Deluxe Art Guidelines for Process Types
Prerequisites
In order to fully understand these guidelines you should have a firm understanding of the difference between vector and raster image types, please see this article.
Vehicle Wraps
We print our vehicle wraps on large format eco-solvent CMYK ink jet printers. We can additionally apply cut vinyl on top of the vehicle wrap. This technique can be used to add seasonal temporary graphics or reflective elements such as phone numbers or graphic details.
Resolution
At actual size, that is the finished size of the art on the vehicle, the artwork should be 60 DPI.
Color Model
We prefer RGB over CMYK. We do not guarantee Pantone or other spot color matching. We cannot print true spot colors, metallic inks or white ink. The printers are strictly CMYK process printers, all colors are converted to CMYK for printing.
File format
Please provide final art at actual size in Illustrator, Corel Draw, EPS or Photoshop formats. Always convert fonts to curves or provide Windows TrueType or Type1 font files.
Banners
We print our banners on large format eco-solvent CMYK ink jet printers. The banner material comes on a 48" by 100 foot roll in either glossy or matte finish.
Resolution
At actual size, that is the finished size of the banner, the artwork should be at least 60 DPI.
Color Model
We prefer RGB over CMYK. We do not guarantee Pantone or other spot color matching. We cannot print true spot colors, metallic inks or white ink. The printers are strictly CMYK process printers, all colors are converted to CMYK for printing.
File format
Please provide final art at actual size in Illustrator, Corel Draw, EPS or Photoshop formats. Always convert fonts to curves or provide Windows TrueType or Type1 font files.
T-Shirts
T-Shirts are printed on an seven-color automatic screen printing press. You can learn more about our screen printing process here. The maximum size we can print on a shirt is 14" wide by 17" tall, details can be found here.
Resolution
At actual size, that is the finished size of the art on the shirt, the artwork should be at least 150 DPI.
Color Model
We prefer RGB over CMYK. We can match up to seven Pantone spot colors per print location on a shirt. Pantone color matches are not guaranteed because the shirt color that the ink is printed on can affect the ink color.
File format
Please provide final art at actual size in Illustrator, Corel Draw, EPS or Photoshop formats. Always convert fonts to curves or provide Windows TrueType or Type1 font files.
Screen Printed Posters
Screen printed posters are printed on a large format single color graphics press. We can resolve an 85LPI screen. Multiple passes through the press are required for multiple colors.
Resolution
At actual size, that is the finished size of the art on the poster, the artwork should be at least 200 DPI.
Color Model
We prefer RGB over CMYK. We can match a virtually unlimited number of Pantone colors on a poster printed on white stock. Pantone color matches are not guaranteed, but we'll get as close as we can with our current formulas.
File format
Please provide final art at actual size in Illustrator, Corel Draw, EPS or Photoshop formats. Always convert fonts to curves or provide Windows TrueType or Type1 font files.
High Resolutions Digital Printing
For decals, awards, posters and products other than banners and vehicle wraps, please follow these guidelines.
Resolution
At actual size, that is the finished size of the product, the artwork should be at least 200 DPI.
Color Model
We prefer RGB over CMYK. We do not guarantee Pantone or other spot color matching. We cannot print true spot colors, metallic inks or white ink. The printers are strictly CMYK process printers, all colors are converted to CMYK for printing.
File format
Please provide final art at actual size in Illustrator, Corel Draw, EPS or Photoshop formats. Always convert fonts to curves or provide Windows TrueType or Type1 font files.
Laser Engraving
Our laser engraver uses a 60watt laser to mark and cut a wide variety of materials. Laser engraving is best suited to line art because it does not resolve half-tone dots well.
Resolution
At actual size, that is the finished size of the product, the artwork should be at least 200 DPI.
Color Model
Black and white or grayscale. The color of the final product is dependant on the material being engraved.
File format
Please provide final art at actual size in Illustrator, Corel Draw, EPS or Photoshop formats. Always convert fonts to curves or provide Windows TrueType or Type1 font files.
Mechanical Engraving
Mechanical engravers work like small, computer control routers. There is a spinning cutting blade that carves material away to make an image.
Mechanical engravers cannot resolve half-tone dots, they are strictly black and white imaging devices.
Mechanical engravers use a proprietary file format for both logos and fonts, all logos and artwork other than our own existing fonts must be converted by Deluxe Design to work with the engraving software.
Resolution
Since all artwork must be redrawn as vector art, resolution of existing art only needs to be sufficient for the artist to see so he can trace it. To ensure that detail can be accurately traced 200 DPI is the requested minimum resolution. If your logo contains a specific font, it is helpful to provide the name of the font or the font file.
Color Model
Black only. The color of the final product is dependant on the material being engraved.
File format
Since all art must be reduced to black and white in vector format, the ideal format is Illustrator, Corel Draw or EPS vectors. Regardless of what is provided all files must be converted by Deluxe Design to work with the proprietary software our engraving machines run