custom self-launch
artist guide
V3
8.25.16
1
what is custom self-launch?
Minted Custom Self-Launch is the new and improved File Submission and Design Launch
tool that empowers artists to release their challenge-winning designs while controlling creative
merchandising decisions. Custom Self-Launch streamlines the Design Launch process, reducing
time to launch dramatically. Artists also can use the tool to self-launch non-challenge-winning
and retired designs to their Minted Artist Stores.
what does this guide include?
This Custom Self-Launch Artist Guide includes tips & tricks on proper file setup, how to
think like a Minted merchant, and detailed steps of the file submission process. Each section
includes screenshots and examples to help you better work through the process. We also have a
troubleshooting section if you encounter any issues while submitting your files.
how can this guide help me?
Carefully working through this guide and
properly setting up your files will lead to a more
PROCESS OVERVIEW
timely launch of your design, as well as help you
successfully work through the File Upload Process.
Feel free to work through this guide at your own
pace by either starting from the beginning, or
jumping to a specific section using the Table of
Contents (found on the next page).
note! If you have any additional questions about File
Preparation or the Submission process, please
email [email protected].
2
1
Create your artwork
2
Start your project
3
Enter merchandising info
4
Upload files
5
Test your files
6
Submit files for internal QC
7
Project Launches!
{table of contents }
Click on the category page to jump to that section
PART 1
CREATING YOUR ARTWORK
PART 2
SUBMITTING YOUR FILES
Templates
Layers
Getting Started
- Product Details
- Layer tutorial video (new!)
- Colors & Files
- Alternate Greetings
- Styles
Fonts
- Preview
- Foil-Pressed Text
- Submit
Text
- Formatting Text Boxes
- Hand-drawn & Outlined Text
- Glyphs
Colors
Photos
- Gradients
- Alternate Orientations
- Corporate Logos (new!)
Rasterized Artwork
Foil
Legibility
- Color
- Textures & Effects
Matching Envelope
- Text
- Design
Accessories
File size
Saving Files
File Checklist
3
PART 3
TROUBLESHOOTING
Frequently Asked Questions
Error Messages
PART 1
creating your artwork
4
{templates}
Please use the provided templates found in your file request email, selecting the template that matches the
orientation of your design. If using Illustrator CS4 or earlier, please use the separate template files. If using
Illustrator CS5 or later, we encourage you to use our combined templates to view your design more holistically.
Follow the instructions found in the template to save artboards as separate files in order to upload pieces individually,
or see Saving Files in Combined Designer Templates.
SEPARATED TEMPLATES
for CS4 or earlier
COMBINED TEMPLATES
for CS5 or later
note! If your winning design includes a die-cut shape, please do NOT include this in your files when you submit. Our team will be
applying this internally prior to launch, so please ensure all artwork extends to the edge of the artboard before submitting files.
{ layers}
It is imperative to place design elements in the appropriate layers so that our system can successfully convert them
into a customizable design.
Example of layer panel in Illustrator.
If you don’t have a design element for every layer, please leave it blank. Please also ensure all layers are unlocked
(except for guides) prior to uploading files. DO NOT change the order of the layers!
Click HERE to watch a video tutorial on proper layer setup
5
•• FOIL: If your design is part of our foil-pressed assortment,
place foil-pressed elements on this layer. These elements will be
pressed last on top of all digital elements.
•• alternate greetings: Used only in our non-foil Holiday
Assortment, we offer 4 greetings; Holiday, Christmas, New
Year and Religious Christian. Please place each greeting in the
appropriate group within the alternate greeting layer.
*Note: alternate greetings are only incorporated on the front of
your design.
•• text: Place editable text on this layer.
•• movable: Place elements here that you would like to be
movable by the customer. Elements grouped together will be
one movable object.
•• foreground: Place artwork here if it should be positioned on
top of any customizable photos and below customizable text.
This includes textures or gradients.
•• photo: Place all customer editable photos on this layer.
•• background: Place all non-editable artwork on this layer. This
should sit beneath editable content like text and photos.
Example of elements placed in the correct layers.
•• guides: Guides help you position artwork at a safe distance
from the edge of the card or indicate where logos will be placed.
Please leave locked and do not edit elements on this layer.
new! ALTERNATE GREETINGS
Alternate Greetings allow a winning design to be offered in a variety of different categories, appealing to a wider
range of Minted customers. On site, customers will be able to toggle between greetings to find their preferred
version of each design. This year, we are asking for up to 4 alternate greetings : Holiday, Christmas, New Year, and
Religious Christian.
HOLIDAY
6
CHRISTMAS
NEW YEAR
RELIGIOUS CHRISTIAN
•• Holiday: Holiday secular greetings. This includes phrases from popular Christmas songs that are not religious but
are secular or festive (ok: "Deck the Halls", not ok: "Joy to the World").
•• Christmas: Different ways to say Merry Christmas! Anything that explicitly says Merry Christmas, "Merry",
refers to Santa Claus, or alludes to Christmas without being overly religious. This includes phrases from popular
Christmas songs that refer to Christ, God, or Christmas.
•• New Year: Secular New Year greetings.
•• Religious Christian: Religious Christian holiday greetings - phrases that communicate a reference to Christ, God,
faith in God, praying or blessings. Generally these sayings convey a stronger spirituality than the "Merry Christmas"
greetings. This includes biblical verses.
The following are examples of greetings by category, feel free to use as inspiration when building your files:
Holiday Greetings
Christmas Greetings
New Year Greetings
Religious Christian Greetings
Happy Holidays
Season's Greetings
It's A Wonderful Life
Happy Everything
Peace, Love & Laughter
Laughing All The Way
Love & Joy
Be Joyful
Happiest Holidays
Oh What Fun!
The More the Merrier
Happy
Warm Wishes
Let It Snow
Making Spirits Bright
Fa La La La
Deck the Halls/Wreck the Halls
'Tis the Season
Joy
Merry Christmas
Ho Ho Ho
Merry & Bright
Merry
Christmas Love
Mele Kalikimaka
Oh So Merry
So Very Merry
Christmas Wishes
Joy to the World
Best. Christmas. Ever.
Good Tidings
Joyeux Noel
'Twas the Night Before Christmas...
Merriest Christmas Wishes
Holly Jolly
Merriest Christmas
Happy New Year
New Year Cheer
Best Year Ever
Best New Year Ever
Cheers/Cheer
2017 (year)
Cheers to a New Year
Cheers to 2017 (year)
Happiest New Year
Wishing you Cheer in the New Year
(countdown) 5,4,3...
Rejoice
Wonders of His Love
Heaven & Nature Sing
Blessings
Counting Our Blessings
Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come
Glory to God
So blessed
Blessings Abound
Faith, Love, & Family
Believe
note! Not all designs may be eligible for all 4 alternate greetings.
For example, if you design includes religious imagery (like
angels or a manger scene), please do not include alternate
greetings in your files for Holiday or New Year.
SETTING UP ALTERNATE GREETINGS
•• In your templates, you will notice 4 sub-layers within
the "alternate greetings" layer: christmas greeting,
holiday greeting, new year greeting, and religious
greeting.
•• If your winning submission can be translated into
an alternate version, please provide the alternate
greeting(s) elements on the appropriate layer.
Example of correct alternate greetings.
7
•• While working, you may hide the greetings to
ensure placement is consistent between the greetings.
However, all greetings must be visible and unlocked
when submitting files. The upload process will separate
these automatically!
note! ALTERNATE GREETINGS IN FOIL-PRESSED DESIGNS
If your design is foil-pressed, it is possible that the alternate greeting in your design is also the foil-pressed element.
In order to maintain proper filtering on our site however, we require an element on one of the alternate greeting
layers in order to submit successfully.
In these cases, please place a different
customizable element in your design
on the alternate greeting layer your foil
greeting corresponds to.
For example, if a design uses "joy" as the
foil-pressed element and also serves as the
alternate greeting, you would place the
customizable family name in the "holiday
text" layer within your templates.
Example of how to set up files when the foil-pressed element
is also the alternate greeting.
If your design includes a year, you can also
use this as the customizable "alternate
greeting" element and vary it between
greeting categories that your foil element
could be associated with.
For this example, you would separate the
year and place a copy using "2016" in the
"holiday text layer" and another copy using
"2017" in the "new year text" layer, since
the phrase "joy" could apply to both the
holiday and new year category.
Example of how to set up files when the foil-pressed element
is also the alternate greeting and the year is also included.
8
{ fonts}
Reference the Minted Font List for minimum font sizes and stroke guidelines. If your design uses a non-Minted
font, it will be put into a Font Review state where we will look into licensing for that font. If we are unable to obtain
licensing, we will use your font suggestion provided during your project submission.
Example of cohesive font use between front and coordinating backer, liner, label, envelope and stamp.
