Safety Margin
Due to unavoidable shifts that occur during the production process, it is important to place any important content of your design (text and graphics) at least 0.125” away from the edge (trim line). Content within our recommended safety margin of 0125” will not be trimmed.
The safety margin can be defined in Adobe InDesign during the document setup process or in the Margins and Columns section under Layout. In Illustrator and Photoshop, you will have to set up these guides in the document.
Setting up proper safety margins will help avoid having your objects look as if they are about to fall off the page and ensure they are not trimmed off.
Bleed
Bleed is the artwork that extends past the trim line or finished size of your product. If any element of your artwork is designed to be printed to the edge, it must be extended past the trim line and into the bleed area by a minimum of 0.125".
The addition of bleed compensates for uncontrollable shifts that occur during the printing and trimming process; and ensures that any content touching the edges does not leave unwanted gaps or borders.
Color (Paper and Inks)
The color of the paper stock will affect the overall appearance of your design. Lighter colors of your design may not be very visible on a colored stock, and medium to darker colors tend to appear darker when printed on a colored stock. Darker colored stocks are only suitable to be printed with dark colors and black.
Photographs and gradients are not recommended as the colored stock will greatly alter the colors. Minimal colors and simple designs are best.
If you are using a color in your design and are unsure of how the printed piece will appear, you may order a Printed Proof by submitting a Custom Quotation.
Heavy Coverage
The use of heavy coverage or full color backgrounds is not suitable for this stock. Minimalistic designs are best! If your design has a lot of color and heavy coverage, we suggest a white and coated stock for optimal results.
White Print
By default, we offer CMYK digital printing on our colored stocks which consists of Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black inks. White, is therefore not available unless an additional printing process such as Screen Print or Foil is added.
When supplying your print-ready (design) files or viewing the Online PDF proof we provide with your print order, please note that the white areas are considered transparent - they represent the color of the stock you chose.
If your finished product requires white, you will need to add Screen Print or Foil to your order. Choose either of these as an option when building your product on the product page. If you wish to add white ink to an existing print order that you have already placed, please call our Customer Service Line.
Fine Detail
Due to the slight texture of the 18pt Dark Gray, 18pt Cool Gray and 20pt Gray Pulp stocks, it cannot hold fine detail as well. The finest detail we recommend is 0.4pt line-weight; however, please note that light colors or lines that are not solid (such as dotted lines) should be made thicker.