Topics:

Art Department policies
About printing processes and their separations.
Art submission guidlines.
Submission guidelines for sending films or acetates.
Tips for raster-based artwork (Photoshop, etc.)
Tips for vector-based artwork(Illustrator, etc.)
Tips for placement-based artwork (Quark, etc.)
Sending us your art.

Art Department Policies:

 On average most art will be completed within 3-4 days of receiving it, though this does not reflect the amount of time it takes to process it, rather all jobs are completed according to: 1. Job priority. 2. Volume of order. 3. Date/time it was recieved. Your artwork could take more or less time depending on several variables.

 All separated art, films, screens, and eletronic data associated with the process of the aforementioned films, screens, etc. remain the property of Mart-Tex, Inc. and cannot be released to the customer.

 Mart-Tex, Inc. reserves the right to refuse any artwork due to any of the following reasons: 1. Obvious copyright infringement. 2. Generally offensive content. 3. Poor quality originals. (art from fax copies, art from a dirty old shirt, art drawn on a napkin)  4. Unusable electronic files. (MS Word documents, Powerpoint files, Greeting card files, low resolution images, etc.)

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Printing processes and their separations:

 Basic spot printing is the use of color matched inks in solid areas with no halftones. This process is very straightforward, it originated in china over a thousand years ago. Separations for this process are one film/screen per color used, a white underbase screen is required on dark garments.

 Four-color process is the use of the 4 primaries of printing (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) printed through angled halftone screens as to cause the primaries to blend in a way that is smooth and photo-realistic. Separations for four-color process are somewhat complex to produce with good quality. This process uses 4 films/screens to produce a composite image, often spot color “bump plate” screens are used to selectively intensify certain areas of process work. Four-color process only works well on lighter colored garments such as white, natural, light pink, light powder blue, etc. though when using garments any color other than white, a white underbase screen is required in addition.

 Simulated process is the use of multiple semi-opaque inks through matched-angle halftone screens to produce photo-realistic images on light or dark garments. It could be said that simulated process takes over where normal four color process cannot go; on darks, though simulated process works quite well on light garments as well. Simulated process separations are similar to flat-stock serigraphy in that the number of films/screens needed to create an image is variable depending on the design. Simulated process separations almost always use a white underbase screen except on very light colors.

 Discharge process printing is a modified version of simulated process that is intended only for dark garments that creates a smoother feel that makes the print seem to be part of the garment itself. Discharge separations are the same as simulated process separations except the discharge underbase is always used, it functions to effectively “bleach” the color out of the garment from under your print. Discharge printing only works on 100% cotton garments, with differing results depending on what type of dye is used in the manufacture of the garment.

 Indexed color process is a simplified type of simulated process print that does not use halftones. Index process instead uses a set of specified opaque inks printed through a screen that uses square dots that are all the same size but are scattered according to color intensity. Index process separations usually uses 6-8 films/screens, rarely this process uses up to 10. Index process follows the same guidelines for use of an underbase as simulated process, and can go on light or dark garments. This process tends to give a designs a grainy, textured look.

 Special effects prints are additions to standard flat prints that add additional interest to the design area. Examples of special effects are : puffs, metallics, glitters, crystalina, high density, phosphorescent, clear gels, flourescents, and flourescent gels. All special effects are treated as a standard spot print as far as films/screens, though other than gels and flourescents most special effects do not work well with very fine detail in the design. As a general rule, the maximum number of special effects that can be used on one print is 2, though it is possible to do up to 3 if special arrangements are made and the design is correctly set up. Most special effects can be used on any color garment.

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If your art is a hand painting or drawing:

 We prefer hand painted artwork be painted on clear acetate, taped to a white backing board.

 Please avoid using metallic paints in your artwork; If you wish to have a metallic printed, use an overlay or a color to represent it. Metallics do not scan well and will add pre-production time to your job.

 If your hand painting is on fabric, please submit it well in advance, separating artwork off fabric or canvas is a very time-consuming process. (assume an extra 1-2 days of pre-production)

 Drawings should be on a good bond paper, smooth and bright white. Rougher paper, or paper with coloration will cause your image to lose detail in its midtones, and generally will look bland after printing.

 All charcoal, chalk and pencil drawings should be prepared with a clear fixative prior to shipping to avoid smudging and mess.

 Any original greater than 36” in any dimension must be sent to a service bureau that handles large format scanning, or a digital photo will have to be taken in good lighting conditions. If you should choose to have a service bureau make a digital photo, it will need to be in at least D50 ambient lighting or brighter to get a good whitepoint.

