Priting Design Templates

Using a downloadable template for your application will ensure that your dimensions, resolution and color settings match ours.  Each template category download contains a Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe Acrobat Distiller File.

Please carefully read the information found below if you are not familiar with using a print template.

The printable area is the portion of a VistaPrint product that your design will be printed on. To prevent an unwanted white border from showing at the edge, be sure to extend any background colors or design elements all the way to the edge of the printable area.

 

The aspect ratio of your image can be determined by dividing the image’s width by its height. If your image’s aspect ratio is not equal to the aspect ratio of our documents, your image may appear stretched or distorted when it is scaled to fit.

 

What is resolution?

Resolution refers to the number of dots per inch (dpi), or the amount of detail the image has. Most documents prepared for upload should be 175 dpi at 100% of the final print size. Higher resolution means a more detailed image, and also larger file and longer upload time.

 

When saving a document in Portable Document Format (PDF) using Adobe Acrobat Distiller, please download our Adobe Acrobat Distiller settings (recommended).

 

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) are the colors used in the printing process, whereas RGB (Red, Green and Blue) are the colors used by screen displays such as your monitor. Please note that JPEG files are almost always in RGB.

Your document should be created in CMYK mode so that the colors that you see on the screen most closely match the final printed product. If you create your document in RGB, the colors in your printed product may vary slightly. Many of the bright values produced by your monitor cannot be reproduced in print.

 

Fold marks indicate where the fold will take place on such products as brochures, folders and envelopes. If you don’t want your copy or design to be printed over the fold, make sure they stay within each panel’s safe margin.

 

Text can be converted to curves (paths) in some graphics programs. This will fix upload errors that result when fonts are not embedded in your file. Following these easy steps will help ensure that your text prints clearly.

 

Vector images use mathematical equations to define each component of an image. This allows vector images to retain their high-quality at any size. When possible, use vector graphics created in a desktop publishing program.

 

A raster image is composed of a collection of tiny dots called pixels. When these pixels are small, and placed close together, they fool the eye into forming a single image. Raster images work well when subtle gradations of color are necessary. Because they contain a fixed number of pixels, a major disadvantage of raster images is that their quality suffers when they are enlarged or otherwise transformed. They are also large in file size.

 

You may create printed products on our web site using digitized images from a variety of sources. Your designs, photos and images can come from a digital camera, scanner, or the Web.

Any image you plan to use must be saved at approximately 300-dpi at 100% output size for the very best printing results. It’s helpful to know that shrinking an image on a product will increase its resolution. For example, an image captured at 600 x 900 pixels has 150-dpi at 4” x 6”. However, it can be printed at 300-dpi by reducing its dimensions on the product to 2” x 3”.

 

If you wish to use images from a digital camera, before you snap pictures make sure the camera is set at a high enough resolution to result in 300 DPI at the intended photo print size. Most cameras have various settings for resolutions. The highest resolution for your camera depends on how many megapixels it has.

You cannot increase the resolution of a photo after it is taken, except by reducing its printed dimensions (after you upload the image). Be careful when cropping a photo after it is taken. Cropping will reduce the number of pixels in the final image.

 

Like a digital camera, a scanner must be preset to the proper resolution before image capture. Many scanners default to 150-dpi (or spi). Set your scanner’s resolution so that it results in 300-dpi at the image’s final print size. If your resulting scanned image is smaller than the recommended size or has less dpi than you need, you should either rescan your original at a higher resolution, or use the image for a smaller printed area.

 

Images found on the web are typically at a resolution of 72-dpi. This resolution is much too low for quality printing. In addition, most images on the web are protected by copyright laws. For these reasons, we do not recommend using images from the web.