Trapping:
The overlapping of color is used to avoid areas of misregistration. In screen printing it is extremely important to use this technique! If your file has not been trapped, STOUSE must trap it. The amount of trap is in relation to the size of art, material and the colors chosen. There will be a variable shift in color where two or more colors intersect. |
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Bleeds and Cutting Margins:
Bleeds must be a minimum of 1/8” or .125 inches beyond the intended cut line. STOUSE may not be able to alter bleeds on 4 color process. Any scanned or continuous tone art must have full bleed added prior to submitting art. Enlarging the base file, or undersizing the product is usually not acceptable.
Likewise, any elements not intended to bleed must be held back a relative distance from the cut edge. The size and product determine the margin needed. See chart at right. |
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Pro-Cut Information:
Specifications are as follows:
• All text must be at least .25 inches tall.
• The space between characters and elements must be at least .045 inches.
• Main strokes, line weights or art elements should be a minimum of .0625 inches.
• Pro-cuts should be measured according to the active material area being used. |
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Additional costs are applied to orders over 18 picks.
See Custom Pro-Cuts for more information. |
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| Guideline for Submitting 4-Color Process Art: |
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Artwork must be digitally submitted.
• Include ALL supporting files, TIFFs, and fonts used in creating the final piece.
• Converting fonts to paths or outline will decrease potential issues or errors. Text cannot be edited once rendered in Photoshop.
• DO NOT flatten or merge the layers of a Photoshop file! |
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CMYK File formatting: Process images should be created or converted to CMYK.
Most graphic programs like Photoshop or common scanners default to RGB when scanning or creating artwork. Color changes occur when changing from RGB to CMYK! Submitting a proof or previously printed sample can assist in meeting the client’s expectations. |
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Resolution: The file should be not lower than 300 dpi at full size.
• Simply raising the dpi of a lower resolution graphic will not improve the quality.
• Most internet graphics are not acceptable for process printing.
• Scanned images cannot typically be altered. Text, borders, and graphics requiring trap should be created in a vector format. Illustrator, Freehand or InDesign are common software used. |
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Spot color usage and four color process:
• Spot colors must be added when reversing white text less than 36 pt. out of 4-color process.
• Large tonal areas such as backgrounds may need to be a spot color.
• Specific color matches need to be identified and submitted as vector art and a spot color.
• Do not knock out behind white or black text. Place text on a separate layer or in a vector format converted to paths/outlines.
• Special logos may not be compatible with 4-color process and screen printing. If a specific logo or effect is desired, spot colors may best achieve the expected viewing. |
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Bleeds and Cutting Requirements:
Bleeds require 1/8” (minimum) added beyond the cropline. Resizing the image may not always be acceptable. Crop any photos to include the proper bleed.
Cutting requirements are that all critical elements are a minimum of 3/16” from the intended cut line or edge of finished decal. Larger products such as truck door magnets, posters, or news stand posters should not be designed to bleed.
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Screening the Four-Color Process Graphic:
The lpi is based on the variables such as size, material, and complexity of the printed piece.
Below is a basic guide for your art.
The expected tonal range is 95% - 5% using 4-color process. Single tones will require 85% to 20%. |
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Preferred Artwork Submission Method:
• PLEASE SEND DIGITAL FILES WHENEVER POSSIBLE – include a hard copy printout of your disk or a JPEG of your email file for reference.
• Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand (vector artwork) preferred.
• All fonts converted to paths (outlines). Fonts sent in will not be retained. Non-converted or supplied fonts will be substituted with fonts from the Adobe Font Library.
• All spot colors must be named with either a Stouse Standard Ink Color or a Pantone® color.
• All placed (imported) images should wither be embedded or included separately.
• If emailing or uploading digital files, we recommend compressing files into a single directory before uploading using Stuffit™. Compressed files will upload faster and will decrease chances of file corruption. |
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Acceptable File Formats:
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Photoshop (please leave in layers)
• Macromedia Freehand
• Adobe Pagemaker
• PDF (Convert fonts)
• Quark Xpress
• Corel Draw
• EPS
• TIFF (4-Color Process and one color only, no multiple spot colors) File is 300 dpi CMYK at 100%.
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| Font Information: |
• Fonts must be converted prior to artwork submission. Failure to do so may result in fonts dropping or STOUSE choosing our closest font.
• STOUSE now offers the Adobe Font Library as its main source and reference for fonts. Previously ordered decals will remain the same, but changes to repeat orders may need slight font adjustments.
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| Minimum Font Sizes: |
| Sans Serif: All Caps |
Serif: All Caps |
| Positive: 4 pt Bold |
Positive: 6-8 pt Bold |
| Reverse: 6 pt Bold |
Reverse: 10-12 pt Bold |
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| • Common fonts that can be chosen as a quick reference are: |
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Methods of Digital File Submission:
Iomega ZIP 100 MB/250 MB
CD-R/RW
Floppy Disk
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