How to brief a vector designer.
A designer can only redraw what you tell them you need. We have shipped 11,000+ jobs, and the difference between a smooth job and a back-and-forth job is almost always the brief. Here is the five-item list that gets you a usable file every time.
1. The final size you will print at
Not "scalable" — the actual install dimensions. A 36-inch monument sign and a 4-inch sticker have different ideal anchor counts, different stroke weights, and different detail thresholds. We size files at delivery dimensions so they print 1:1.
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2. The substrate and machine
Routing aluminum at 0.080"? Plotting Oracal 651 on a Roland CAMM-1? Embroidering Madeira on twill? Tell us the substrate, the machine, and the operator standard. We adjust kerf, choke, pull-comp, and stitch density accordingly.
3. The color spec
PMS numbers if you have them. Hex values if you do not. "Sort of red" is not a color spec — and we will ask before we draw.
4. What to preserve, what to fix
If the source is a 1992 scan, do you want every kerning quirk preserved (faithful redraw) or do you want it cleaned up (modernized redraw)? Both are valid, but they are different jobs.
5. The deadline that matters
Not "ASAP" — the actual install date. Knowing when the press runs lets us route correctly: standard 24-hour, 12-hour rush, or 3-day Flex.
What to stop sending
Screenshots of business cards. Faxes of faxes. 100-pixel JPEGs of a fax of a logo. If the source is below 600 pixels on the long edge, we will probably decline the job — there is not enough information in the pixels to redraw faithfully.
Tanvir Chowdhury
Runs production operations at VectorWiz. Writes about file briefs, intake, and the production-side details shops learn the hard way.
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