File specifications

In order to use a cutting plotter, a milling machine and a foam cutting machine you need to have vector file EPS, AI, PDF, SVG, CDR (version 9 or older).

Irrespectively of the file type, the size of the elements to be cut, has to be exactly the same as the size of the required element (i.e. 100% of the size) or on a scale of 1 to 10 (if the object’s dimensions exceed 5 m). Please specify required size in your email.

There should be no bitmap objects in the file.

Do not forget to convert all fonts to curves.

The main restrictions of the foam cutting machine are the dimensions of the materials: extruded foams EPS200 — 2700х1200х800mm, Steradur -  expanded polysterene with homogenous structure, available in sheets of 1150х550х45mm. Do not forget that in order to cut inner space in the letter O, the string has to cut through the external surface. These “cuts” will then be filled up with plaster and covered with paint and become almost invisible.

The only technical restriction of the milling machine is the diameter of the milling cutter. In particular, the smallest size of the detail is limited by the cutter. Different materials require cutters of different diameter – usualy from 3 to 6 mm.

Cutting plotters – in case that dimensions exceed the maximum width of the material (585 mm), then the elements are cut into pieces and are put together on the base, or are cut using large format cutting plotter (width up to 1200 mm). This may increase the cost of the cutting process, which is necessarily agreed beforehand.

It all begins as usually – convert fonts to curves, all colours in CMYK.

It is all clear with vectors, but when it comes to bitmap objects, we have to do some hard thinking and answer several questions.

1) How far away is the object from the onlooker? If it is a poster that fits into the shop window, located at arms length from the customer, then the raster should be 150-300 ppi (depending on the source). If it is a 10 meter wide banner, that will be printed on the banner mesh and will be fixed above the lampposts then the final resolution could be 40 ppi.
2) If you read carefully, you have noticed banner mesh. It is true that the material is important – the better is its quality, the higher should be resolution of the raster for printing.
3) Those attentive to details have noticed “final resolution”. Let us explain that. There are certain size restrictions in Photoshop and Illustrator and if dimensions exceed 5 meters then scaling has to be used. This means that reverse scaling has to be used while printing. Let’s look at the example:

Suppose we create a makeup page of a 7 meters wide banner on a scale of 1 to 10. Hence the size of the banner on a makeup page is 70 cm. If we choose the 300 ppi resolution of the bit map object, then during printing it will “stretch” 10 times and will in fact be 30 ppi – that is the “final resolution”. Therefore, in this case it would be better to choose 450-600ppi for raster of the makeup page.

Bleed. You have to increase the original dimensions of the source by at least 2mm from each side to allow for print bleed (e.g. if the booklet’s dimensions are 210x297mm (А4) the file dimensions should be 214x301mm). According to the industry standard the maximum backlash tolerance is 1 mm. Thus the use of bleed is necessary to avoid thin white stripes.

Both vector and raster have to be in CMYK colour, 200-300 dpi. Bit-map image has to be solid, without alpha channels (transparent areas).

All fonts have to be converted into curves; there should be no fonts in the mock-up. In case you are using peculiar fonts or there is a need to use them in the future (change names on business cards etc) – we will ask you to provide fonts with the file.

There should be a 3-5mm gap between the text or logos and the cutting line, otherwise the cut line will pass through these objects. In case there is a solid plate on the cutting line, the paint could break up to the opposite side, since the knife squeezes the paper in the area of the cut.

In order to get drastic black colour you need to set the following colour parameters: C60 M50 Y50 K100. The total colour C+M+Y+K density should not exceed 270%, in order to avoid the cases when the paint stays wet, which would lead to paint break up. It is undesirable to use negative plates, i.e. thin white lines, small text (less than 8 size), especially fonts with hairlines on dark backgrounds. The lines should be at least 0.4 points thick.

If black colour and white fonts are used in the mock-up, then there should be black looping around the white text, which should be at least 0.4 points thick, and you also need to choose the following colour:  C1 M1 Y1 K100, as well as bracketing of the corners and line caps.

All of the above requirements hold true for offset printing, and in addition to that, if spot colours (pantones) are being used, their availability and sizes need to be mentioned in the covering letter.

"Untitled-1.ai", "Graphic1.cdr", "Макет.psd", "Trükk" – what are these files? Posters? Banners?

Compare with these names: "Advertech_flyer_A5_2sides_cmyk_bleed3mm.pdf" — it is clear that this is a double sided A5 page, and that a well-bred and far-sighted designer has allowed for 3mm bleed from each side.

"New_banner_6000x1500_1to10.eps" — this is a banner, and it is clear from its name what size it should be, and that the file itself is made on a scale 1 to 10.

Please note that the file names without Cyrillic and diacritic characters look much nicer, besides the fact that these characters might disturb cross-platform movement of files due to messy encodings.

Final warning to the MAC OS users – the files have to have an extension, no matter how ugly it makes them look. We will not go in depth into differences between file systems and data display modes. You have to trust us on that: it is much easier to identify and open the file when it has an extension.