Art Submission Guidelines

Final artwork must be submitted as electronic files. The following guidelines will help you prepare final artwork. Close adherence to these guidelines will ensure that your order will not be unnecessarily delayed during the art prep process.

VECTOR APPLICATIONS

Adobe Illustrator is the preferred program in which to create artwork, and it is preferred that the images be saved as .eps files. Artwork created in Freehand, Canvas, CorelDraw, Inkscape or other vector programs is acceptable only if it is saved in the correct format.

RASTER FILE RESOLUTION

If your art requires halftone patterns (such as photo based images) art can be sent as high resolution jpg, tiff or psd raster files. The resolution that you use when you create a file determines the usability of the file and the quality of the printed figure. We cannot improve the quality of a file created or scanned at low resolution. Typing a higher resolution value into the application after graphics have been created and saved will not improve quality, and the files will be unusable.

TIFF or JPEG files must be created or scanned at between 300 and 600 dpi for line art (black and white only), between 266 and 300 dpi for color and gray-scale images, and between 500 and 900 dpi for combination line-art and gray-scale or color images. Graphics submitted with resolutions less than these will produce poor results and are not acceptable. Screen captures (images taken from a computer screen or Web site that are 72-96 dpi) are NOT acceptable. These types of images are suitable for screen display but are far below the acceptable standards for print reproduction.

COLOR

Unlike offset printing which uses the CMYK process, most bottle printing is done in a SPOT COLOR process. These colors are referred to as Pantone Matching System® (or PMS) colors and is an entirely different process from the CMYK process. Instead of being made up of tiny dots of color, spot colors, employ the use of premixed inks to be a specific shade of red, for example. The Pantone color swatches are included in Adobe Illustrator. Because spot colors are chemically premixed (and not comprised of dots), you can achieve a wide range of colors that are more vibrant or rich than those achieved through 4-color process.

Also, when the spot color is used at 100%, you won’t see a screen pattern within the color as you do in many CMYK colors. Since the Pantone Matching System is a universal color numbering system used by all printers, you can't rely on a screen representation of PMS colors, as your results may vary. You have to use a PANTONE book (which you'll find at your local service bureau) for an accurate representation.

The other thing to keep in mind is that usually the only PMS colors which will be relevant for you are the ones labeled "SOLID COATED." Of course, it is still possible to print CMYK images on a bottle, such as a photo, but the lower line screen of bottle printing (75 l.p.i. of silkscreen vs. 175 l.p.i. for offset) can make the image more coarse and grainy than it may appear in an offset version.

APPROVING YOUR ARTWORK

Before you approve your artwork, PLEASE double check:

• ALL spelling & text (names & addresses)
• Bottle & Ink Color combinations
• Print location (i.e. front, back, neck etc.)

Any questions regarding artwork policy should be directed to your Sales Representative.