The imprinted promotional products that you select are an extension of your company, its identity and brand. TEC Marketing uses state-of-the art imprinting processes for all promotional items, but ultimately the quality of the final image will only be as clear as the artwork received.

In order to produce the very best representation of a logo and/or message on a promotional item, TEC has developed the following artwork requirements to ensure that each logoed product includes a clean, crisp and consistent visual presentation. The most common problem experienced in the imprinting processes is receiving artwork that has been created or submitted at low resolutions. Larger images always can be made smaller without sacrificing quality. However, smaller images cannot be made larger without diminishing visual clarity and quality. The most common result of "stretching" a small image is pixilation or the appearance of rough edges.

TEC Marketing specialists review all artwork that is submitted to ensure it's suitable for the specific imprinting process being applied to a given promotional item. If minor artwork modifications are required, TEC provides these at no charge. If a high-resolution or vector version of artwork is not available, the TEC Marketing graphics department can recreate artwork in the proper format. This art will them be available and usable for all imprinted promotional products, marketing and internet needs.

Significant modifications to submitted artwork that exceed one hour are billed at $60.00 per hour. TEC Marketing will provide a graphics service estimate for approval prior to all artwork that would exceed the one hour free service window.

TEC Marketing has included a short Artwork Glossary below with common graphics terms. If you have questions or need assistance with artwork, please contact us (515-981-5152) and one of our graphic design specialists will be happy to help you.

Artwork Formats and Image Programs

• Adobe Illustrator® files
1. Convert all text into "outlines"
2. Use standard Pantone (PMS) or CMYK color mixes with coloring text and graphics.
3. If an imported graphic is included in Illustrator document, include the original graphic file with your artwork. All graphics should be placed at 100%.
4. Save the file as an AI (Adobe Illustrator) or EPS format (select version 6.0 or higher if possible).
5. Save and create artwork in Vector format.


• Adobe Photoshop® files
1. Do not color an image in Photoshop. Import the image to Adobe Illustrator to color an image.
2. Use standard Pantone (PMS) or CMYK color mixes with coloring text and graphics.
3. Files must be submitted at the actual size being used in imprinted promotional product.
4. Save and create artwork in EPS format.


• Other graphic program files
1. Save artwork as vector in EPS format. (Please supply the name and version of the graphics software. We may not be able to view other program files. Please convert them to Corel Draw or Adobe-compatible formats.)

Fonts
When using a special font, that font will need to be included when submitting custom artwork. Fonts can be found in the "Font" directory on a hard drive. If the font has been modified (example:stretched) use the "convert to curves" option. This will save the art as a rasterized flat-layer image – “Curves”. The art will be produced exactly as it is submitted as the converted file will not be adjustable.

 

File Sizes
In order for artwork to be reproduced correctly the image file must be a minimum of 300-600 DPI (Dots Per Inch). Many times this size requirement results in a very large file that can be hard to email. Contact TEC Marketing for a FTP (file transfer protocol) site where large files may be uploaded to.

Submitting Artwork
Artwork can be sent by email to: art@tecpromotion.com

Artwork Glossary

Vector Files
Sometimes called a Geometric file. Most images created with tools such as Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw are in the form of vector image files and are the preferred format for your artwork in producing promotional items.


• .ai (Adobe llustrator file) - This file format is the very best in quality to recreate your artwork for imprinting processes used on logo products. It is the preferred artwork program.


• .cdr (Corel Draw file) - Corel Draw File. This file format is similar to Adobe Illustrator and is also an acceptable artwork file.



Raster Files


• .bmp (Bitmap file) - Images constructed of a collection of bits that form an image. The image consists of a matrix of individual dots (or pixels) that all have their own color. Generally a low-resolution image format, this format does not work in most imprinting processes for promotional items.


• .eps (Encapsulated PostScript file) - A common graphic picture file format that allows PostScript data to be stored and edited making it easy to transfer between PC/Windows, Macintosh and other systems. Also an acceptable artwork file.


• .gif (Graphics Interchange Format file) - Developed by Compuserve using compression technology from Unisys. On the World Wide Web pictures and graphics you see on Web pages are usually in GIF format because the files are small and download quickly. Another type of graphics format used commonly are JPEG these files download even faster and contain a better resolution but cannot be interlaced so many Web page authors tend to opt for using GIF's instead to get that "melting" onto the screen effect that happens with interlaced images.


• .jpg or .jpeg (Joint Photographic Experts Group file) - This is a standard compression format for high-resolution color images. Commonly used on the web due to its excellent ability to compress the graphic to save web page load time.


• .pdf (Adobe Portable Document Format) - Preserves the visually rich content of original files, and are easier to read than HTML content that appears in a web browser. Adobe PDF files print cleanly and quickly, and anyone can share Adobe PDF files, regardless of their platform or software application. Because PDF files provide excellent representation of how completed imprinted promotional products will look, they commonly are used for electronic proofs, but are not an acceptable artwork format for imprinting processes.


• .tiff (Tagged Image File Format file) - This common file format for exchanging bitmapped images between different applications usually is not acceptable as artwork to produce logo products.


• Page Layout Documents - Font files and document preferences that need to be supplied to TEC Marketing in producing imprinted promotional products in case we do not have a rare or special font that you would like to use or a problem develops with the artwork.