You want your printed products to look clean, bold and impressive, right out of the box. We want the same thing. We want it so badly that we will bend over backwards to make sure your designs are print-ready. But getting your artwork ready for commercial printing does not have to be hard. There are two easy ways to make sure your design files are in perfect shape to hit our printing press. The first is to let our professional designers take the task off your hand. The second is to use our simple design templates (http://www.eliteflyers.com/template-downloads/) and the tips below to ensure your image will print beautifully, without a hiccup.
If graphic design is completely foreign to you, hitting up the Elite Flyers design team to create your artwork for you might be your best option. Depending on the job, the cost of your art could be as low as $35, a minimal investment compared to the time and money needed to buy design software and to learn the ins and outs of every design tool the program offers. You can find more or our graphic design prices located at EliteFlyers.com
If you are no stranger to design software, our templates are an amazing resource to ensure your products come out looking incredible. The templates clearly illustrate the “safe zone” for your design, taking into account both the cut and the bleed of the project. They also clearly mark folds on folded projects, and cut out areas for specialty work like door hangers. Best of all, they’re completely free. We strongly encourage all our customers to take advantage of our free design templates to take the guesswork out of creating artwork for their printed products.
Here are some general tips for preparing your artwork files for commercial printing. Use these in conjunction with our design templates, and you are guaranteed to love your finished print products. (Keep in mind that you can also run your designs by our team – at no charge – if you need assurance that they meet the requirements of your project!)
Prepare Your Files:
-Make sure your designs are the right size for your project. Our templates will help.
-Keep the bleed to .25” and keep in mind that the trim area is .125” from the sides. Again, our templates clearly spell this out.
-Don’t put important information or images over the fold area for folded jobs like brochures or table tents.
-Center your designs properly in each design area.
-Check orientation for 2-sided or multi-page jobs.
Check Texts and Fonts:
-Name your files with special names to easily identify your files.
-Make fonts at least 6pt.
-Double and triple check for typos, proper spelling, punctuation and grammar.
-Make sure fonts can be printed legibly.
Check Image Resolution and Color:
-Make sure your design will print clearly by sending us images that have at least 300 dpi.
-Use CMYK colors in your design, and send us files for the original images used in your artwork.
-For the richest black, set your CMYK value to 60%-C, 40%-M, 40%-Y, 100%-K.
-Save images as .JPG or .PDF and illustrator files as .EPS with fonts layers created to outline. This will ensure the quality and accuracy of your vectors and images.
Using our templates and the above guidelines will equip you for design and printing success. We are here to help. If you have questions about your whether or not your design is ready to hit our presses, feel free to email us at any time at Info@EliteFlyers.com
About Jenny DixonJennifer has been apart of the EliteFlyers.com team for over 15 years. She brings a deep understanding of web marketing, thoughtful strategies, that she's able to design, manage, print, deliver multi-media campaigns to meet all client's goals. Her personal portfolio includes high-end design and printing of business cards, flyers, post cards for elite businesses and individuals from all over the world.
