Document Setup Guide

This document will help to highlight the areas for you to focus on when preparing your artwork for production.

Click through the headers to quickly get to the points that you might have questions about!

File Format

Deciding on a suitable format will mostly depend on the output and what’s required of the work. The main file types we recommend are PDF/EPS and TIFF. Beyond that, files that are adobe specific can also be good if your setup allows; PSD/PSB or AI or INDD. Choosing which file to use in which situation is quite straightforward, this is our breakdown;

PDF/AI

Best for most outputs. Title Walls, Didactics, General file delivery.

TIFF

Best for high res image outputs. Larger files and greater detail.

PNG or JPG are both often suitable if your artwork doesn’t require scaling.

Avoid using this if Text or Vector elements are involved anywhere on the graphic.

PSD/PSB

When files become even bigger we’ve worked with clients who will simply supply the working photoshop file. So instead of exporting a 20G tiff file, saving a PSD with linked or zipped graphics can be a more storage efficient way to pass over this kind of work. This one is less common but definitely has a place.

Detailing

Implementing a slug is a great way to confirm the details of a job. A slug is the space outside of the graphic element on the page and often this space is a great spot to include all the relevant details for the output of the file.

This is what a slug might look like for a supplied artwork;

Some of the key things to include here are;

The date the file was created.

The size of the final output.

The scale of the artwork.

The application – Eg. Didactic, Wall Graphic, Lightbox Graphic.

The media type – Eg. Printed SAV, Mounted Photo paper, Wallpaper, Transparent window graphic.

The colour of the vinyl – if spot colours are used and that colour isn’t represented in the artwork.

The location of the graphic in the space / reference to a design or layout brief.

The number of outputs labelled as quantity.

Each of these things are checked before production to make sure that all the information lines up with what has been previously discussed, and ensures that the final output received is exactly what is expected. It’s a nice confirmation of details that adds another element of assurance; that the work being produced is the work that is expected.

If you would like a Slug template, contact us, we can send you a file with a set up slug for you to copy, paste and fill out on all your future projects.

Scale

Sometimes files are just too big to work at full size or the final product is at a size that extends beyond the workable area in a software. Scaling down the file can be a good way to manage both of these. Commonly we see files being scaled to either 50% or 10% of the final output size. Less than this can be risky especially if the file includes an image. Pixelation can occur if the original file isn’t a high enough resolution.

Vector only files can be scaled to any size with no quality loss or pixelation, so the scale will be more likely determined by the size of the output for these ones.

Generally best practice for any non vector artwork is to avoid scaling at all. However some cases do call for it. So try to sneak by with as little of this kind of manipulation as possible.

Our RIP software is optimised to scale images, and does a better job than most available software typically used. Sending files at full res, unscaled (Up or Down) is usually best practice for most wallpapers or large format graphics.

Working at scale can make the design process much simpler when specifics are required. Our recommendation here is to scale as minimally as possible and round to the nearest; 10%, 25% or 50%. So if the image component is 12% of the final output size, then scaling to 10% of the final output is your best option.

This is also where a SLUG becomes very handy. Whatever scale you decide to work at. Detailing this information in the SLUG helps to make sure that it is not missed or misinterpreted.

This might be represented as a percentage – “Artwork setup at 10%”, a ratio – “Artwork setup at 1:10”, or a final measurement – “Final output size: 3300mm x 2700mm”

Colour

When considering colour in your artwork we can go down a few pathways. Starting with either colours in an image or block colours. Let’s take a look.

Block colour

The 3 main options here are;

Print colours as per file
Print colours as per reference
Print colours based on a match ($150+gst for 1-4 colours matched. $200+gst for 5+)

The First two are pretty basic to understand. You deliver us a colour reference (eg. Pantone, dulux, CMYK, etc.) and we produce the work based on those values alone.

The third is if you’re after a closer match. Maybe you have a paint colour in the room you want to match or an existing brand colour.

The process here is that you provide us a starting point. This might be a digital reference (Dulux Reference) or a physical reference (Paint Sample). We then produce a swatch panel that provides 100 colours in the neighbourhood of that reference. This is delivered to you and you can pick the closest match on site.

Image colours

Colours in an image is a bit of a different ball game. Most of the time we are requested to do a colour proof to ensure colours are close to desired. This is usually enough, however if you’re an artist that wants a more accurate representation of your work then we can go down that path. Please notify us of this want we can discuss further!

Bleed

“How much bleed should I include?” is a common question that comes up in these conversations. So I’ll break it down nice and clearly.

Large Reproductions

50mm bleed all sides when artwork is at 1:1

So if your artwork is delivered at 10% of full size then you would only need 5mm.

Smaller Reproductions

20mm bleed all sides when artwork is at 1:1

Panels that are thicker can be wrapped.

*Note this is just a guideline, if your graphic has no room to allow this kind of bleed we can still accomodate that. But a little bit of cushion is always comfier than no cushion.

Your bleed can then be marked out using crop marks or cut lines. This graphic (below) is an example of of a file that is set up with bleed and crop marks that indicate.