The File Resolution Guidelines....

IMPORTANT:  If you will be using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator/EPS format, CorelDraw or Microsoft Publisher, you MUST use the free design templates we have available for download FOR THESE SOFTWARE PROGRAMS/FORMATS in the appropriate "Download Templates" section of our Design Guidelines page. This will ensure the least hassle possible when preparing your designs for plating, which will virtually guarantee quicker turnaround and accurate, sharp print results. These templates are already set in CMYK mode, at the correct bleed design size, margins and resolution. All you need to do is open the template and start desiging. Please make sure you save the template with the same settings originally embedded, but feel free to RENAME each file to your liking. Renaming won't change any settings unless you allow that to happen.

Your final designs should be at 355 DPI resolution or higher. Vector-based programs like Illustrator, CorelDraw, QuarkXpress or Microsoft Publisher don't require specific resolution settings; we can export the print-ready file from these programs at any resolution we choose.

The basic rule to follow is:  If your design software program offers you resolution (dpi) settings, then set them to 355 EXACTLY. We print at 355 dpi, which gives just the right amount of definition and clarity for beautiful offset-press, full-color results.

NOW, if your design software is new to you, and you're not sure HOW to set the resolution, see if you can set the pixel size of your designs to 1050 x 600 for NON-BLEED cards, or 1088 x 638 for bleed cards. This will ensure proper file resolution for standard sized business cards. Keep in mind the text margin requirements at all times during the business card design process.