Artwork Guidelines for Print-Ready Signage

Clean, correctly prepared files are the difference between a sharp, on-brand sign and a costly reprint. This guide walks through how to set up artwork the right way — from choosing vector over raster to matching your exact brand colors.

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Why File Setup Matters

The quality of your finished sign starts long before it reaches production — it starts with your file. Artwork that follows a few basic standards prints exactly as you designed it, moves through production faster, and avoids the delays and reprints that come from fixing problems after the fact.

Getting your setup right delivers four things:

Vector vs. Raster — Start Here

Almost every artwork question comes back to one distinction: is your file vector or raster? Understanding the difference tells you what will scale cleanly to sign size and what won’t.

Vector

Built from mathematical paths — points, lines, and curves.

Raster

Built from a fixed grid of pixels.

How to tell what you have

Open the file in Adobe Illustrator and click the artwork. If you can select individual paths, shapes, and anchor points, it’s vector. If you see a single box around the whole image (often with an X through it), it’s a raster image — even if it’s saved as a PDF or EPS. Saving a JPG as an EPS does not make it a vector file.

Resolution & Viewing Distance

There’s a common myth that every print file needs to be 300 DPI. That’s the standard for small items viewed up close — business cards, brochures — but signage is different. The resolution you need scales with how far away the sign will be viewed.

The reason is simple: the farther the viewer, the less fine detail the human eye can resolve. A billboard read from across a highway looks perfectly sharp at a fraction of the resolution a printed page would demand — and forcing 300 DPI onto a large banner just creates an enormous file that prints no better.

Sign Type	Typical Viewing Distance	Recommended Resolution*
Close-up displays counter signs, small POP	1–3 ft	150–300 DPI
Indoor & retail signage window graphics, wall signs	3–8 ft	100–150 DPI
Banners & storefront signs	10–20 ft	100–150 DPI
ACM / building & facade signs	20–50 ft	45–100 DPI
Billboards & large exterior	50 ft+	20–50 DPI

*Resolution measured at final print size. These are practical guidelines — when in doubt, send us the file and the intended sign dimensions, and we’ll confirm it will hold up.

Want to work out how large your sign — and its lettering — needs to be for a given viewing distance? See our Distance Visibility guide.

Accepted File Types

We accept a range of formats. For the cleanest, most predictable results, vector is always preferred.

Preferred (vector)

.AI, .EPS, and print-ready .PDF — with all fonts outlined and layers flattened. These formats are built around the software used in sign production and carry color information reliably, which makes them the safest choice.

Accepted (raster)

.TIFF, .PNG, .JPG, and .PSD — acceptable when supplied at the correct resolution for the final sign size (see the table above). TIFF and PNG preserve detail better than compressed JPGs.

Not accepted

We can’t print from Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, screenshots, or images pulled from a website. Web images are typically low resolution (72 DPI) and won’t hold up when enlarged to sign size.

Color: CMYK & Pantone

Color is one of the most common causes of a reprint, and nearly all of it is avoidable with the right setup.

Work in CMYK, not RGB

RGB is a screen color model — it produces vivid colors on a monitor that printing can’t always reproduce. Print uses CMYK. If you submit an RGB file, it will be converted to CMYK for production, and some colors (especially bright blues, greens, and oranges) can shift noticeably in the process. Building in CMYK from the start keeps what you see closer to what you get.

Use Pantone for exact brand colors

When a color has to match precisely — a brand blue, a logo mark — specify it as a Pantone (PMS) color rather than relying on a CMYK mix. Pantone references a physical, pre-mixed ink standard, so it reproduces consistently every run. Include any Pantone values in your file’s swatches and note them when you send your artwork.

Tip: if brand-color accuracy is critical, tell us your Pantone numbers up front. It’s the single most reliable way to guarantee the color you expect.

File Setup Checklist

Before you export, make sure your file covers the essentials:

Outline or embed all fonts. If we don't have your exact typeface installed, live text can substitute or reflow and change your layout. Outlining locks the lettering as artwork. (Keep a separate copy with editable text for future changes.)
Add bleed. Extend your background roughly 0.125"–0.25" past the final cut line so no unprinted edges appear if the cut shifts slightly.
Respect the safe area. Keep important text and logos at least 0.5" inside the edges so nothing critical sits too close to the trim.
Design at scale for large work. Build oversized files at a reduced ratio and set resolution to match the viewing distance.
Flatten transparency and layers. This prevents design shifts and unexpected results during output.
Set color to CMYK (with Pantone specified where exact matching matters).

Common Issues to Avoid

Small mistakes in a file lead to big problems on the production floor. These are the ones we see most often:

Watch out for

Do this instead

Before You Submit

A quick final pass catches most issues:

Is your logo and text vector (or, if raster, high enough resolution for the sign size)?
Are all fonts outlined or embedded?
Is the file in CMYK, with Pantone colors specified where needed?
Is there bleed, and are critical elements inside the safe area?
Are layers and transparency flattened?
Does the file size match the final sign dimensions (or a clean scale ratio)?

How We Handle Your Files

Every file submitted to our NYC facility is checked for print-readiness before it goes into production. If something’s off — a low-resolution image, a missing font, a color-mode issue — we’ll flag it and let you know how to fix it. If you’d rather we handle it, we can prepare or rebuild your artwork so it’s production-ready.

For printed graphics on rigid and flexible substrates, we produce with a vinyl print-and-apply process, giving you sharp, durable color across the full range of sign materials.

Not sure your file is set up correctly? Send it over with your project details — we’ll review it and tell you exactly where you stand before anything is printed.

Ready to bring your artwork to life?

Send us your files and project details. We’ll check everything for print-readiness and get you a quote — no surprises on press day.