Illustrator Format

Illustrator Format

IMPORTANT: If you will be using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator/EPS format, CorelDraw or Microsoft Publisher, you MUST use the free design templates we have available for download FOR THESE SOFTWARE PROGRAMS/FORMATS in the appropriate "Download Templates" section of our Design Guidelines page. This will ensure the least hassle possible when preparing your designs for plating, which will virtually guarantee quicker turnaround and accurate, sharp print results. These templates are already set in CMYK mode, at the correct bleed design size, margins and resolution. All you need to do is open the template and start designing. Please make sure you save the template with the same settings originally embedded, but feel free to RENAME each file to your liking. Renaming won't change any settings unless you allow that to happen.

You can send us your Illustrator files, just make sure you convert all text to outlines first. THERE IS NO EXTRA CHARGE FOR USING THIS FORMAT, as long as you follow the guidelines below. Your BEST course of action (if you plan on using Illustrator to design your card) is to DOWNLOAD our Illustrator document template and design from scratch using that template. Just go to our "Download Templates..." section and grab the files. These templates are already saved using the proper specifications. If you'd rather use your own Illustrator document setup, just make sure you save your design in Illustrator EPS format, VERSION 8, Postscript Level 3. Also, please make sure you::

EMBED (COPY & PASTE) all images WITHIN in your Illustrator file.
Make sure all color images are in CMYK MODE, not RGB MODE.
Make sure all placed images at least 355 dpi.
All artwork (defined as everything in your design MINUS text) and images MUST be flattened (or rasterized at 355 dpi resolution), NO EXCEPTIONS.
Include fonts for PC's (if you don't convert text to "outlines" or "curves". If you're on a MAC, you MUST convert all text to curves/outlines/paths!!!)
Make sure your design size is 3.625" x 2.125", and NOT A BIT larger than this bleed size PLEASE. Other printers may take larger bleed designs (like 3.75 x 2.25); WE DO NOT. Our gang-run form is setup for EXACTLY a 1/16th inch bleed, which translates to a 3.625" x 2.125" business card bleed size.. For details see bleeds.
Compress your files using either winzip (on PCs) or stuff it (on MACs).

Feel free to contact us via email at sales@namecardprint.com if you're still not clear on how to prepare your Illustrator files.