how do I submit my artwork correctly?

file format

You can submit your artwork in the following formats:

  • Adobe Illustrator (including fonts and images)
  • Adobe InDesign (including fonts and images)
  • Adobe Photoshop (300 dpi, CMYK, 3mm bleed, layers)
  • PDF (press quality, fonts and images embedded)

Open files are preferred so that we can prepare them properly for reproduction. It is important that all used fonts and images are sent as well so that the artwork is complete.

Adobe

Adobe Creative Cloud 2024

Adobe

template

The templates you will receive from your contact person consist of a die cut, which you have to put on top of your artwork. The red lines are cutting lines and the purple lines are folding lines.

template

bleed

It is very important to add ‘bleed’ to your artwork. This is an extra 3mm artwork that goes beyond the template. The bleed area will be cut off during production to prevent white edges on your packaging.

bleed

colours

The colours of your artwork have to be set to CMYK (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black). These are the printing colours for offset and digital printing. If you use RGB (monitor) colours, this will create unexpected results. PMS colours will be converted to CMYK also.

Cyan, magenta, yellow and Black

images

Images and photos that are used in the artwork should at all times be 300 dpi on 100%. Lower dpi will result in unsharp and pixelated images. The photos/pictures should also be set as CMYK.

dpi

fonts

All fonts that you use in your artwork should be sent separately. You can also create outlines of your text.

When you create outlines of the text, you don’t have to send the fonts separately but note that no changes can be made anymore in the text. The minimum font size is 3pt (dark text on a light background) and 4 pt (light text on a dark background).

The minimum font height (!) for food supplements is 0,9 mm (Lowercase). This usually translates to 4,8 pt.

fonts

text margins

All text and important information on the artwork should be 3mm from the edge of the artwork. The margin makes sure that no text is accidentally cut off during production.

The preferred distance is 3mm, but the absolute minimum is 2mm from the edges if more space is needed.

printing technique

The printing technique for boxes is offset, and the printing technique for labels is digital. Both of the techniques involve the use of ‘halftone screens’, which are small printed dots. To get a specific colour different halftone screens are printed on top of each other.

For example;

  • to create green, we print a halftone screen of Yellow and Cyan.
  • to create purple, we print a halftone screen of Cyan and Magenta.
  • to create grey, we print a halftone screen of Black.

Be aware that with halftone screens, very small text in a light colour may appear like it’s broken up (see image). To prevent this, you could use a darker colour for very small texts.

small text

coding

The boxes are printed with an expiry date (if applicable) and batch number in black. You will need to keep an area of approximately 22 x 10 mm clear where the coding can be placed. The most common and easiest place is under the EAN code.

barcode

For the EAN code to read correctly, there are a couple of rules to keep in mind. At 100% the barcode is 37,29mm x 22,85mm. You can change the size but not larger than 200% or smaller than 70%. Also, the scaling should always be uniform. If there is limited space in the design, you can also shorten the barcode (see image). Make sure you leave about 10mm of bars to keep the barcode readable. Always leave a big enough white area around the code, and the preferred colour of the code is black.

metallic

If you would like to glam up your design even more, you have the possibility to use metallic colours. To achieve a metallic colour, cold foil is used on which we print normal colours. Create an extra layer in your artwork on the areas that you want metallic. Give these a spot-colour with the name ‘coldfoil’ and set this to overprint. Do bear in mind that coldfoil makes colours look darker.

labels

For labels, all of the above applies with one extra exception. If a label is transparent* and the bottle is transparent your design will be transparent as well. You can prevent this (if you so wish) to create a white base underneath the elements you don’t want to be transparent. Create a spot colour with the name ‘white’, put this on top of the desired elements and set this to ‘overprint’.

* Please note that transparent labels are only available at additional cost. Please make sure this is included in your sales confirmation. For any questions regarding this subject please contact our sales representatives.

labels

No white base   |   white base

sachets

The printing technique for sachets requires PMS colours (PMS = Pantone Matching System; This is a standard in the graphic industry). For every colour you wish to use, you need to choose a matching PMS number. For example: green PMS355 C, or blue PMS 2915 C, etc. Please be aware that due to the nature of the printing technique and the small size of the product, small details can be problematic regarding colour registration, meaning that colours can shift slightly from each other.

sachets

tubes

For tubes, there are a couple of possibilities regarding the printing technique.

  • Offset printing (default): requires the use of PMS colours. Make sure that all the artwork is made in PMS.
  • Screen printing: also requires the use of PMS colours. Screenprint is used when the tube is dark and the artwork is light, or a specific look and feel is needed. For example, you can have a matte tube, with a shiny screenprint.
  • Flexo printing: When you want to use a full colour design or a design with lots of different gradients, the use of Flexoprinting is required. Note that this is a more expensive technique with a longer lead time.

The correct printing technique will be determined after reviewing the artwork.

tubes

questions?

When you still have questions regarding artwork, techniques, reproduction or submitting your artwork, please do not hesitate to contact us.