Decatur Screenprint

All About Artwork
Need artwork assistance? We're glad to help! Our talented designers will work with you from start to finish. Whether drawing your idea from scratch or just tweaking an existing logo, we can help you achieve the best result for your needs. Our design rate is $45/hr and you can always expect a rough estimate before we ever touch your art.

Much of the artwork we receive is not "print-ready" - a fully vectorized image which loses no quality when resized. In fact, it's safe to say that we rarely receive proper artwork. If you think your art is print-ready and needs no further assistance (besides resizing or proof creation, which are both complimentary services) your art must be submitted to us in one of the following formats:

.pdf, .ai, or .eps

If it turns out that your art is interpreted as NOT print -ready, we'll let you know. Again, 90% of the art we receive has to be edited by us in some fashion, which can take anywhere from ten minutes to four or five hours. We really REALLY love it when folks submit art that is print-ready! So if you have a designer friend who owes you a favor, hit 'em up! Here are a few helpful tips to avoid additional artwork fees with us:

- Maximum amount of colors to be printed is four per print side (i.e.- front of tee can be up to 4, back of tee can be up to 4)
- all colors must be set to a different layer, group, or compound shape/path
- all colors must be set to the specific pantone color to be printed (if no exact PMS number, just the color listed is fine)
- all elements in the image should have opacity set to 100%. If not, your art will print as halftone dots (color gradients will also be interpreted as halftone gradients when printed)
- artwork must not have external linked image files
- ALL text on the image must be converted into curves

The following file formats are NOT acceptable, ever. (Ever.)

Word Document (.doc, .docx), Power Point document (.ppt, .pps), Publisher (.pub), Rich text format (.rtf), Open Office documents (.odt), GIFF (.gif)

Though not ideal, the following file formats ARE accepted (with additional artwork fees to be expected).

Photoshop (.psd) files:
-image must be at print size at a resolution of no less than 300dpi
-files must be color separated into four layers or less
-each specific layer should be named by the ink color to be printed

JPEG and TIFF files:
-image must be a high resolution file, no less than 5" and 300dpi.
- expect definite artwork fees for vectorizing and color separating.

*Note regarding text in designs: in order for artwork fees to be waived, ALL text must be made into vector shapes to prevent missing fonts. If this is not possible, please provide the name of the font along with a source to acquire it (free fonts only!), otherwise we will substitute a close second in-house font.

*Note concerning Clipart/Stock art: Clip art and Stock art may be accepted but are not encouraged. Decatur Screenprint does not posess a library of clipart or stock images. Artwork fees will not be waived for the inclusion of clipart or stock art.

Prior to printing, we provide all clients with an electronic proof for final approval. Any changes in art placement, ink colors, or last minute artwork additions will be for review here. Once proof is approved by you, we take the art to press!

Getting your Artwork to Us
Artwork can be e-mailed to us at info@decaturscreenprint.com.  If it is larger than 10MB, please contact us for access to our easy-to-use file upload system.