Artwork guidelines

You may not need to send anything

Most orders are typed, not uploaded. Choose a product, pick a design option and type the name — the personalizer sets it in one of our faces, fits it to that product's imprint area and shows you the result on the glass. If that is your order, everything below is for someone else.

If you have a logo or your own art

Vector, every time. Send .ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg. Vector art has no resolution to run out of, which matters because the same mark may go on a shot glass and a two-gallon dispenser.

Convert type to outlines before you send it, or send the font file with the art. A PDF that references a font we do not have will substitute one, and the substitution is usually close enough that nobody notices until the proof.

Raster only if there is no vector. A PNG, TIFF or JPEG needs to be at least 300 dpi at the size it will print — not 300 dpi at some other size. A 2" imprint means 600 pixels across, minimum. Line art and one-color marks do better still at 1200 dpi. A logo lifted off a website is almost never usable; if that is all you have, say so and we will look at redrawing it.

Color, and what a color costs

Each color in your art is a separate screen and a separate pass on press, so the count is a price, not a preference. The finishes are satin etch, single-color ink and metallic ink, and the choice sits on every product page next to the price.

Satin etch is our signature frosted finish and it is inherently one "color" — the frost itself. It has no ink and cannot carry two tones, so art built on color separation has to be simplified for it.

Gradients, drop shadows, glows and photographs do not print here. Screen and pad printing lay down solid ink; there is no halftone fine enough to fake a gradient at this size that will not look like a rash. Send flat, solid shapes. If your logo only exists with a gradient, we will propose a flat version on the proof.

Spot colors are matched as closely as the ink system allows. Glass is not paper and most of our blanks are clear, so ink sits over whatever is behind the glass — a light color on clear glass reads very differently from the same swatch on a screen. Tell us the PMS number if you have one.

Size, and the thing that surprises people

Every product page lists its imprint area in inches. Your art is fitted inside that box, centered, aspect preserved — never stretched. That is often smaller than people picture: a common imprint here is about 2" wide and 1.5" tall, and a logo with a tagline under it will put that tagline at a couple of millimetres.

Fine hairlines, tiny reversed-out text and delicate serifs are where custom decoration goes wrong. Whether a given stroke holds depends on the piece, the process and the mesh — it is not something we can give you a number for in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. What we do instead is flag it on your proof, with the alternative already drawn.

Glass is curved. Art is warped to the cylinder, which is invisible on a gentle taper and very visible on a wide mark near the base. The proof shows the warp as it will actually print.

Artwork you do not own

We cannot decorate a trademark, a logo, a team mark or a licensed character without permission from whoever owns it. If it is your own company's mark, or a club or organization you are ordering for, that is all we need to hear.

The proof is the agreement

Every custom order gets an art proof by email before anything is made, and nothing reaches the press until you approve it. Read it for spelling first — a name is the one error we cannot catch for you, and satin etch does not come off.

Sending files

Email them to hello@flintandamber.com with your order number, or start the order and reply to the proof. Anything over about 20 MB is happier as a shared link than an attachment. Lead times are unaffected by sending art — the proof still comes back within one business day.