Artwork Guidelines
Travis and the whole team at RIOT always deliver. As a company, we throw a lot at them and no matter what, they bring what we ask for to the table. It could be the most intricate print or a simple 1 color print – doesn’t matter, they kill it. And now that they have ability to do embroidery, it just opens up so many more doors for us. Nothing but love for the RIOT crew!
Prepare Your Art
All files must be at least 300 ppi or Vector Format. If your file is not 300 ppi, you cannot just increase the resolution of the file. This is called “upsampling” and will result in a blurry image. If you are creating your file in Adobe Illustrator or another Vector-based software, just size your image to the size you want it to print.
Please Note: 3 or more color changes is no longer considered the same design!
Half Tones: Please allow us to halftone the images for you. If we do not control the halftones, we cannot guarantee the quality of the print. We do understand that some designs are complex and will require separation fees, as a client you may be inclined to try to separate or halftone the image yourself to try to keep your cost as low as possible. Unfortunately this does not work. Our computers in the art department are calibrated to set the halftones specifically for the films and screens that we use for printing. Often times if you try to separate or halftone the image yourself it may cause more art charges than you would have originally incurred.
Accepted File Types
We accept the following File Types:
- Illustrator (.AI)
- Vector (.EPS)
- Photoshop (.PSD)
- JPEG
- TIFF
We prefer .AI or .EPS files first because Vector images can be scaled without affecting quality. We prefer .PSD or .PDF second & .JPG or .TIFF last.
Size Your Design
Your design should be sized to the size it should be printed. If you want your print to be 10″ wide, please be sure the actual design within the file is 10″ wide, not just the background of your design file.
Convert Your Text to Outlines
If you are creating your file in Adobe Illustrator, you will need to choose “Create Outlines” on all your text. This allows us to open the file without requiring the font.
Printed/Sewn In Tag Information
It is required by the US Government that the following information be included in all garments:
- Size
- % of Material
- Country of Origin (for the garment, not your brand)
- Care Instructions
These are non-negotiable. We cannot list “Printed in the US” or “Processed in the US” instead of listing what country the shirt is manufactured in, it *must* have the country information on the garment. If you are unaware of the information needed for the shirts you are ordering, please leave your tag files editable and add place holders for the information. When you submit your artwork, please submit the editable tag file (PSD or AI) as well as the fonts used to create the tag. The fonts are very important as we cannot edit fonts we don’t have.
To find out more about these rules, please visit this resource called: Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts
Picking Your Colors
We provide a standard pallet of colors (21 Basic colors) (*UPDATED 05/28/20) where there there is no charge of PMS Matching.
We also offer Pantone® Color matching for specific colors. Each PMS color is $35 under 500 shirts and $90 over 500 shirts. We use the Pantone® Solid Coated color book for our PMS codes. We do match Uncoated colors but do not guarantee them as all screen printing ink is slightly satin in gloss. Uncoated colors are matte and have no gloss at all. Adobe programs come out of the box with the Pantone® Solid Coated library in both Photoshop and Illustrator.
For the most part your computer monitor will provide an accurate interpretation of PMS colors but no monitors are the same. The best way to do this, and the most accurate way, is to purchase a Pantone Plus Series Solid Coated Formula Guide. This can be purchased as part of the set (Coated and Uncoated) through Amazon for $133+ shipping. The reason why it’s best to buy the book, once again, is the Pantone® guide on your version of photoshop is still using your color calibration, and will not necessarily be accurate.
Max Imprints
Please note that not all shirts will be sewn exactly the same; these dimensions are to be used for reference as a “safe” zone to avoid printing on any seams or edges. Be sure to check the specific product page for “Size Specs” specific to that garment. NOTE: Any print that goes over a seam can result in imperfections in the print. (Which can be very cool-looking, if you’re into that.) Our Max imprint area on any garment is 15″x17″ which is pretty big. Grab a ruler and check it out.