Articles on prepping files for shops, choosing color matches, kerf compensation, embroidery stitch limits, and the rest of the boring-but-important details.
The difference between a vector file that prints and one that fails on the router isn't always obvious. Here's what to look for before you cut Human-drawn.
Spot color or process? PMS holds exact brand color across substrates; CMYK fakes thousands with four inks. Choose right before the file hits the press.
Your vector brief sets the ceiling on what you get back: final size, substrate, color spec, deadline. Five things to include — and three to stop sending.
Embroidery vectors set up the digitizer: closed paths, density zones, pull compensation, thread call-outs. We do not stitch — we prep the file that does.
Kerf compensation decides whether your CNC part fits or scraps — inside vs outside cuts, tool width, lead-ins. We bake the offset into every DXF Human-drawn.
Single-line stroke fonts engrave as one clean centerline, not hollow double edges. Why filled letters fail on a laser, and how we redraw them by hand.
Bad source files sink more jobs than hard ones do — screenshots, faxed faxes, raster-in-a-PDF. The five we see most, and how to find a usable original.
Halftone screens turn gradients into printable dots — but wrong angle, lpi, or mesh ratio invites moiré. The math we use to keep prints clean Human-drawn.
Oracal vinyl grades decide if your graphic lasts: 651 permanent, 631 removable, 751 cast for curves. We call out the right SKU on every cut layer Human-drawn.
Vector file formats compared for production: SVG, EPS, AI, PDF and DXF. What sign shops, embroidery, screen print and CNC accept. Guide from VectorWiz.
Articles on production-correct vector files, sent once a month. No sales emails, no autoresponders.
