork Basics
All jobs require vector or rasterized artwork, although vector is preferred. If raster art is submitted, the file's resolution should be at a minimum of 300 dpi at the actual printing size (100%), although 400 dpi or higher is preferred for better results.
For photographs and similar style artwork (painting, hand drawn sketch, etc.), raster art is the only acceptable file type. If raster art is the only available format, additional charges and time may be required for art labor. For detailed artwork, the file must be at 600 dpi.
File Formats
Preferred: Illustrator 9 or newer (.ai .eps), Photoshop 7 or newer (.psd)
Supported (Acceptable): Generic raster art files (.gif .jpg .bmp .tif .png) only with high enough resolution to satisfy the basic digital artwork requirements otherwise additional charges and time may be required.
Unsupported: Pagemaker (.pmd), Microsoft Word/Publisher/Excel (.doc .docx .xls .pub), Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
Submission Methods
Preferred: E-mail for files under 2 MB, CD/CD-R/CD-RW, DVD-R/DVD-RW, USB flash drive
Also Supported (Acceptable): ZIP 100 or 250 disks
Helpful Suggestions:- Include a jpg for reference
- Convert all fonts to paths/outlines (if in a vector art program) or rasterize (if in a raster art program)
- Include all placed images in addition to actual design files
- Submit raster art at actual size
- Identify all spot colors
- Submit original files if possible
- Never flatten or merge layers in a Photoshop (.psd) file
- Verify art meets all submission guidelines
Definitions and Explanations
dpi - Stands for "dots per inch" and is a unit of measure for digital resolution, where one pixel of color makes up one dot. The more dots per inch a file contains, the more information and detail is preserved and permits better quality reproductions.
Rastered Art - Raster artwork is an image created by combining a series of colored pixels, resulting in artwork that appears photorealistic but is not easily editable, scalable, or separable for spot color reproduction. Common raster file formats include: .jpg .gif .bmp .tif .psd
Vectored Art - Vectored artwork is an image created by points and paths, interpreted by the computer as mathematical properties. This results in artwork that is editable, scalable, and separable for spot color printing. Common vector file formats include: .ai .eps .indd
Live Text - Live text in an art file is a text object still in a format that is editable in the artwork's original program. Live text does require the font file in order to be displayed and printed correctly.
Converted Text - Converted text is no longer editable as it has been rasterized or converted to outlines/paths/curves. It can no longer be edited as text, however it does not require the font file to be displayed or printed correctly.
Spot Colors - All colors are a combination of a series of base colors. In most cases, these are identified by their percentages of each base color and despite this color formula, their actual color appearance to the human eye depends on ambient lighting as well as the hardware and software being used to view them. Spot colors are specifically named color swatches, most often called Pantones, that reduce the color-change effects of varying computer and printer systems.