Use consistent fonts across your base winning design and its required accessories. When submitting outlined text,
make sure to include an editable version off of your artboard when designing to further customize complex customer
orders. Place any outlined text in the “movable” layer if it’s not part of the background design.
FOIL-PRESSED TEXT
•• Include an editable version of the foiled text off of your artboard using a solid color.
•• Remember that foil elements will always be on TOP of everything else.
•• Add additional stroke weight to any font to ensure lines
are thick enough to foil-press. This is especially important
on scripts or fonts that have thin lines and/or flourishes.
To see size & stroke requirements, please reference the
Minted Font List.
•• As a rule, foil elements should be at minimum .5 pt stroke
in thickness.
•• Foil-pressed text CANNOT be customizable
(i.e. names, dates, etc.)
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helpful links // fonts
Minted & Non-Minted Fonts
* Using
for editable vs. non-editable text
* Fonts
I use non-Minted fonts outlined?
* Can
* Minted Font List
{ text }
•• Add small strokes when necessary (i.e., script fonts, light text on dark backgrounds, fonts with thin lines).
•• Editable text should not be grouped with any other artwork.
•• Keep text editable whenever possible!
•• Content (addresses, locations, family names, etc.) should
be consistent between the front and skinnywrap label.
—— For example, if the family name on the front of
the card is “The Reynolds”, make sure the return
address on the Skinnywrap Label uses the same
name.
—— Names should match the family in the photo
(i.e. if there are four kids, there should be four
kids’ names. Names should also align culturally and
ethnically with the individuals in the photo.)
•• If your design includes a monogram or initials, make sure
the textbox is large enough to accommodate the widest
letter; “W”.
FORMATTING TEXT BOXES
•• Try to keep case consistent for each text style employed
in your design.
Photo shows 5 people and text shows 5 names.
—— For example: If you use the font Brandon
Grotesque in all caps on the front of your design,
it should be set to all caps on the envelope and
Skinnywrap Label to be consistent. These settings
can be found under Type > Change Case.
•• Lay out your text using text boxes (click and drag a box
with the type tool, then enter text), rather than type on a
path (just clicking and typing).
•• Extend the boundaries of your text boxes to leave as
much space as possible for a customer to write longer
names, dates or additional lines of text in your text boxes.
“McCallisters” text box is extended to the right &
bottom safety guides to accommodate longer text.
•• Each text box should only use one font/size/color/
leading/tracking. If you need to change to a different
typeface, size, color, etc., create a new text box. If you
want the line of text to be the same text box; the font, font
style, color, and character settings MUST be the same.
•• Make sure to use a hard return to separate multiple lines
of text (i.e. address lines).
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Text with different attributes are in separate boxes.
•• An easy way to tell if a text box has more than one text attribute is with empty fields in the character panel.
When a text box is selected, the character palette should
not show any empty fields.
HAND-DRAWN & OUTLINED TEXT
•• Hand-drawn text should include additional options off the
artboard (additional years, numbers, alternate greetings, etc.
depending on which elements are hand-drawn) in case of unique
customer requests.
•• Outline text that changes color per letter; otherwise, the tool
will remove the alternating colors and match the style of the
first character. Remember to include an editable version off of
your artboard.
If “2017” is hand drawn, the artist would provide
additional years off the artboard.
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helpful links // text
* Text Best Practices Tutorial
Type > Create Outlines with textbox selected to maintain
alternating colors. Outlined text cannot be editable.
GLYPHS
•• Glyphs or alternate/special characters are not currently supported as editable text. However movable glyphs are
fine to use! If a glyph has been added as a design choice (for background images or headings), the character will need
to be outlined with an editable version provided off of the artboard.
•• To accommodate the customizer limitations, the text can be split from the flourishes. This allows you to keep
the flourishy glyphs in the design while providing customers the flexibility to customize the text. To do this, outline
glyphs and move them to the movable layer.
See glyph on the “j” and on the “s” (file setup for this shown below).
“Joyous wishes” is on the text layer, and both glyphs are on the movable layer.
note!
Our customizer currently does not accept:
•• Effects to editable text - such as warped text.
•• Customizable text used as clipping paths.
•• Text on a path (unless it's a curvilinear path).
•• Pattern or texture swatches applied to text fill.
Example of custom text used as a clipping path.
This would NOT work in our customizer.
•• For foreign languages or characters:
—— Provide translation off of the artboard.
—— Outline foreign characters and provide
an editable version off the artboard.
•• Be culturally sensitive (i.e. verify a bible verse is
correct, avoid yellow Jewish stars, etc.)
•• Check spelling and make sure there are no typos!
