Spy Blog

The Right Tools for Your Marketing Mission

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • MARKETING SUPPORT
  • PRINTING
  • TRADE SHOW SOURCE
  • SEARCH PROMO PRODUCTS

Tag Archives: sending art

Why do I need to supply camera-ready Vector art?

Posted on May 28, 2015 by admin
Reply

One of the biggest issues we have with prepping orders for print is the lack of proper artwork, usually due to a bad logo file. Whether it is for printed collateral, a promotional item such as a tumbler or for display item, such as a banner stand, many companies don’t have a vector logo that can work for their project.

I am always amazed by this. Designers: if you are reading this, when you design a logo for a client, PLEASE send them a complete logo package that includes a vector file or at least a pdf that is in vector format! And, I beg you, please STOP designing logos on photoshop as most cannot be easily vectorized. I can get into another rant about overly complicated “image” type logos and why they should be outlawed, but that is for another post entirely.

If you have a logo designed by a graphic studio, be sure they supply you with several file formats to use in print and web, including a .eps vector file.

OK, what exactly IS a vector file?
A vector file is easiest to describe as one that we can open up in Illustrator and be able to edit without the integrity of the file changing.

We need a vector file in order to separate colors and make a film for screen printing apparel,  pad printing of promotional items, create a stitch file for embroidery and to dramatically increase the size for trade show graphics.

How can I tell if my artwork is camera-ready vector art?
The best file to send us will have the extension of .eps. NOTE: you probably will not be able to open this on your computer, but if it was saved properly, it will work for just about any professional that needs your logo for design or print.

When a logo is vectorized, we will open it in illustrator and it will dots creating the shapes of the design, similarly to below.vector-art-example

One of the quickest ways to tell if your logo is camera ready is to blow it WAY up on your computer. If the shapes look like the image below, it is definitely NOT a vector file. 

If it is crystal clear at, say, 600%, it still may not be vector, but at least we are working with a high quality file and it may be easier to convert.

Uh oh, my art isn’t vector! What do I do?
Option 1:
Contact the designer that made the logo for you. If you paid for the project, they should supply you with the original design files and a logo package that can be used for print. Getting the Illustrator (.ai) file, is like getting gold. Usually, that one file is all any printer needs to plug into your project. But, many times .eps and .pdf  will also work.

Option 2: Let us see if it can be converted to vector. This is usually when we get a high quality photoshop logo. Many times we can convert it to vector art pretty quickly. A photoshop file will have the .psd extension.

Option 3: Re-draw the logo. Our design team has re-drawn hundreds of logos for our clients that have the “bad logo” problem. It is a small investment that will save you, and any future printer, a whole lot of time trying to get a proper logo for your projects.  We usually provide a nice file with all the versions you need for any type of project. Keep this in a safe place where you, or your successor, can easily find it in the future.

Posted in Marketing Products, Uncategorized | Tagged art for print, camera-ready, design, logo, logo design, logo issues, sending art, vector art, vector logo | Leave a reply

Marketing Solutions

  • MARKETING SUPPORT
  • PRINTING
  • TRADE SHOW SOURCE
  • SEARCH PROMO PRODUCTS

Spy Topics

  • Apparel
  • Business Marketing
  • Client Retention
  • Marketing Products
  • Networking
  • Printing
  • Trade Show
  • Uncategorized

Links

  • Facebook Undercover Facebook Page

Access

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Previous Missions

Investigate

Clues

10x10 ad specialties advertising apparel banners booth budget printing client meetings client retention clients for life cost savings customer loyalty customer management direct mail displays face to face gifts giveaways keep in touch lead generation marketing marketing partner networking outsource marketing printing promotional items promotional products referral sales route sales tactics sales tips shirts show social media staff staff training successful sales successful show successful trade show swag tabletop top of mind trade show tradeshow undercover printer
Proudly powered by WordPress