You will find the answers to some common queries below but please just get in touch with other questions. Our offices are open from 9 am-5 pm Monday-Friday and you can reach us by telephone on 01785 818111, online chat or email at [email protected].
How to supply and transfer your artwork
Once you have placed an order for a printed product, we will need you to provide us with your artwork so we can start the production. Any artwork you provide must be compatible with the product(s) that you have ordered. You can find instructions in the form of downloadable artwork templates on the relevant product pages of our website.
If you can't provide artwork in the correct size or format then please get in touch. We offer a full in-house design service for all products and we can provide an individual quote based on your needs and requirements. Just email us with your requirements by contacting our team directly at [email protected] or feel free to use our online chat facility for a quick consultation.
You can provide your artwork to us in one of several ways
- Go to your account, select your order and then upload the file(s) for us to print from
- Send your artwork as an email attachment to [email protected] (please reference your order ID). There is a max file attachment size of 20 MB.
- Send a link via email for us to download your artwork from (we recommend www.wetransfer.com). Please reference your order ID and send download links to [email protected]
What happens after I have sent my artwork?
Once we receive your artwork file(s), one of our team will manually check to ensure that the size and proportions are correct for the product(s) that you have ordered. Once this is done, we will send you a proof via email.
If we discover an issue with your artwork, we will let you know so you can fix the issue and re-supply the file(s).
We make basic checks to artwork to confirm the sizing and proportions are ok but we can't make detailed checks for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and resolutions/quality of images that are used within a piece of supplied artwork. That being said, if you have any particular concerns about your artwork and need an opinion on something in particular, please just get in touch and we will be happy to help.
How long will my order take to produce?
If you place an order via our website, you can select from one of several delivery options (economy, standard and express). The estimated delivery date for the arrival of your order will be shown next to each option and the associated cost. Please note that delivery dates are based on the estimated transit time for the goods and we cannot offer refunds for bespoke printed products if they arrive later than expected due to a courier delay outside of our control. If you have a 'no fail' delivery date, please get in touch to discuss your requirements before ordering. We can usually arrange for special delivery services like a dedicated van (at an additional cost) if you would rather not rely on a conventional courier delivery.
Is a signature required on delivery of my order?
Yes, our courier will require a signature for the delivery to confirm the date and time of arrival. Our primary carrier is FedEx although we will sometimes use other providers too.
Normally we will email the tracking information for your order on the evening of the day of dispatch so that you can know to expect the delivery. If you want to check the progress of the delivery you can use this information to track the consignment.
If no one is available to sign for your delivery then the courier will normally leave a card to say that a delivery was attempted and will then take the parcel away. The delivery is normally re-attempted the next working day.
Depending on the courier, the delivery could be re-attempted two or three times before the parcel would eventually be returned to us. If the courier attempts delivery on multiple occasions with no success resulting in the parcel being returned then we can re-dispatch the parcel again for you but will bill the carriage cost to do it.
Sometimes we are asked if the courier can telephone in advance of the delivery being made. Unfortunately, this is not possible because the couriers are not generally provided with mobile telephones. All instructions tend to be relayed to the courier by the depot via a handheld computer terminal that the driver carries.
If you need to receive a delivery on a particular day but are not going to be around to sign for the parcel then the best advice we can give is to write a note explaining that you are expecting a delivery but are not around to receive it. You can request the courier leaves the parcel with no signature or with a neighbour. We would advise that you write the consignment note of the parcel on the letter and sign it.
Ultimately it is down to the driver's discretion whether to leave the parcel and so we cannot accept responsibility for late deliveries if there is no one available to accept the order when the delivery is made.
Can you colour match to Pantone references?
The Pantone colour scale is an industry-standard series of reference colours for use in the printing industry.
Pantone or spot colours are normally used by lithographic or screen printers when printing items with a limited number of colours (for example a letterhead, or stationary). Pantone ink is purchased by the printer who then creates a screen or plate specifically for that colour ink.
