Large Format Design Guide

Express your creativity in large format!

How to prepare your files for large format printing and cutting?

INTRO

This is our guide for the creation of your large format files.
Our aim is to make your work easier by giving you a fast and effective method of producing PDF files.

Options offered by Abode suite are countless and we also wanted to share with you our tools to automate your exports with the job.options and a spot colours chart to save time.
These elements are easily importable into Adobe products and take only a few minutes to master, even though they may seem complex at first!

Of course, there are many ways to create print files, and we accept all professional files. Please feel free to contact us to discuss it together.

SUMMARY

In a perfect world, print files have the following features:

  1. PDF SCALE 1:1
  2. CMYK
  3. BLEED 10 MM
  4. Ø CUTTING LINES – Ø MARKS – Ø INFORMATION
  5. PROFILE FOGRA 39
  6. 100 dpi RESOLUTION
  7. SHAPES, LOGOS AND TEXTS in VECTOR FORMAT
  8. NAMED COLOUR CUTTING PATTERNS WITH BLEED

FILES TYPE, SCALE AND SIZE

We recommend to use PDF files at scale 1:1.
We are also able to work with following files: AI, EPS, PSD, INDD, JPEG et TIFF.
We cannot print from Word (DOC) ou Powerpoint (PPT) files. The trick is to export into PDF from these programs.

If the size of the project exceeds the maximum working area allowed by our design software (5.78 m for Illustrator), you can work at 1:2, 1:4 or 1:10 scale.
Please remember to mention to scale you have chosen as we print at 1:1 scale by default.

Be careful to adapt the size of the bleed: 10 mm of bleed at 1:10 scale means 100 mm at scale 1, i.e. 10 cm when printed! You therefore need to indicate 1 mm of bleed when exporting if you are working at 1:10 scale.

In Illustrator, select File > New file. Enter the desired width and height. Work with mm. Specify 10 mm bleed on all 4 sides (you can also leave the bleed off when creating the file and manage this setting when saving the ready-to-print PDF). Check the CMYK colour mode and if the pixelation is high.

CMYK COLOUR MODE

For an optimal rendering, the colour mode of your files must be CMYK. If your files contain RGB elements or spot colours (PANTONE or special colours), we will convert them with a standard separation profile to be able to print them. However, the final print output may vary widely from your screen output. If you can, please choose the Fogra39 profile for your CMYK workspace.

In Illustrator, select Edition > Colours. Choose Pre-press for Europe 3 et check all information.
You can always assign another profile later if necessary:

BLEED

To get an optimal output, your files must include a bleed.

The bleed corresponds to an « overflow » of the image around the document. This makes it possible to cut « in the colour » and thus have a margin of error when cropping to size or cutting to shape. This avoids the appearance of a white line at the edge of the cut.

PDF EXPORT SETTINGS

In Illustrator, choose File > Save as… then select Adobe PDF in the drop-down menu.

If you are not familiar with the predefined settings, choose Illustrator by default, then select the Borders and Bleeds menu.

Unless there is a particular need, please make sure to:
– remove all marks and cutting lines
– specify
10 mm bleed on all 4 sides
It may be surprising, but the cutting information is an integral part of the PDF and our automated large format printing and cutting workflow automatically recognises this information.

However, it is sometimes necessary to have cutting lines for installation or application of adhesives, for example. In this case, you should choose an offset of at least 5 mm for these cutting lines.
We will keep you informed of this setting during the study of your project.

JOB.OPTIONS

You simply need to double-click on the JobOption file to install it for all Adobe applications.

If you want to go further, we offer a file of predefined settings « JobOptions », that can be downloaded through the following link: http://www.luxvisual.lu/docs/joboptions.zip

Specifically, these settings incorporate fonts, resample elements with a higher resolution to 150 dpi to optimise file size and convert RGB colours to CMYK in accordance with the Fogra39 standard.

PDF/X-1a

Even though it is common practice to use the PDF/X-1a standard in print file exchanges, we have chosen not to incorporate it in our JobOptions. It can be an additional security to avoid problems related to transparencies, but some editing functions are lost, forcing us to duplicate files: 1 job file for modifications and 1 file for printing are needed, which multiplies storage needs and versioning problems.

Moreover, we always use the latest version of the Adobe PDF Print Engine (APPE), which greatly reduces RIP interpretation problems. You can of course use the PDF/X-1a standard.

SIZE CONTROL

You can control the size of your file in Acrobat Pro.

Here is an example of a file for a Europa 800 roll-up. The final size should be 800 x 2260 mm, incl. 150 mm for the roll-up at the bottom and 10 mm hidden by the hanger at the top.
The working area should therefore be 800 x 2260 mm.
The pdf file must include 10 mm of bleed on all 4 sides, i.e. a format of 820 x 2280 mm.

To check the final format, you need to check the « trim area ». Choose Windows > Tools > Prepress > Output Preview Then Define Page Area > Trim Area.

RESOLUTION

For an optimal output, we recommend a 100 dpi resolution. The minimum native resolution of your file should be no less than:

  • 72 dpi at 1:1 scale for formats larger than 1 m2
  • 36 dpi at 1:1 scale for formats larger than 10 m2

This is the theoretical basis.

Here is an example to understand the resolutions and print sizes.
A picture from an iPhone 7 Plus is 3020 x 4032 px, i.e. 12 176 640 px, i.e. 12 Mpx, and a native resolution of 72 dpi

Here is the calculation to find out the possible print size:

  • At 72 dpi, the width is 3020 / 72 = 42 in = 106 cm
  • At 72 dpi, the height is 4032 / 72 = 56 in = 142 cm

This means that a quality print of 106 x 142 cm can be produced with a picture from an iPhone 7 Plus. Note: we are assuming here that DPI (dot per inch) = PPI (pixel per inch), which is not really correct, even though many software programs confuse these two notions. However, this principle works well in large format.

SHAPES, LOGOS ET TEXTS IN VECTOR FORMAT

In practice, in large format printing, few images have a source (camera or scan) that satisfies the 100 dpi rule at their final format.
If used properly, vector text, logos or any other elements can largely compensate for the low resolution of a background image.
It is imperative that these elements are vector-based: their shape is defined by points and mathematical coordinates. They can be enlarged without loss of quality. If these elements are pixelised, i.e. transformed into pixels, they become simple images.

Vector drawing

Bitmap image

To keep it simple, vector elements have perfect contours regardless of their size!

CUTTING PATTERNS

We can cut Full-Cut, Kiss-Cut, crease, mill and even engrave according to vector patterns.

To be able to print and cut automatically with image identification, we need cutting patterns in the print PDF files.

The outlines of these plots must be « Spot colour ». We also need bleed on these patterns.
In the example below, the bleed is white.

You can easily create spot colours from Illustrator, in the options of the window Shade > New Shade (Window > Shade)

Name your shade CutContour, select Spot Colour and CMYK. Then choose a display colour for your new shade and validate. This choosen colour has no effect on the cutting and is only used to visualise the pattern.

Select your cutting pattern. Apply your new shade to the ouline et grease the outline ideally to 0.10 pt, otherwise to 0.25 pt.

Save your print/cut PDF and check the result in Acrobat.

To do this, open the PDF in Acrobat Pro. Select View > Tools > Prepress > Open

Then Overview of the output.

There are four-colour plates on the one hand and spot colour plates on the other.

It is even possible to add a suffix after the name « CutContour* » to specify your patterns. We offer a colour chart with the most common cuts:

You can download this colour chart from the following link: http://www.luxvisual.lu/docs/CutContours_Library.zip

WHITE INK

We can print with white ink. This innovation is particularly interesting when printing on textured and coloured materials, such as Reboard/Beelite kraft cardboard, fluorescent or gold vinyl, brushed Dibond, and on transparent materials, such as PMMA Plexiglas or transparent films like 3M Ultraclear.

Technically, white ink should be considered a colour on its own in the creation process of your file.

In order to print white, we need to detect the white ink in your file by using a Spot Colour shade called « White » overprinted in the PDF files.

CAUTION: to be able to use white ink as an underlay (below the four-colour process) or as a supporting white (above the four-colour process, essentially for window printing), it is imperative to tick the OVERPRINT option for the objects to be inked (Window > Object Options > Background and/or outline overprinting)

You can easily create spot colours from Illustrator, in the options of the window Shade > New Shade (Window > Shade)

Name your shade White, select Spot Colour and CMYK. Then choose a display colour for your new shade and validate. This choosen colour has no effect on the cutting and is only used to visualise the shape or the pattern.

Select the shape to be inked in white. Apply your new shade to the background and tick the background overprint (in our example).

CAUTION: to be able to use white ink as an underlay (below the four-colour process) or as a supporting white (above the four-colour process, essentially for window printing), it is imperative to tick the OVERPRINT option for the objects to be inked (Window > Object Options > Background and/or outline overprinting)

Save your print/cut PDF and check the result in Acrobat.

To do this, open the PDF in Acrobat Pro. Select View > Tools > Prepress > Open

Then Overview of the output. Tick the box Show Overlay.

On the one hand, there are full-colour plates and, on the other hand, spot-colour plates.

It is even possible to add a suffix after the name « White* » to specify the undercoat « WhiteUnder » or « WhiteOver« .

We offer a colour chart with the most common cuts:

You can download this colour chart from the following link: https://www.luxvisual.lu/docs/LuxVisual_TonsDirects.zip

Quality above all, Made In Luxembourg

We take particular care with the quality of our work, both for printing and installation. The quality of your files and the respect of this guide allow us to produce in the best possible way.

Do you need help with the preparation of your files? Contact us!