Artwork Requirements

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Mechanical Requirements

A custom promotional product is a direct reflection upon your company or organization. We want to ensure your corporate identity is crisp, clean and consistent. Although we use state of the art printing processes, the final product will only look as good as the artwork submitted to us. For these reasons, we list our requirements for submitting artwork below.

Convert type to outline, paths or curves, or include necessary fonts. Include all placed graphic files and placed images as separate linked files and not embedded.

We will accept files created according to our guidelines in the following native applications:

Adobe Illustrator® v. 9.0.2 and earlier. This is our preferred method for Electronic Art.
Convert type to outline, paths or curves, or include necessary fonts.

Macromedia Freehand® Type must be converted to "curves" and file MUST be exported to "Adobe Illustrator EPS" format.

Adobe Photoshop® Photoshop, along with PICT or TIFF images cannot be used as submitted and require redrawing into vector format (line art). Additional art charges may apply for redrawing. If you must send a PICT or TIFF image, please send black & white images to size at 1200 DPI resolution.

Corel Draw® using the "export" function select "Adobe Illustrator Ai" format and the "Convert Type to Curves" option. Placed/imported images do not convert, include as separate files and not embedded.

QuarkXPress® v. 4.1 and earlier. EPS, PICT or TIFF placed images do not convert, include as separate files and not embedded.

We CANNOT accept the following formats:
Pagemaker, PowerPoint and any Word Processing files cannot be used. (EPS files or placed images must be included as separate linked files and not embedded.)

Application Requirements

QuarkXPress— Macintosh or IBM Compatible
1a. Macintosh: When selecting fonts, be sure to select Postscript Type 1 fonts using Adobe, Agfa, Bitstream or good quality Postscript fonts. We are unable to accept Apple System fonts (Chicago, Geneva, Monaco and New York). It is important that you send both your printer and screen fonts for the family of fonts used.

1b. IBM Compatible: Outlines must be created in an illustration program before placing into your Quark document.

2. Never use the style palette to modify fonts.

3. Along with your file sent for placement, we need the supporting graphic file(s) given the same name as the graphic(s) in your document. (Changing the name after placement will make the graphic come up as "missing or modified" when read by our imagesetters.) Place graphics at 100%.

4. Color your text and graphics with standard Pantone CMYK color mixes.
Macromedia FreeHand — Macintosh or IBM Compatible
1. Be sure to "convert to paths" all text characters in your document.

2. Color your text and graphics with standard Pantone or CMYK color mixes.

3. If you are using an imported graphic in your FreeHand document, be sure to include the original graphic file colored correctly. Place graphics at 100%.

4. Export the file as an EPS.

Adobe Illustrator — Macintosh or IBM Compatible
1. Change all text into "outlines" in your document.

2. Color your text and graphics with standard Pantone or CMYK color mixes.

3. If you are using an imported graphic in your Illustrator document, be sure to include the original graphic file. Place graphics at 100%.

4. Save the file as an Illustrator EPS, selecting version 6.0 or higher when given the option.

Adobe Photoshop — Macintosh or IBM Compatible
1. Files must be saved as a Macintosh TIFF with no LZWcompression.

2. Do not color an image in Photoshop.

3. Please submit black and white bitmap images at 600 dpi. Images that come to us at lower resolutions than what is recommended will be output as sent. We will not raise the resolution here.

4. Color all text and graphics according to standard Pantone or CMYK color mixes in a layout application (like QuarkXPress or PageMaker).

5. All files need to be submitted at the size being used for printing.

CorelDRAW — IBM Compatible (MUST be exported)
Always export your files according to the following specifications and be sure to include your supporting graphics when sending to us. When creating your files, please create only one page per document. Pages after the first one are lost when exported.

1. Color all text and graphics with standard Pantone or CMYK color mixes.

2. Place all graphics at 100%.

3. Export as an EPS file.

4. Always select the “text to curves” option to eliminate font information from your file.

Please Note: If you have version 6.0, you will need to contact Corel Corporation and upgrade to a newer version. Files exported from CorelDRAW 6 do not work.

Creating Your Files

\Fonts:
Macintosh: To guarantee your font match, you need to send us all the screen and printer fonts used in your file. Please use Macintosh Adobe Type 1 or good quality Postscript fonts. Or, using your illustration program, convert all text "to curves" or "create outlines" in your files. We cannot accept TrueType fonts.

IBM Compatible: When Macintosh fonts are substituted for PC fonts, they may differ somewhat. To avoid this variance, we recommend that you use your illustration program and convert all text "to curves" or "create outlines." Also, follow the list below pertaining to font specifications.

1. Do not send in your PC fonts, even if they look the same as the Macintosh version. We cannot install them.

2 . Never use the stylization palette to alter your fonts. Our imagesetter does not recognize these as valid changes to the fonts; therefore doing this will delay your order.

Submitting Your Files

1. We can accept your files on 3.5" floppy disks, 100MB Zip disks, CD-ROMs or preferably by electronic file transfer (FTP). Email files to artdept@artcraftsports.com.

2. DO NOT send us the only copy of your file. The disk or file could possibly be lost or damaged going through the mail. A copy of the original is preferred.

Common Problems with Electronic Files

Listed below are the common corrections we often need to make to electronic files to make them compatible with our printing needs.

Color Correction: Please follow standard Pantone conventions to avoid any extra charges. Also review our Requirements for Color Separations and Camera-Ready Art.

Style Palette Corrections: All fonts must be submitted to us in their "plain" form. Stylization within the palette does not hold through our imagesetter.

Font Substitution: For files that are submitted without compatible Macintosh fonts, "create outlines" or set text to" curves" on all text in your files.

Mode Change in Photoshop: RGB to CMYK, Indexed Color to CMYK, etc.
Please, DO NOT submit files in Indexed Color or files that have been compressed.

Extending Bleeds: If "redrawing" is needed to make the graphic bleed properly, additional charges will be assessed.

Resizing Graphic: Please send all graphics sized at 100%.

Trapping: If involved trapping is necessary to make the file compatible with our printing needs, additional charges may be assessed.

If your files require special attention to change or correct any of the "probems" listed above, and we are able to make the necessary changes with a quick fix, we will do so for a $15.00 NET charge. Anything more involved than a quick fix will require additional charges. You will not be contacted unless the charge to fix your file exceeds $15.00 NET.