PlasticPrinters.com's Top 10 Plastic Business Card Design Tips, Part 2 is now here! This week we continue with our tips for designing outstanding, problem-free plastic card artwork. (Continued from Part 1.)
4. Convert All Fonts to Outlines
When designing your art in a vector-based program, such as Illustrator or InDesign, one of the most beneficial things you can do is to convert all your fonts to outlines. This will ensure that all of your text will display properly on any computer, regardless of platform or fonts installed. To convert your fonts to outlines in Illustrator and InDesign, start by Selecting All (Ctrl + A). Then in the Type Menu, select Create Outlines (or Shift + Control + O). This extremely simple step saves everyone time and prevents a multitude of artwork issues.
5. Embed All Linked Files
When designing your art in Illustrator, it is possible to drop bitmap images (such as jpgs) into your artwork. But unless you embed these images into the document, they will merely be linked files. This means that if you save and send the Illustrator file and send it to someone else, linked files will be missing when they open the file. This requires that you also send the original jpgs (or tiffs, or pngs) along with the Illustrator file, to which the Illustrator file can then link. When you embed an image in Illustrator, it is now part of the Illustrator document and no longer requires being sent separately. To embed images, select the image, then click on the "embed" button on the Control Panel. Or, select the file in the Links panel, then choose "Embed Images" from the panel menu in the upper righthand corner.
6. Make Sure Images are 300 ppi
When submitting artwork that includes bitmap images such as jpg, tiff, or Photoshop files, it is vital that they are high resolution to ensure that they won't look pixellated or blurry when printed. Artwork for you card should be at least 300 pixels per inch (ppi), the recommended resolution for print. Bear in mind that simply scaling an image will change its resolution. Enlarging an image will lower the resolution, and vice versa. So be sure that your images are at least 300 ppi at the size they will appear on your card.
Check back soon for the final set of Top 10 Plastic Business Card Design Tips!
Return to Part 1.
To learn more about plastic business cards go to plasticprinters.com or call 1.800.808.7472.
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| Text as Font |
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| Text as Outlines |
5. Embed All Linked Files
When designing your art in Illustrator, it is possible to drop bitmap images (such as jpgs) into your artwork. But unless you embed these images into the document, they will merely be linked files. This means that if you save and send the Illustrator file and send it to someone else, linked files will be missing when they open the file. This requires that you also send the original jpgs (or tiffs, or pngs) along with the Illustrator file, to which the Illustrator file can then link. When you embed an image in Illustrator, it is now part of the Illustrator document and no longer requires being sent separately. To embed images, select the image, then click on the "embed" button on the Control Panel. Or, select the file in the Links panel, then choose "Embed Images" from the panel menu in the upper righthand corner.
6. Make Sure Images are 300 ppi
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| Good Resolution |
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| Low Resolution |
Check back soon for the final set of Top 10 Plastic Business Card Design Tips!
Return to Part 1.
To learn more about plastic business cards go to plasticprinters.com or call 1.800.808.7472.
View more samples of Plastic Business Cards:
