What program to use:
When setting up your own cut lines you must use a vector based program such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. Make sure your design program allows for Pantone or Spot Color selection.
- TIP: This cannot be done in pixel based programs such as Photoshop because it cannot keep the line vector and will embed the line into the artwork, therefore the line will print and the system will not be able to recognize it as a cut line.
Setting up the cut lines:
In order for our system to recognize the cut lines the lines must be a Pantone / Spot color. Make sure to pick a color that is not in your artwork.
- Cut lines cannot contain a fill color, only an outline
- Cut lines should be made at 1pt stroke or less
Cut lines should be (but not necessary) set up on a separate layer than the actual artwork. Do not flatten or embed the cut line into the artwork layer, our system needs to have them separate in order to recognize the cut lines.
- TIP: You can set up the artwork in Photoshop without cut lines, then import the artwork into Illustrator then add in the cut lines.
Bleeds
Our dye cutting machine is top of the line and cuts fairly well, however, sometimes the cuts can be slightly off. We highly recommend adding at least .125" of bleed on your graphic, if no bleed is provided and the cut ends up being slightly off you could end up with unexpected white space on the sides.
Saving your file:
You will need to save your file as a PDF or EPS in order to hold the vector cut lines. When exporting the file you will want to make sure you save the file as "Native" colors so that it does not convert the Pantone / Spot colors into CMYK.