General Artwork Information

ARTWORK
The best results are achieved by sending us electronic artwork. With our digital printing technology you can use Pantone® spot colors in your artwork. PMS matching charges may apply. See list below for specifications.  We prefer to receive EPS, PDF or TIF images.  We will resize artwork to fit desired product.

HALFTONES
We reproduce screen printed halftones at 65-85 line. We screen print traditional halftones. Halftones cannot be reproduced with metallic inks. See page 94 for tips on using halftones on wood products. 

ARTWORK CHARGES
Artwork charges may be necessary if additional time is required to bring artwork up to acceptable standards. We bill artwork charges at $100.00g/hour with a minimum charge of 15 minutes. If you are adding photos to any product, please contact customer service regarding detailed digital photo requirements or see page 14.

COPY & COLOR CHANGES
Change of ink color within an order, add $25.00g. Material colors can be changed at no additional cost. For change of copy (example: tag line on badge or name and phone number on business card magnets) add $25.00g per change. Copy changes need to be a minimum of half our lowest catalog quantity.

BLEEDS
We recommend a 1⁄8” bleed beyond the product’s imprint area. Artwork without a sufficient bleed may require artwork charges. Bleeds are not available on all products, see product page for details. Artwork is normally placed 1⁄8” from each edge, unless specified with order. See page 92 for mouse pads & counter mats.

WRITING ON PRODUCTS
Many of our products are designed to be written on with different types of pens, markers or chalk. Laminated products are easily written on with a dry erase marker. Other products vary. Request a sample to test with writing instrument you are going to use! 

PROOFS
Electronic proof of product layout is $12.50g. Electronic proofs are a PDF document, emailed to you. We proof layouts only, not namelists.

SPEC SAMPLES
An actual preproduction sample of a product will incur appropriate setup charges. Preproduction samples are produced in our normal production time. Artwork, setup charges, PMS match charges and shipping charges will be billed on spec sample invoice.

Color Matching by Printing Method

COLOR MATCHING • SCREEN PRINTING
Screen Printing uses mixed inks to apply individual colors to the surface of the product. PMS color matches are $40.00g per match. Charges will appear on all reorders. PMS matches are not guaranteed. Dramatic changes in appearance of ink color will occur on dark plastics, brass, aluminum or wood. 

COLOR MATCHING • DIGITAL PRINTING
Digital Printing is done using a 4-color process press. For PMS colors please specify colors from the Pantone® Color Bridge® swatch book or the Pantone® Process swatch book. PMS matches are not guaranteed, but will be as close as digital printing allows. Neon and metallic colors are not available on digital products. 

COLOR MATCHING • UV INKJET PRINTING
UV Inkjet Printing uses process colors to apply ink to the surface of the product. PMS matches are not guaranteed, but will be as close as digital printing allows. Neon and metallic colors are not available on digital products. Dramatic changes in appearance of ink color will occur on dark plastics, metals and wood. 

COLOR MATCHING • SUBLIMATION PRINTING
Sublimation printing uses heat and pressure to chemically bond ink to the substrate. Color matching is not available on these products. Dramatic changes in appearance of ink color will occur on aluminum. Colors are translucent and will show texture of aluminum, black ink is solid and recommended for type and personalization.

COLOR MATCHING • THERMAL PRINTING
Thermal printing uses foil ribbon and pressure to apply imprint to the PVC card. Color matching is not available on these products. Dramatic changes in appearance of imprint color will occur on gold cards. Black ink is recommended for type and personalization.

Electronic Artwork Checklist

By using this checklist, you will enable us to provide you with the quickest service and the fewest interruptions of your order. Items underlined are our preferred format.

Computer Type
___  PC/Windows
___  Macintosh

Software & Version
___  Adobe Indesign (include placed images and fonts)
___  Adobe Illustrator (CMYK or spot colors)
___  Adobe Photoshop (CMYK)

Colors
___  Process or Pantone® spot colors (CMYK) Digital or UV Inkjet printing
___  Spot colors only (PMS colors) Screen printing

Fonts
___  Include and List OpenType, Postscript and TrueType fonts used. Fonts can be converted to outlines, paths or curves. This eliminates the need to include fonts. Choose from Adobe Font Folio and we will provide font for your files.

Images & Logos
___  TIFF (images should be a minimum 300 dpi)
___  JPEG (images should be a minimum 300 dpi. Images created for internet use (72 dpi) will produce a poor quality product.
___  EPS (vector artwork)
___  Print ready PDF

Sending Files
___  CD-ROM or E-Mail artwork@idline.com
___  Contact customer service about FTP server.
___  Artwork can be uploaded through our website here.

Compression
___  Stuffit Deluxe (Macintosh)
___  Zip (Windows/PC)

Paper Proof
___  Color Proof included