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Upload Files & Designs
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- Upload
Resources for Uploads
- Acceptable File Formats
- Bleed
- Trim Marks
- Full Bleed vs. Trim Size
- Safe Area / Safe Margins
- Aspect Ratio
- Resolution
Adobe Acrobat 9 Document (*.pdf) (recommended)
Adobe Illustrator CS3 Artwork (*.ai)
Adobe Photoshop CS3 Image (*.psd)
Bitmap Image (*.bmp)
GIF Image (*.gif)
JPEG Image (*.jpg,*.jpeg)
Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 Document (*.ppt)
Microsoft Word 2010 Document (*.doc)
PCX Image (*.pcx)
PICT Image (*.pic,*.pict,*.pct)
PNG Image (*.png)
PostScript Document (*.ps)
TIFF Image (*.tif,*.tiff)
The very edges of the document are called the bleed area. To prevent an unwanted white border from showing at the edge of your document, be sure to extend any background colors or design elements all the way to the edge.
Trim lines are the finished size of the document. The document is cut close to the trim line, but because of the mechanical tolerances involved in printing, the actual cut can happen anywhere between the bleeds and the safe margin. This is why it is important to keep your text and important images within the safe margin.
When to create your document at the full bleed size
If you are working in an illustration program (such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw) or a photo editing program (Such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Photo-Paint), we recommend that you create your document at the full bleed size. This will prevent any white edges from showing at the borders after the final product is trimmed.
When to create your document at the trim size.
If you are working in a layout program (such as QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign) we recommend that you create your document at the trim size and include the specified amount of bleed for your product (.137”). When you export your document as a PDF for upload, make sure to include the bleed in your output settings so that the final upload PDF document is at the full bleed size for your product.
The safe margins are borders that are definitely inside the place where the cut will take place. Please remember to keep all important information, like names, addresses, phone numbers or logos within the safe margin (at least .137” from the edge) to ensure that they aren’t cut off when your document is trimmed.
The aspect ratio of your image can be determined by dividing the image’s width by its height. If your image’s aspect ratio is not equal to the aspect ratio of our documents, your image may appear stretched or distorted when it is scaled to fit.
What is resolution?
Resolution refers to the number of dots per inch (dpi), or the amount of detail the image has. Most documents prepared for upload should be 300 dpi at 100% of the final print size. Higher resolution means a more detailed image, and also larger file and longer upload time.