Artwork Guidelines
"Production-ready art" is art that will provide the level of imprint quality that meets Decade Awards' standards of excellence.
Not all digital art will meet our criteria or specifications for production-ready art.
* See art specifications below.
* An estimate of the charges to make artwork production ready will be provided prior to production; if needed.
* Artwork submitted to Decade Awards is assumed to be in full compliance with governing copyright and trademark laws.
* The standard method for delivering digital artwork is as follows:
- E-mail to sales@decadeawards.com
- Transfer art via our website's specific product page
NOTE: We can accept any size file, using either method above. If you are experiencing problems uploading art, you may have exceeded the file limitations on your system.
* Additional charges could be incurred if the art is not received electronically
* To assist you in your art layout, refer to the product templates found on the product detail page on the Decade Awards Product Specific page.
* All image areas listed are approximate.
The Standard Format for Digital Artwork is:
- Adobe Illustrator CS5, Photoshop CS5 or Acrobat (Preferred)
- Corel Draw X6 or lower
- Stuffit Deluxe, and .ZIP files can be uncompressed
Art Format Requirements:
Deep Etch
- PC users:
1. Art must be saved in black and white vector line art mode
2. Send artwork in both outline/curve and text format
3. Attach names of all fonts used in the art to the e-mail or cover sheet
4. Art charges will be incurred for font searching and matching
5. Save as an .EPS, .AI, or .PDF file
Sublimation:
- Submit high-quality color photos and digital images
- Exact color matches cannot be guaranteed
- Minimum 300 dpi
Deep Etch Guidelines:
Font Requirements and Tips:
- Contact customer service to inquire about specific fonts and sizes
* Size:
- All text must be 8 points or larger
- 8-9 point text is most etch-able using Humanist777 (Frutiger)
- 10-14 point text must be sans serif in most cases
- 14-15 point serif text is most etch-able using Palatino (Zapf Calligraphic)
Font Information:
- Humanist777 Bold (Frutiger) is the most etch-able font
- The minimum font size is 8 points with 30 tracking:
- Zapf Calligraphic (Palatino) is the most etch-able serif font.
- The minimum size is 14 points plus a 0.15 stroke with 30 tracking
- Freehand 521 and Monotype Corsiva are the most etch-able script fonts. The minimum sizes are 13 points for Freehand and 16 points plus a 0.15 stroke for Monotype Corsiva with 30 tracking
Any art that does not meet specifications will be touched-up by our art department as needed to ensure a quality product. Any artwork requiring touch-ups could incur an art charge. An estimate will be provided prior to production.
Line Widths:
- Positive artwork must be a minimum thickness of .75 points
- Negative artwork must be a minimum thickness of 1.5 points
Spacing and Touch-up:
- .75 point thickness or greater required for all etched areas
- 1.5 point thickness or greater required for all un-etched areas
- Sharp points must be blunted, rounded or thickened
Layout Requirements
All Final Layouts Must Be Text Rather Than Outlines:
Please send your art in one file. If the art department has to open several files, that time could be figured into the art charge. We request that you send a document with layouts or extra personalizations saved in a separate file or in an Excel spreadsheet.
- Etch-ability is important, so we put a great deal of effort into making a layout etch-able Once we create an etch-able layout, we drop the personalizations into the layout.
- Dropping personalizations into a single layout ensures continuity among pieces and re-orders.
- If a re-order or correction is needed at any time, we can drop the new copy or personalizations into the previous layout. We also may need to make slight tracking adjustments for etch-ability.
Product Templates:
* Templates of our products can be downloaded directly from our website's product specific page. Contact customer service for more information.
Example:
Goal-Setter Block and Ring Color Options:
- Standard color is blue, other available color options are shown below
- Contact customer service for item numbers and ordering details
- One color-fill and one location etch included on block or ring
- Not all styles and shapes of blocks or rings fit all goal-setter awards.
