Artwork Setup Guide
Business Cards UK has its own in-house design team, but if you are suppling your own artwork, we need you to follow a few basic rules to make sure we meet your deadlines and quality expectations. Getting everything absolutely right at the start of the process ensures you receive quality print at the end of it.
Our design team are familiar with most desktop publishing programs, if you need help or advice on creating your artwork, please call us and we will be happy to help.
** If ordering more than one version please upload a ZIP file containing all files or a multipage PDF file **
Proofing
We assume that the files you send us have been proofed by you and are ready for printing. This means you have checked the document for all spelling and grammatical errors, colour issues, layout and design BEFORE sending us your artwork. With this in mind you will not need to receive any further proofs from us. Although we will do our best to ensure that the files you send us are set up correctly, if you follow the guidance you should not have any issues.
File types
We require all artwork to be supplied as high-resolution PDF files at the correct size for the printed business cards you are buying.
PDF files
File type – files should be supplied as high resolution (high quality) 300dpi PDFs.
Images – all images used during artwork preparation should be 300dpi at the Finished Print Size to ensure good quality print.
Fonts – all fonts should be embedded (select embed fonts in distiller options) or converted to curves.
Colour palette – please supply as a CMYK PDF, not RGB. It is important to ensure that all images used are also converted to CMYK. Using RGB PDFs can cause incorrect colours being printed or faults with RGB images.
Bleed – When creating your design be sure to include a 3mm safe zone around the edges of your swing tag template and make sure that all text and images are within this border. This will make sure your design is printed as intended, without the risk of chopping off any details.
Spot colours – all spot colours need to be converted to CMYK before creating the PDF. If the PDF is set up with spot colours these will be converted before printing and may cause incorrect colour reproduction.
Business Cards
The artwork for your business cards should be set up to the appropriate chosen width and height. The print ready PDF should ideally be 300dpi, but this can be reduced if the file size is unmanageable. Please do not supply anything lower than 150dpi. It’s fine to set the artwork up at 1/2 or 1/4 size as long as the dpi remains 300 at full size.
General guidance
Please check and double check your artwork before uploading the final PDF file. It sounds obvious, but please check that the artwork you are providing is suitable for the product you are ordering.
Do check spelling and grammar and make sure this is the final version which you are happy to have printed.
Reprinting due to artwork errors is an added expense and we may have to charge.
Ensure that you have permission to use any images or logos included in your artwork. Make sure you’re not breaching any copyright regulations.
We will not print any artwork which contains indecent or inappropriate images so please don’t include them.
Free templates are available to download on our Templates page.
Need help with preparing your design?
Get in touch for expert advice and support today