ART GUIDELINES

·         MBS expects client to provide production ready final art for your project. If you are unable, MBS provides in-house graphic services to create Final Art. See In-House Art Services below for details.

·         MBS SOFTWARE & PLATFORM - MBS uses the latest PC versions of Adobe including Illustrator and Photoshop. We also use the latest version of Corel Draw.

·         ART TEMPLATES - MBS will provide Art Templates with specific graphic instructions including product dimensions, shape, accessory placement, bleed areas and safe zone requirements.

·         PREFERRED FILES: Adobe Illustrator (.AI), .EPS, Adobe Photoshop (.PSD), Corel Draw (.CDR), or .TIFF

·         RESOLUTION - Bitmap artwork should have a minimum resolution of 150dpi at actual size. Final art should include native files, and virtual proof (.pdf or .jpeg).  If color matching is critical then a Match Print should be provided.

·         VIRTUAL PROOFS - An acceptable virtual proof is a .JPG or .PDF file showing art positioned on product and specific (Pantone) color callouts or other special instructions. If board is being displayed please provide a PDF showing the orientation of the board in its environment showing both sides of the product.

·         TEXT / FONTS - All text should be converted to curves. Include all fonts, even if text in file is converted to curves.

·         SIZE OF FILES - Files smaller then 20mg can be emailed.  Files larger than 20mg should be sent to us via www.dropbox.com or Google Drive.

·         COLOR VARIATION - Colors can vary slightly +/- two Pantone shades. CMYK printing resolution varies from product to product.

·         PRINT VARIATION - Due to slight variations in construction materials printed graphics can vary slightly from one piece to the next.


GRAPHIC METHODS

Vinyl Graphics: Quick turn product graphics use an 4C digital print method therefore almost any type of graphic can be printed. We are not constrained to a certain amount of spot colors. Files can be sent to us as CMYK or RGB files but we prefer RGB as what you see on your screen is more accurate to the actual printed item. Let us know if you are trying to color match a particular PMS color.

Silk Screen Graphics: Silk Screen Graphics are typically limited to Spot Color printing. When setting up a job for Silk Screen printing make sure to spec out the individual colors in the Virtual Proof. Silk Screen printing is limited in its detail, minimum width of any graphic element is 1/8".

Photo Heat Transfer Graphics - 4C Process or CMYC graphics are acceptable. There are really no limitations with this print method with the exception of the shape of the board.
 

FILE TYPES:

Raster Files: A raster image (also known as a bitmap image) is a collection of dots called pixels that are organized in a grid. Each pixel is a tiny square with one color value. When many pixels are combined, a complete, raster image is the result. Because raster images are resolution dependent (the number of pixels per inch), it’s difficult to increase or decrease the size without sacrificing image quality. Raster images are best used at their original size to avoid any stretching, distortion or loss of quality. Photographs, scanned graphics and web graphics are the most common forms of raster images.

Common Raster Formats :  JPEG, TIFs, and PNGs

Vector Files:  A vector image is a collection of connected lines and curves that produce infinitely scalable objects. Vector images are defined by math, not pixels. They can be scaled up or down without any loss of quality. When an illustration (drawing) program sizes a vector image up or down, it simply multiplies the mathematical description of the object by a scaling factor. Because of this, your lines will remain crisp and sharp, both on screen and in print. It is very easy to convert vector imagery to raster, but not the other way around. Once converted to a rasterized image, a vector image loses all of it’s original qualities and cannot be scaled without sacrificing quality. It is important to know that most designers and vendors can best benefit by using a vector logo, rather than a raster logo file (unless otherwise requested). All logos should technically originate as vector files.

Common Vector Formats:  EPS, AI, SVG and sometimes PDFs.
 

MBS IN-HOUSE ART SERVICES

If you are unable to provide Final Art we’re happy to help create it for you. We charge $85 an hour with a 1 hour minimum. Time includes final mock-ups and production ready art.