What Is Artwork?

How Do I Submit My Artwork For Print?

Artwork = Print-Ready Design File

Unlike a simple visual, artwork is the term used to describe a completed piece of print-ready work.

Artwork is usually created in the Adobe Creative Suite comprising  Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, or in other design tools such as Corel Draw, Photopea or Gimp. This artwork file is converted to a print-ready PDF before submitting for print.

There are some rules you need to follow when creating a print-ready piece of artwork.  Each design file for each product will differ in size but here are some important rules:

• Your artwork must be the exact size specified for the product you are creating. For example, a standard business card is 85mm x 55mm so your artwork would need to be created on an artboard of that size.
• Your work will require a bleed so don’t put important information in that bit because it may be trimmed off.
• Save out as a CMYK pdf (Not RGB – if you send it to use as RGB we’ll print it, but your colours might look different.
• All fonts must be outlined or embedded. How do you outline or embed a font? To outline a font so it cannot be edited you highlight the text and select Type > Create Outlines. You can embed fonts in PDF files by clicking on the File > Properties and following the steps.
• The artwork must be a certain resolution - an artwork guide for the product you are designing will tell you exactly what resolution and what scale you will need.