We provide file set up for you, so you don’t have to worry about setting your file up for letterpress. There are a few things you’ll need to do before sending us your files that will ensure you are getting the exact prints you are looking for.
We work best with .ai files. We send our plate maker .ai files, so when you send them to us in the same format, that makes our lives that much easier! We will also accept pdfs. We will not accept any files from Canva.
If we don’t own the font you used, it won’t show up correctly when we open your file in our software. Outlining your text turns the font into a vector, which makes sure your text is as you designed it to be when we create your plates.
Go to Type > Create Outlines to make your text outlined.
Or you can use the hot keys Shift + Command + O on a mac.
If you want to use this design in the future, make sure you save this version as something else so you can edit the text on the original one later. We like to add -production-ready to the end of the file name.
Our plates have a minimum line thickness and dot size. For all lines we recommend at least a 0.25 point thickness (or larger). Look out for those hairlines on scripts and sketchy lines on detailed drawings!
For dots, we recommend at least a 1 pt diameter. Think dots of the i & j, periods, colons, semi-colons, etc.
Each of those dots or lines has to stand on its own on the plate and that thickness will provide the support at the base of the plate to hold the dot. If it’s too thin, it will fall off and delay our printing process since we will have to re-order plates with thicker lines
Please set up your artboards to the final print size you need for that card. If you need an A7 invite card, set up the invite artboard to 5x7”. Do NOT set your artboard up to include bleeds. Your artwork can bleed off the edge of your artboard, but the artboard must be set to final size.
<aside> ✂️
No need to set up crop marks, we will take care of that for you!!
</aside>
For each card we will need at least two artboards. One artboard for each color (including blind impression!). We will also need a composite artboard which we will reference for final alignment and color confirmation. This how we will confirm the colors and layout when we are printing.
All text and graphics must be set to 100%K black. Adobe Illustrator likes to create a “rich black” which actually contains Cyan, Magenta, Yellow in addition to Black. We need designs in 100%K black to send to our plate maker. You’ll need to confirm that the colors are set to that in your file.