Printing & Branding Methods

Fresh Promotions Artwork Requirements
See the slogan "Your Logo Never Looked Better"? We take a lot of care in printing, engraving or embroidering your logo or message on our industry leading range of Promotional Products. To brand your promotional products properly we have to have the correct form of electronic art.

The preferred file type for most promotional products branding is an .eps file. These files allow us to accurately manipulate logos and the elements which they are comprised of to resize without any loss of quality, detail or accuracy, ensuring the best possible reproduction of your logo on your choice of promotional products. The result is the best possible print job for your promotional products order.

Vectorised Artwork
(.eps, .ai or CorelDRAW files)
These are ideal files for the correct printing and reproduction of your logo on promotional products. We do what we can to reillustrate logos when we receive basic files. But it is a time consuming task, and reillustrating your logo costs from $35 to $250 to reillustrate depending on its complexity. The bonus is that we will then give you a copy of the file you've paid for which will be useful if you ever want to do any printing, signage or design work with your logo, or any other branding other than your promotional products order.

JPEG(.jpg) Files
jpg files are okay for embroidery on promotional products such as hats or promotional caps, but they have to be reillustrated for printing and engraving of metallic promotional products. A high res .jpg file can also be used for printing digital or offset printing jobs, though it is not a preferred file type for most logo reproduction on promotional products.

PDF Files
.pdf files are becoming the industry standard for offset and digital printing. They have only limited use for printing physical merchandise. A .pdf file is fine for embroidery but we have to reillustrate a .pdf logo if printing or engraving is required.

Doc Files and Text Files
Microsoft files can be worked with, but they are the least desirable file. If it's simple we may be able to work with it. A complex logo will need to be reillustrated to an .eps file.

One Time Artwork and Set-Up Fee
We really hate charging the set-up fee. It's not a profit centre for us because we only pass on the set-up cost of $75 per colour. For laser engraving and embroidery there is a single $75 charge.

Choosing the right Colour Printing
One of the most commonly made errors in the supply of promotional products is to print a logo on a background colour which does not bring out the logo or design you have chosen. Commonly a dark colour printed on a dark background gives a poor result. Another issue which often arises is the problem of a seemingly light colour merging with the colour which is being printed. For instance, you may be printing a dark gray on green. This sounds like an effective colour combination however it is quite possible that the gray will be lost on the green background.

This issue is particularly common when printing promotional garments and other promotional items. As there is such a wide range of colours and styles of garments available you must be very careful in choosing both the colour of your logo and the position in which it will appear on the garment. It is always advisable when printing or embroidering promotional garments to discuss the project in advance with your printer or promotional garments supplier whose experience with the garment and the print or embroidery process will likely provide you with useful information and ensure you are happy with the final promotional products order.

When it comes to pad printing and laser engraving the issue of making your branding standout is more clear-cut. With laser engraving it is generally possible to achieve a contrast finish from the background colour purely by the process of the engraving which can anneal or modify the surface of the material in question. Where a colour already exists on the promotional item you have chosen the laser engraving process can reduce the colour creating a useful contrast which will highlight the added branding.

Always make sure when you choose an item that it will compliment your logo and company message. If you are unsure about how your logo or branding will appear feel free to ask us here at Fresh Promotions the best way possible to present your brand to your public and clients.

Debossing The depression of an image into a material's surface so causing the image to sit below the product surface is a deboss.

Embossing
We Impress an image in relief to achieve a raised surface.

Hot Stamping
Your design or logo is set on a metal relief die or plate which is heated and pressed onto the surface of the promotional item to achieve a recessed branding finish similar to debossing.

Etching
Using this branding process your promotional item is skinned with a protective, acid proof coating to create your logo artwork. The bare surface of the promotional product is then exposed to an acidic chemical. The acid attacks the exposed promotional product surface and leaves the image etched onto the surface. This is traditionally the system used for branding glass promotional items such as water jugs and wine glasses with company logos.

Laser or Foil Stamping
Using this system of branding a metallic or colored foil full colour digital print can be applied to leather, vinyl or paper promotional product surfaces. This system is expensive but allows tones of colour and complex logos to be reproduced exactly.

Die-casting of
A 3 dimensional die is cut from a block of steel. Molten metal or plastic is injected into the die mold cavity. This system of manufacture is ideal for high end custom molded corporate gift ideas.

Die-striking
Production of coins, medallions and stamped promotional badges and other flat metal promotional products is achieved by striking a blank metal sheet with a hammer or stamp. The pattern on the die is transferred to the meal surface.

Colorfilling
This system involves screen printing of your logo or image then debossing it onto a surface.

Pad Printing
A soft pad surface is covered with an appropriate fast drying and tough ink. The plate is wiped clean by a squeegee mechanism, leaving ink behind only on the recessed areas of the pads. A silicone pad is then pressed against the pad printing plate, drawing the ink out of the pad recess and pressing it directly onto the promotional product.

4-color Processing
All color images can be separated into 4 different color values using filters and screens (usually digital). This is called a CMYK colour breakdown. The result in terms of your branding is a color separation of 4 images, each image comprised of one of the four colours (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black) These four colors can be combined to create thousands of colors covering all combinations shown on PMS charts.

Sublimation of
Sublimation of promotional products involves a dye transfer system where the image is permanently embedded into the texture of the promotional material surface. Primarily these products are used for promotional mouse pads, mugs, T-shirts, caps, medals, tokens and coins.

Decal Printing
Artwork is produced on a vinyl decal and applied to the promotional products using a heat transfer process.

Offset Printing
Like traditional printing systems used to print high volume paper outputs this system of printing promotional products involves the transfer of ink from a metal printing plate to a rubber-covered cylinder and is generally used on more complex artwork of high volume production runs of branded items.