Artwork Specifications


When submitting photographs, logos, or any other kind of artwork for use in a graphic design piece, we highly recommend that your art files meet the following specifications.

Sure, if you absolutely insist, we can include a less-than-optimal-quality image or photo into your design. But we’re gonna fight you hard on doing so, because a blurry, pixelated, fuzzy or otherwise bad image just negatively impacts the overall perception of your final artwork. And that, in turn, poorly represents the product or service you are selling or distributing. And shoot, no one wants that!

Ok, enough of that soapbox.  Here are the specs we prefer:

Print Graphic Art Specifications

  • Logos and non-photographic images should be in vector format. Preferred file types include .ai (Adobe Illustrator) or .eps.
  • High resolution is key for digital photographs. Images should be at least 300 ppi in resolution for your desired print size, in most cases. Line art should be at least 1200 ppi.  (Sometimes imported images from a digital camera default to only 72 ppi but have a print-size of more than 30 inches wide.  That’s ok. We can work with that.  We can not, however, work with images that are 72 ppi and only 1 inch wide, for example.)
    • Images downloaded from the internet are usually not high enough in resolution, so be careful.  Unless you know for sure that the image is labeled as a “high-resolution file” (and you have permission from the source and/or photographer to use it), we discourage using internet images.
  • Preferred file types for photographs and other non-vector images include: .psd, .tif, and .pdf.  Other types that are acceptable but less preferred are .jpg, .png, and .gif.
    • If sending us a .psd file with separate layers, be sure to include any of the font files that you used.  Should you have used a font that we do not have, and the type layer is not transformed into an image, the font will be substituted with another font and not appear the way that you want.
    • If sending us a .pdf, .tif, or .jpg, be sure to use zero or very little compression.
  • CMYK mode is required for color graphics; Greyscale for non-color graphics. We will convert RGB color mode images to CMYK, so please be aware of some subtle color shifts.
  • Bleeds must extend 1/8 inch on all applicable sides of final artwork. If your image includes a lot of tiny detail, please be aware that some of that detail may be lost when the image is placed beyond the cut-line to account for the bleed.

Web Graphic Art Specifications

  • Lower resolution is more acceptable for web graphics, but use caution! The ppi should be relative to the size of your online graphic.  ***It is ALWAYS better to go from too-high resolution to too-low, rather than the other way around, when it comes to image quality.
  • Like print graphics, logos and non-photographic images should be in vector format. Preferred file types include .ai (Adobe Illustrator) or .eps.
  • RGB mode is required for web graphics. We will convert CMYK color mode images to RGB, so please be aware of some subtle color shifts.

Ready to send us your art files?
Click here to submit them via our artwork form page.

If you have physical photographs or other artwork,
you can mail them to the address on our contact page.
If you need another method of getting them to us, just give us a call.

Not sure if your files meet these specs?
 Just email or call us, and we’ll be happy to help you figure out if your artwork is usable.

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