—— Illustrator includes a “Check Spelling...”
command in the “Edit menu.
12
Example of pattern swatch applied to the fill of
customizable text. This would NOT work
in our customizer.
{ colors}
Selecting and designing colorways is an important step in ensuring your winning design will appeal to a wide range
of Minted customers. Remember that Minted has both traditional and non-traditional as well as both secular and
religious customers. Select and design your color choices with this range of customers in mind, provided of course it
makes sense with your design.
•• Please DO NOT change your default colorway from your winning submission unless you are asked to. This will be
noted in your file request email.
•• Try to provide a variety of colors between colorways (i.e., avoid two pink colorways or an inversion of the same
colors). Customers want choices and variety!
•• Include masculine colorway options as well as a mix of dark and light colors.
•• For Holiday designs, consider using traditional colors like red and green (even if you pair them with other nontraditional colors).
Use the recolor tool in Illustrator to easily recolor artwork between colorways.
•• The template files are set up to use CMYK colors; please do not change this.
•• When creating alternate colorways, it is best to fully design all of the pieces of your main (or “A”) colorway and
then duplicate these files and recolor them using the recolor artwork tool in Illustrator.
—— Recoloring from the A colorway is the best way to avoid shifting between colorways.
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•• To check for shifting in Illustrator:
—— Open each file
—— Select “Fit artboard in window” from
the view menu (keyboard shortcut is
Command + 0) for all colorways.
—— Toggle between files (keyboard
shortcut is Command + tilde (~) )
to ensure only the colors change but
the position of all text, photos and
background elements are maintained.
helpful links // colors
Artwork Tool
* Recolor
Practices for Alternate Colorways
* Best
* Recoloring Textures in Illustrator
Click to see an example of shifting between colorways.
•• For raster images, use the “Fit artboard in window” (Command + 0) and “Paste in place” (Shift + Command + V)
commands to ensure the same placement.
—— Textures intended to be part of a movable object should be cropped, grouped, and placed on the
appropriate layer.
—— Foreground overlay and background textures that are intended to be non-customizable should be placed
on the background or foreground layers.
The snowflakes are clipped with a texture and placed on the movable layer.
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ACCEPTABLE VS. NON-ACCEPTABLE SHIFTING
Click to see an example of acceptable shifting.
•• Acceptable: In instances like these, the watercolor texture is handmade for each colorway, so the organic
differences are noticeable but clearly purposeful, and will not confuse the customer or affect their customizable
elements. Please note that these cases are rare and need to be approved by our Merchandising Team.
•• Unacceptable: Any shifting in text, movable objects and/or photos between colorways. Remember, recoloring
from your main (or “A”) colorway is the best practice for avoiding shifting and maintaining consistency in how the
files are built!
{photos}
•• Please do NOT change your default colorway from your winning submission.
•• For multiple photo orientations and foil-pressed versions of the same design, we prefer you use either the same
photo or same family.
note! The Merchandising Team may change your photo before launch in order to diversify the assortment
Same or similar photo used on landscape, portrait and foil versions of design.
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GRADIENTS
•• Use a gradient if you have light/fine text on the top or bottom of your photo (and don’t think text will be legible
on a majority of customer photos).
•• Gradients are colorway-specific, so do not feel the need to include in all colorways
•• Gradients are usually best on full-bleed photo designs with light, text-heavy design elements.
•• Place gradients on the foreground layer in your templates to ensure it works properly in our customizer. DO NOT
rasterize or flatten gradients with your photo!
•• Use only the Minted approved gradient in your files, which can be found in your file request email.
Example of gradient needed for colorway A, but not colorway B.
•• Customer-editable photos should be placed on the
“photos” layer; otherwise, they will be ignored by our
automated system.
•• Photos should not be grouped with any other artwork.
•• All photos should be in their own clip group.
•• Use the same photo(s) on all colorways.
•• Any raster artwork in the photos layer will be treated
like a custom photo, so please make sure that non-photo
raster artwork (jpgs, pngs, tiffs, etc.) is placed on the
foreground or background layer.
Example of correct setup of multiple photos.
•• Only Minted provided and/or approved photos can be used. No outside stock photos please!
•• Use the same photo used in your winning submission, and swap out the high resolution photo from the link
provided in your file request email.
CORPORATE LOGOS
If you are submitting a corporate design that includes a company logo, please treat this the same as a regular
customer photo. Rasterize the artwork, place in a clipping mask the size of the logo, and place on the photo layer.
