Utilizing same-day sticker printing can be a great way to get high-quality stickers quickly. And with most printing companies in LA, you can get them printed fairly cheaply. However, having a professional printing company print your stickers doesn’t always ensure your stickers will come out perfectly. And if you’re ordering same-day, then there’s less time to fix any errors in your file’s formatting or design. If you want to make sure your stickers print correctly the first time, follow these formatting guidelines.
Use CMYK instead of RGB
RGB color format looks great on screens, which is exactly what it was designed to do. However, printers use four color filters to print, not three. So, while your phone or computer will filter colors through the red, green, and blue spectrums, printers filter colors through the cyan, yellow, magenta, and black spectrums. If you have an image formatted in RGB, the printer will still be filtering it through CMYK, which can cause a distortion of colors.
If you’re printing a logo or piece of digital art for your sticker, double-check that the file you send to the printer is formatted in CMYK. Because most logos are designed for websites and other screen-based needs, you will most likely need to contact your graphic designer and ask them for a reformatted file. Don’t be worried if the image looks a little distorted on your screen when you preview it; this is because your screen is still filtering through RGB. That distortion is similar to what your sticker would look like if you printed it with an RGB formatted file.
Use Vector Files Where Possible for Same-Day Sticker Printing
JPG or PNG files work great for a variety of uses and get the job done for most business needs. However, scalable vector files (SVG) are more flexible. They also retain the quality of your logo or artwork better than other file types. When you scale an image up or down, JPG and PNG files will distort the pixels that make up the image. This causes it to get blurry or sometimes even skewed. Vector file types, however, maintain pixel accuracy. They keep your image looking crisp and clear no matter what size it is.
Most logo files are pre-formatted as vector files because they need to fit a variety of online spaces. However, a lot of designers will also make different sized PNG or JPG files for each need. Before sending your logo or artwork to a printer, make sure to double-check the file format. If it’s not an SVG, ask your designer to reformat it so the quality remains the same no matter what size of sticker you’re printing.
Getting stickers printed same-day in the LA area can be quick and affordable. However, sending your logo or artwork over without double-checking the file’s format can result in skewed and off-colored stickers. To make sure your stickers print in the best quality possible, always format your files to SVG and use CMYK color filters.
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