We use a CMYK (full colour) process of printing rather than a spot colour method. With a CMYK print process, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black are mixed by layering ink on top of each other to create a full-colour image. Sometimes other colours like light cyan and light magenta are also used to improve print quality.
We cannot guarantee to match all Pantone colours because some Pantone’s contain pigments that push the colour outside of the spectrum of colours available with CMYK inks.
An example would be Pantone 021 orange which is a very bright, almost neon colour. It is impossible to get a close match to this colour with CMYK printing because the colour is too bright.
There are many other colours in the Pantone spectrum that are relatively easy to match but also some that are impossible to closely match. Pantone sells a solid to process guide book which is useful because the Pantone colour is shown next to the nearest CMYK colour as two separate colour chips. If you can access a Pantone solid process guide book then you can see at a glance how closely your Pantone colour can be matched with a CMYK printing process.
All artwork supplied should be set as CMYK colour mode, not Pantone spot colour. If you do not have a Pantone solid to-process guidebook and need some advice as to the best CMYK colour value to use in the artwork, please call and we can help.
If you have very precise colour-matching requirements for your artwork then we recommend purchasing a reduced-scale hard copy proof before printing the finished article. The cost is £20 and includes delivery of the proof to a mainland UK address.
What resolution does my artwork need to be?
As a rule of thumb, we recommend that artwork resolution should be 150 or greater at full scale for a large format print (anything A2 or larger).
If you are designing your artwork at a reduced scale (say half or quarter size) then the resolution of the artwork needs to be increased proportionally so that when the file is blown up for printing, the quality is high enough to allow for it.
So, if setting your artwork at half size then double the resolution to 300dpi or if setting the artwork at quarter size then quadruple the resolution to 600dpi!
What if my image is not big enough for 150dpi output at full size?
When printing images at very large sizes, it is not uncommon for the original file to be unavailable at a large enough size to provide 150dpi output and this does not mean that you cannot use the image! In fact, much smaller images can sometimes be OK for print.
Bear in mind factors that determine if the image is acceptable:-
- The viewing distance of the image (how closely it will be examined)
- The content of the image itself (does it contain lots of intricate detail or is it a more abstract image).
Most displays have a viewing distance of at least a couple of Metres so a large background image need not contain pin-sharp detail. If the image is abstract or does not contain precise detail then you can ‘get away’ with using a smaller image.
If your image is small then you can up-sample it in an application like Photoshop which increases the image size by splitting the pixels (interpolating) into more pixels. A byproduct of this process is the image can become ‘softer’ and it is therefore a good idea to zoom in on the picture at approximately finished size on screen and then stand back from the display to gain an impression of what the printed result would be like.
If you have concerns about image quality then let us know about it when you submit your artwork and one of our team can take a look for you.
What types of artwork files can you accept?
We support most ‘industry-standard’ artwork file types. Examples of supported formats include:-
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Indesign
- Adobe Illustrator
- Quark XPress
We also accept generic artwork formats including:-
When supplying artwork from the original design package (for example an Adobe Indesign file), it is important to send over all linked images and fonts as well as the Adobe Indesign document itself.
If you are exporting artwork from a design package into a generic format such as PDF then there is generally no need to supply artwork components such as images and fonts separately unless you need us to re-open and edit the file for you.
Most people would typically supply us with the exported generic file rather than the original artwork file and links.
Available Payment Methods
We accept most common credit cards including Mastercard, Visa and American Express via the payment gateway on our website. We also can accept payments via PayPal.
If you cannot place an order using one of these payment options then please send the details of your order requirements to us via email at [email protected] and we can manually generate an order and send a confirmation to you along with an invoice.
Can we set up credit accounts
We can usually set up instant credit accounts for government organisations. Although we can set up credit accounts for private businesses, this is typically done subject to credit checks and sometimes after a trading pattern is established. If you would like to organise a credit account, please send your details and requirements to [email protected] who will be able to help.