You can find the editable versions of these logos in your file request email.
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new!
ALTERNATE ORIENTATION REQUESTS
With our new and improved Product Details Page, customers are able to see all alternate versions of a design on
a single page. This includes the A7, petite, and postcard sizes as well as foil, non-foil, and letterpress versions and
portrait and landscape photo orientations. This allows customers to first fall in love with a design, and then select the
format that works best for their photo and their budget.
The goal of this alternate orientation is to allow your design to work with both a portrait and a landscape photo,
however we understand that not all designs may translate. Please see the examples below for designs that may or
may not work in alternate orientations.
HAPPY
HOLIDAYS
HO
HO
HO
HAPPY
HOLIDAYS
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Example of successful repurpose into alternate orientation.
Designer has the option to use
either a portrait or landscape
photo.
HO
HO
Example of repurpose into
alternate orientation that is still
acceptable.
HO
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Example of repurpose into
alternate orientation that is not
necessary. Customers will be
able to use either photo orientation for both designs.
{rasterized artwork}
•• Rasterized artwork needs to be linked and embedded.
•• Ensure resolution is high enough to not look pixelated
when printed.
•• There is no need for the PPI to be higher than 300.
—— You can check the effective resolution/PPI
of artwork placed in your files by checking the
“Links” panel in Illustrator. (The “Links” panel
can be found in the “Window” Menu.)
—— To reduce PPI, you can “re-rasterize” large
placed images using the Object > Rasterize
menu option, and choose 300 DPI. This will
decrease file size dramatically without any
decrease in print quality.
{foil}
Example of linking and embedding an image.
*Applies only to designs using real foil.
If it is specified in your file request that your design will be
part of our foil assortment, certain design elements will be
foil-pressed on top of digital elements.
SETTING UP YOUR FOIL LAYER:
Foil elements should be combined into one compound
path, using only one clipping mask to crop the foil
image. Place this in the FOIL layer.
1
helpful links // foil
* Preparing Foil Files Tutorial
EXPANDING DESIGN ELEMENTS
All foil element should be fill-only (no strokes applied). If foil elements include
strokes, expand appearance to convert them to fill-only (Object > Expand).
2
COMPOUND PATH
Combine multiple design elements into one compound path by using the Compound Path function in the
Object menu (Object > Compound Path > Make).
3
CREATE FOIL CLIP GROUP
Use this compound path as your clipping mask by placing the compound path above a Minted foil texture
(Select compound path and foil texture > Object > Clipping Mask > Make).
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MINTED FOIL COLOR SWATCH VALUES
Use the following CMYK values for the color swatches
for foil-pressed designs.
GOLD
ROSE GOLD
SILVER
14 | 28 | 90 | 1
16 | 39 | 30 | 2
35 | 25 | 22 | 7
We recommend using the following CMYK values for
text color if coordinating with foil-pressed designs.
GOLD
Example of correct foil layer setup.
31 | 38 | 59 | 11
ROSE SILVER
GOLD
24 | 52 | 50 | 9
28 | 19 | 19 | 20
coming soon! GLITTER FOIL
In addition to our existing foil types, we will be offering two glitter foil types: gold glitter foil and silver glitter foil.
These will be pressed onto designs in the same fashion as our existing foil types, and files for these will be set up the
same as well. For foil-pressed designs, please only upload 4 colorways at this time to accommodate these additional
foil types later on.
FOIL REGISTRATION
Our foil-pressed products begin with digital printing in CMYK, followed by the foil design elements pressed on top
of the card. It can be expected that the placement of the foil-pressed elements will sometimes shift up to 1/16th of
an inch. Please take this into consideration when working on a foil-pressed design.
The following cases are more susceptible to visible shifting due to the combination of both digital and foil elements:
Geometric Designs
Example of potential foil shifting.
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Flush Elements
Example of potential foil shifting.
borders // helpful examples
Foil Borders
Bad registration
Example of potential foil shifting.
If foil is framing a digital area, the frame should be at least
1/8’’ in thickness and extend 1/16’’ over the edge of the
digital element.
Bad registration
Good registration
Example of proper setup for foil that frames a digital area
(extending 1/16'' over either side of the photo edge).
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FINE FOIL DETAIL
Texture can be difficult to foil because “distressed”, “textured” or fine details can look like a printing error rather
than a distressed effect. For best foil pressing, remove the small textured details within the compound path to create
a more solid foil design element. You can do this by using the direct selection tool to delete these "open areas" inside
your artwork.
Example of adjustment for textured elements and open areas to delete using the direct selection tool.