Photographs, Transparencies, or Negatives:

 We cannot scan “slide” sized transparencies or chromes and hold a great deal of detail. If you desire detail, in such a case we suggest you send it to be drum scanned, and provide us with the scan(s) as will be detailed in Tips for raster-based artwork or we can send it to a service bureau, and include the charges in your bill.

 Unfortunately we are not currently equipped to scan negatives, again we suggest drum scanning or a service bureau.

 Almost all types of photographs are acceptable, 8”x10” is optimal, but smaller sizes are acceptable providing that the actual artwork is large enough in the photo.

 When getting your photograpy done, try to avoid higher speed films, as they tend to be grainier, and with enlargement may produce undesireable discoloration.

 For the most part, 3”x 4” transparencies are best, smaller transparencies are acceptable, but images will tend to lose detail as the transparency original gets smaller.

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Submitting your art on films or acetates:

 Films should be right-reading, emulsion side up positives. We cannot shoot velums due to the type of emulsions and exposure equipment we use for our screens.

 All halftone work should be between 45 and 65 LPI, using a "hard" eliptical dot.

 For halftone spot separations, all screen angles should be set the same; at either 52.5 degrees or 20 degrees.

 For four color process separations, we suggest the following angle set: Cyan= 22.5, Magenta= 52.5, Yellow= 82.5, Black 82.5

 For Hexachrome process separations, we suggest the following angle set: Cyan= 22.5, Magenta= 82.5, Yellow= 97.5, Black= 52.5, Orange= 22.5, Green= 82.5

 The appropriate ink/dot gain percentage curves are available by clicking here and saving the file to your system. Unzip the file. Use the transfer function command in Photoshop, then hit load, and select the UPRPLGEN file to get the correct values.

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Tips for Images in Adobe Photoshop, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, Corel Photo-Paint, or The GIMP. (Raster art):

 We can accept files created in Photoshop 7 or earlier, for all other programs please provide TIFF images.

 The biggest problem with raster art is failure to provide a large enough image with sufficient resolution. The following is a description of how to determine the correct resolution for your images.

 Target resolution for all types of images is assumed to be “at size”, meaning that an image that is 6" that is to be printed 12" must be twice the resolution of an image that is 12" and will be printed at 12 "; Likewise, an image that is 12" that is to be printed at 6" need only be half the resolution of an image that is 6" and is to be printed at 6".

 For simple non-continuous tone images containing no type, target resolution is 200ppi.

 For continuous tone images containing no type, target resolution is 300ppi.

 For any image containing type, continuous tone or non, target resolution is 400ppi.

 Preferable file formats for any raster artwork are TIFF (.tif), or Photoshop format (.psd).

 Avoid Jpeg (.jpg) and GIF (.gif) formats as they will tend to damage the detail or color of the image.

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Tips for Illustrator, Freehand, Corel Draw. (Vector art):

 We can accept vector files created in Illustrator 9, Freehand 8, or Corel Draw 8. Illustrator is preferred. Encapsulated Postscript files are acceptable as well.

 One of the biggest problems with vector artwork is color; if you do not specify colors to work with, or assure that colors in your file are set as spot colors (if spot colors are desired) instead of process colors, there will be no way to accurately reproduce that color, so please *be specific*.

 The second biggest problem with vector artwork is fonts; actually fonts are a problem in all types of artwork, but most easily remedied in vector artwork. There are three ways this issue can be resolved:

1. You convert all your fonts in the artwork. This is the best way, in illustrator it is called “convert to outlines”, in freehand it is called “convert to paths”, and in corel draw it's called “convert to curves”.

2. You send all the fonts you used in the artwork. (We don't recomend this, often fonts are licensed, and should not be copied to other systems.)

3. We insert the closest font we have to replace yours. (This is the worst possible option, because even the most minute differences in font can cause big differences in artwork.)

 When using a placed image (especially in illustrator) make sure it is “parsed” or “embedded” not simply “placed” or “linked” as this helps make more accurate masks and overlays.

 When using a placed image, always include an independent copy of the placed file.

 Save files in their native format (ie illustrator format in illustrator) as opposed to .eps, as we can diagnose any problems in the artwork more quickly this way.

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Tips for art in Quark, PageMaker, etc (Placement programs):

 We can accept files created / saved in Quark up to version 4, or PageMaker 6.5

 It is suggested you totally avoid sending artwork this way unless absolutely necessary, or if it is very simple, and is going on light goods; placement programs cannot generate underbase plates for use with dark garments, nor can they handle the special dot gain settings used in screen printing, or create proper trapping or chokes as they are used in screen printing.

 Please be sure to provide all placed images, and all fonts.

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Send us your electronic artwork.

We can accept your electronic artwork via removable media sent to us, sent via email, or directly through FTP.

We can use the following types of removable media: