Artwork and Templates

Do you offer design services?


Can you reproduce something I've had printed previously?

Yes, providing the work in question is not subject to copyright, or the copyright that relates to it is yours, or you have permission to use it. At the simplest level, we can scan your existing print, but this produces a far inferior result to having the design reproduced by hand. We are happy to advise on the reproduction cost, without obligation, so you can choose the best option for your needs.

How do I provide artwork for a design that incorporates foil?

Designing with foil elements is not difficult but it does need attention to the following points. If you are in any doubt, please give us a call on 01492 818515 before you start designing so we can guide you and avoid unnecessary work on your part.

If you are preparing a single-sided design

For single-sided designs, please supply a two-page PDF:

    • Page 1 is your CMYK artwork

    • Page 2 is the foil artwork.

If you are preparing a double-sided design

Double-sided designs require a four-page PDF:

  • Page 1 is the CMYK front of the artwork

  • Page 2 is the CMYK back of the artwork

  • Page 3 is the foil artwork for the front

  • Page 4 is blank.

For the best results

    • Foil artwork should contain solid black shapes in the exact position where the foil is required, ideally in vector form for the best results.

    • Foil artwork must be 100% black with zero cyan, magenta or yellow.

    • Foil has a registration tolerances of approximately ±0.5 mm. It is not therefore recommended that small text or thin lines are foiled as perfect register cannot be guaranteed. Text should be 10pt or larger and lines should be at least 1pt thickness to minimise the risk of misregistration.

Creating artwork

Creating successful artwork is the key to achieving a perfect print job. While we always check files that are sent to us for printing, we may not spot subtle errors or even be able to tell if something is wrong – for example, if a font is not embedded and your software substitutes a different one in the PDF, we would not be able to tell and the finished print job would look different from your expectations. Please use this checklist below to make sure your file is ready for printing.

Ensure double-sided designs back up correctly

It can be hard to tell just by looking on-screen whether a double-sided job will print correctly. This is especially true for designs which are folded, as the example here shows.

It is always wise to print your PDF on your own printer, double-sided if you can, but if not on separate sheets of paper, then hold them up to the light to check the backing-up works as it should. If you have to rotate either sheet of paper to make the layout work properly, then you must re-create your PDF before sending it to us.

As mentioned above, while we will do our best to spot mistakes such as these, once your order has moved from pre-press to production, it will be very costly to put things right.

Template library

Envelope templates

C4 envelopes (229mm × 324mm) (accepts unfolded A4 paper)

C5 envelopes (229mm × 162mm) (accepts A4 paper folded in half)

DL envelopes (220mm × 110mm) (accepts A4 paper folded into thirds)

Folded leaflet templates

Flat size A5 (148.5mm × 210mm)

Flat size A4 (210mm × 297mm)

Flat size A3 (297mm × 420mm)

Flat size A2 (420mm × 594mm)

Other sizes

Sheet label templates

Table talker templates

Tent card templates