Articles on prepping files for shops, choosing color matches, kerf compensation, embroidery stitch limits, and the rest of the boring-but-important details.
Eight vector conversion services compared on what they publish: hand-drawn or traced, price, turnaround and guarantee. Disclosed: we run one of them.
How to prepare SVG and DXF files for Cricut Design Space and Silhouette Studio: closed shapes, welded text, layers by color and formats by edition.
How to prepare vector files for SAi Flexi: closed paths for vinyl cutting, a named contour for print and cut, outlined text and the formats Flexi opens.
How to set up print-and-cut artwork for Roland VersaWorks: a CutContour spot color for the cut line, vector shapes, bleed, and the file formats the RIP takes.
How to prepare vector files for Vectric VCarve and Aspire CNC toolpaths: import formats, closed vectors for pockets and profiles, joins, duplicates and scale.
How to prepare SVG and PDF files for a Glowforge: strokes for cutting and scoring, fills for engraving, colors for separate steps, and real-size artwork.
How to prepare vector files for LightBurn laser jobs: which formats to import, closed shapes, one color per operation, real-size scale and outlined text.
What an art fee and a setup fee pay for when a print, sign or embroidery shop quotes your job, why they appear, and how a vector logo can avoid the art fee.
Why soft edges, shadows and semi-transparent pixels print as a white halo on DTF, DTG and screen-printed dark garments, and how to set the artwork up instead.
Overprint and knockout decide whether one ink prints on top of another or leaves a gap. When to use each, and the white-overprint mistake that erases artwork.
Every guide on one page, by topic.
Articles on production-correct vector files, sent once a month. No sales emails, no autoresponders.
