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The following tutorial can be used to
create business stationery including letterheads, compliments slips and
label artwork files by adjusting the sizes.
The dimensions mentioned are for landscape
items and should be transposed for portrait cards.
To create a new document in Adobe
Illustrator select File > New (Ctrl+N). Set the Color Mode to CMYK and
enter the Artboard size. For business cards set the size to 95mm x 57mm
and for A6 post card to 151.5mm x 108mm. These dimensions include the
bleed of 3mm (8.5pt) for and business cards and 1.5mm (4.2pt) for post
cards.
Ensure you have the page rulers showing
(View > Show Rulers) and that they are displaying in millimeters (Edit >
Preferences > Units).
Set the co-ordinates of your artboard
to be 0,0 at the top left-hand corner by clicking and dragging the cross
from where the two page rulers meet at the top left of your screen.
Now drag a guide from the top ruler
down to the center of your document to 28.5mm for business cards and
54mm for postcards. Add a second one from the lefthand ruler to the
centre of your document to 47.5mm for business cards and 75.75mm for
postcards.
Adding a bounding box
The bounding box does not show in your
design when printed but dictates the size of your eps file.
Select the rectangle tool and click
once on your document, this will open a window into which you can enter
the size of the box. Set the size for business cards to 95mm x 57mm and
for A6 post card to 151.5mm x 108mm. Ensure the box has a transparent
stroke and fill. (Window > Show Colors).
Using one of the arrow tools, click on
the dot in the centre of the box and drag it to the centre of your
document, as marked by your guides. Now lock it by selecting Object >
Lock.
Trim and Text Area Guides
Create two more boxes as before but
this time don’t lock them, instead right click (For Macs, Control
click), choose Make Guides.
For the first box set the size for
business cards to 89mm x 51mm and for A6 post card to 148.5mm x 105mm.
For the second box set the size for
business cards to 83mm x 45mm and for A6 post card to 142.5mm x 99mm.
You can now add your design within this
template. The only items that should touch the outer line are those that
bleed off the edge of your card. The middle line shows where the cards
will be cut, you should try to keep all your text and images within the
inner line to avoid the possibility of anything being ‘clipped’.
Use the Document Info pallette (File >
Document Info) to ensure any images you use are all at least 300dpi and
are CMYK.
When you are happy with your design,
save the file as an Adobe Illustrator (.ai) file, this is your back up
in case you need to make alterations at any time in the future. This
file cannot be uploaded.
Save as EPS
*note: Using Illustrator filters and
transparencies sometimes produce elements in your design that do not
print correctly. If you have used these effects in your Illustrator
artwork, we recommend that you export your artwork as a 400 DPI TIFF.
View the document at Actual Size,
ensuring you can see all round the outsite of your page, now Edit >
Select All. There should be nothing outside the outer box other than
your two centre guides. If there is, delete it.
All text within your document should be
changed to outlines, Edit > Select All, then, Type > Create Outlines.
You must ensure there are no hidden
characters (∞) on your artwork. (Type > Show Hidden Characters). If
there are any of these on your document, delete them. All black text
should be set to overprint Filter > Colors > Overprint Black. Unselect
stroke and select include Blacks with CMY.
Select File > Save As. Choose
Illustrator EPS (.eps) and save the file.
Hidden font fields in your artwork will
register as fonts that are not outlined. Our system will reject this
file as a bad file. Please make sure to to delete hidden characters and
outline your fonts. |