Small, elaborate shapes may expand during the foiling process and change the appearance of the design.
This example shows the life-sized view and a zoomed-in
representation of the small object.
note! To achieve the appearance of non-custom text on top of foil, you must knock out the letters from the foil.
The “Minus Front” option in the Pathfinder Tool is a useful function for creating these knocked out shapes.
Possible option
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Possible option
Impossible option
{legibility}
COLOR
TEXTURES & EFFECTS
•• Print all items with light colors to test legibility
(CMYK values that add up to 10 or less may not be
legible). Light colors often appear darker on screen.
•• Print designs that include textures to ensure they
appear well when printed and are not viewed as a
printing error.
•• Ensure all items in the same colorway have
consistent color builds.
Example of texture potentially mistaken for print error.
{matching envelopes}
Proper file setup of envelope template.
•• If incorporating a phrase such as "please deliver to" on your envelope, please ensure this is outlined in your files as
this will not be customizable text to a customer.
•• Place this along with any other design elements on the background layer, and place an editable version of the text
off the artboard.
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DESIGN
•• Adding design elements to your envelopes is encouraged!
•• Per Post Office regulations, design elements need to stay within the safety guides.
•• Please do not use script fonts for the addresses on the envelope, as they are not legible by USPS. Names in script
are ok however!
•• Design elements should not obstruct the text boxes to ensure that customers can input longer recipient names.
—— Keep design elements above the name/address field to allow for addresses that may take up more space.
•• Please do not delete the white background that overlays your envelope and is included in your template.
TEXT
•• Use fonts and letter casings that coordinate with the front of your design.
•• Please do NOT change the default name and addresses on the envelope found in your templates.
•• Test legibility on all envelope colors, especially the kraft and silver envelopes (Select all design elements > Copy/
Paste over the Kraft and another over the silver > Set Opacity to Multiply). This allows you to see how the colors
blend with the kraft and silver envelope color when printed.
note! The following are not allowed on envelopes:
•• Faux Foil
•• Glitter
•• Large coverage artwork
•• Light colors
•• Knockout white text on editable elements
•• Watercolor elements - discouraged
{accessories}
Example of knockout white text, which the post office
does not allow.
•• Accessories include the
matching backer, liner, label,
stamp and envelope!
•• Incorporate design
elements from the front of
the card on the accessory
pieces.
Example of cohesive design between coordinating pieces.
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•• Try not to be repetitive
- think about how these
pieces might be used
together, but also make sure
each piece is strong enough
as a standalone.
{file size}
Reducing the file size will help our system process your files quicker and result in a better customer experience once
your product is live on the site.
reducing file size // helpful tips
•• Re-rasterize images that are higher than 300 DPI (Object > Rasterize).
•• Reduce amount of points in complex paths without changing the appearance of your design (Object >
Path > Simplify).
•• Crop any images that extend unnecessarily far off the artboard to the necessary size in Photoshop.
{ saving files }
All files should be saved down to
Adobe Illustrator CS 6 or earlier.
new! If you are using CS5 or later and designing in our
Combined Templates, follow the steps below:
1
File > Save As & select file location.
2
In Illustrator Options pop-up box, select “Save
each artboard to a separate file”.
3
Open separate pieces to ensure files are clean
and there aren’t excess elements off the artboard.
4
Repeat with additional colorways & upload
separate files via your My Projects page.
Quick Tip! When using our Combined Templates, any
elements off the artboard will disappear when your files
are saved (such as non-Minted fonts). To avoid this,
slightly overlap these elements onto your artboard when
saving so they are pulled into your separate files, then pull
back off the artboard before uploading!
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When saving, click “save each artboard to
a separate file” to split up the
combined template.
{ files checklist }
Use this consolidated checklist when reviewing your files before submitting
DESIGN
Your design is true to your winning submission (unless otherwise mentioned in
your Special Requests)
No shifting of elements occurs between colorways
Reduced file size as much as possible
LAYERS
All elements are placed on the correct layer
TEXT
Editable text is not stretched or altered
All text is in a text box using the Area Type Tool
COLORS
All colors are in CMYK
Color values are consistent across all accessories
Design has been printed out to confirm text legibility
PHOTOS & IMAGES
All photos and images are embedded using the Links Panel
All textures are a minimum of 300 dpi
Make sure family name is consistent across accessories & with photo used
FOIL
All foil elements are placed in a single clipping mask
Each foil type (Gold, Rose Gold, and Silver) is used at least once among
colorways
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