Artwork Guidelines

Design your own badge or let us do it for you!

You can find out all the information you will need to design your badges on this page. However if you would prefer to leave it to us you can simply upload your logo at the checkout stage and we will create your badge for you to review. Information on the best formats to upload logo in can be found below.

What are the best file types to upload?

The better your logo file the better your printed badges will look. Our recommended file formats are vector based files set to outlines saved as: .PDF; .AI or .EPS files. These file types give us the greatest flexibility to manage your logo size and colours when it comes to print. However we can also accept the following file types: GIF; JPEG; JPG; PNG; TIFF; DOC and BMP. Please note when submitting a bitmap file from this list it is always better to submit a high resolution version of your logo, ideally 300dpi or more.

Design your own badge using a Template File

Download our PDF badge template file with all of our badge sizes and shapes by clicking the link above and importing it in to your design program. When saving/exporting your file to upload please remember to set the file to outlines, where applicable use pantone colours and save it as a .PDF, .AI or .EPS file. When designing your badge please only design one badge using the longest name/title on your list which will help determine the font size for all your badges. This is to ensure that all of your names and job titles fit and do not run off the edge.

Designing on Silver or Gold Badges

Please keep in mind that as we use a CMYK digital printer we cannot print white, therefore any white elements of your logo will print as transparent, showing the base colour of the badge. If white makes up a large or integral element of your logo we would suggest choosing a white badge. You should also note that colours printed on to silver or gold metal badges appear very marginally transparent showing the grain of the metal when viewed very closely.

Setting Bleed to your design

If you would like your design printed to the edge of the badge please extend the design to 3mm beyond the cut line. Otherwise please keep all design elements including text inset 2mm from the cut line.

Colours and Pantone Matching

As we digitally print all of our badges using CYMK inks there is no limit to the number of colours in your design and equally no additional charges.

When supplying artwork as a vector file we can closely match to your preferred Pantone colour [an international standard for colour matching]. Please use a Pantone based palette when creating your file so we can identify each colour or alternatively you can contact us. If the file you submit is a bitmap or raster based file unfortunately we are be unable to alter the colour of design/logo to match a pantone in most cases, however we will ensure the print results look as good as possible! 

Fonts

When using fonts in your design try to keep any main text to 8pt or greater and in strong colours to ensure it is visible when printed.

We hold a very large library of fonts however if your chosen font is obscure or little used you may want to check with us first. If it makes up part of your logo you can always set it to curves/outline or embedded in the file when saving it. Should we have any issues or do not have your font on file we will contact you before we proof your design.

The difference between a bitmap and vector file

A raster or bitmap file is made up of thousands of pixels with the number of pixels determining the resolution [dpi]. Low resolution files may look blocky or rough when you zoom in or when we increase the size of the image for print. High resolution images hold up much better to changes in size and will look much crisper when printed.

A vector file is made of a series of lines and curves based on X and Y co-ordinates. This means when we increase the size of the image the quality and smoothness of the image remains. We can normally also alter the colours within a vector file to optimise your logo for print or to pantone match the colours to your brand colours. For these reasons we prefer working with vector files.