Our artwork team have assembled the following tips to help you get the best out of our service and answer some of your most frequently occuring questions.
If your text appears too small on the designer preview then you've probably added too much text on one line. You can add line breaks in the text input box which should help to increase the text size.
Also it's worth checking the layout. If you have selected an image and text layout together but dont have an image, just change the layout to a text only one.
Try not to have more than one or two lines under an image on a mug, and keep your lines short, especially on the keyrings, coasters and fridge magnets.
If you want to use a lot of text avoid the less clear fonts and go for a bold and simple font.
On mugs; if you want to put text under a picture avoid 'script' style fonts or if you must use it then go for one short line, or put the text in capitals.
If your image and text is not on the design your own preview when you submit your order then we won't receive your design. We'll never send a blank item so you'll receive an email asking for your design.
It is most likely that our on-line designer doesn't accept the artwork file format you are using. The most compatible formats are JPEG, PNG, SVG, or WebP. It is likely that you will be easily be able to convert from your format to one of these using a 'save as' or 'export' format from the package you are using to generate your design.
We can, however, print from almost all formats so you can submit your artwork by email.
If in doubt use the special printing instructions box on the on-line designer to tell us you will be emailing your design details.
Personalised mugs have the option of being printed 'Full Wrap'. This means we will print your image and text opposite the handle, as far round the mug as the artwork supplied will allow.
However, please remember that a square image will reach the bottom of the mug before it gets even half way around the mug. This will be accentuated if you have text under the image.
To get the best from a full wrap personalised mug try to choose an image that is as wide as possible compared to it's height. If you want to add text try to enter one long line to reach around the mug and take up as little height as possible.
If you want to submit a variety of items with the same design, e.g. the same design on 5 or 6 t-shirts of different styles or sizes, then design one item and add it to your basket. Then simply use the "copy" facility in the basket to make another of this item which can then be adjusted using the "edit" facility in the basket. Be sure to "save" changes on the designer!
If one part of each design is different, but the overall design is very similar e.g. t-shirts for a stag or hen night with a different name on the back of each t-shirt or different shirt colours then this copy/edit facility makes ordering child's play.
We will expand your artwork to fit the available area on the item purchased. Although our artwork team have optimisation tools to help obtain the best print possible, the artwork supplied may not be good enough to produce a good quality print. If we don't feel that a quality print is possible they will send an email asking for alternative artwork.
It is possible to get an idea of the quality of printed artwork by following a simple procedure on your computer before you submit an image. Open the files you are going to send in something like 'windows picture and fax viewer' and zoom in until you think the image is about the size you think the actual print will be.
If you have followed this procedure and you don't like the look of the artwork blown up then you'll probably be disappointed with the printed product.
If your image and your artwork looks smaller than it should or is off center this is possibly because your image has an area of white space surrounding it. Our system will see white space as much a part of the image as the bits we think are important. The result is that our system will include any the white space as part of the image and it will look as if it was smaller than it should be and possibly off center.
Some customers add space surrounding their design intentionally in order to control the size of the print on the item. If you require a smaller print, it is better if you mention in the special instructions box on the on-line designer the actual size in centimeters you'd like the printing.