McEver Signs and Graphics

File Submittal Guidelines for Cut Vinyl Spot Color Signs, Posters and Banners

We accept many types of design files for use in cut-vinyl sign, posters, banner and decal production. We accept files from both Macintosh and IBM-compatible computers, either on 3 -1/2" diskettes, CD's disks, or via e-mail or our FTP site.

Vector Files For Vinyl Cutting

We accept the following vector file formats:

• AI Adobe Illustrator through CS (11.0)
• CorelDraw X13 and older
• Flexi Ver 8 and older
• HPGL Hewlett Packard Graphics Language (Plot Files)
• EPS Encapsulated Postscript (true vector files only)
• DXF Data Exchange Format (Auto CAD) when all objects are closed

If possible, please use the AI (Adobe Illustrator) version 11.0 or earlier file format, down to Adobe Illustrator version 3.0 when bringing us your artwork as a vector file. PDF files may sometimes be used for vinyl cutting.

All customer files for vinyl cutting will be evaluated as to suitability for vinyl cutting and additional charges will be invoiced if rework is required for vinyl cutting. To avoid these charges, see below.

All fonts must be supplied or text must be converted to curves before exporting. Some programs will use the term "paths" or "outlines" in place of curves .

All vector files must be single layer only and only contain the colors to be cut. We can not cut files that have multiple vector layers without revising your artwork. This means that all objects of a given color must be welded together, either by you or by us. If you use white to cover black, for example, and we are not cutting a white layer, you'll need to compound the two colors to make the "true" black outline. Shapes "hidden" under other objects will still cut vinyl, often with strange results! Gradations can not be imported for vinyl cutting as vinyl is cut as a solid shape. Please convert them to solid, single color objects when you bring us your artwork on disk.

EPS is a very popular format and usually work well. However, many programs create EPS files in slightly unique formats; our ability to import your files is not as certain as it is with the Adobe Illustrator format. For example, we are normally unable to use Postscript files created by QuarkXpress or Adobe Pagemaker for vinyl as they do not convert type to outlines.

DXF and HPGL are Computer Aided Drafting formats that sometimes import well. Still, these file formats are not infinitely scaleable as are EPS and AI files, objects often are created in sections (not closed), and these two formats do not support color information.

Encapsulated Postscript is a well defined standard for printing and file exchange. Adobe Illustrator is an even better defined and adhered to subset of EPS. AI and EPS files can be either vector, bitmap or vector and bitmap together in one file. We can accept only vector AI and EPS files for direct vinyl cutting. Please be certain to exclude any bitmaps in the Adobe Illustrator or Encapsulated Postscript files that you bring us. Adobe Photoshop, for example, can save a bitmap as an EPS file... but it's still a bitmap and requires tracing and smoothing, incurring additional charges.

Bitmap Files For Vinyl Cutting

Bitmap conversion charges will apply if you provide us with bitmap files. This charge is for the time involved converting (tracing and smoothing) a scanned image or a bitmap file into a vector file that we use to make your sign. We accept the following Bitmap file formats for vector conversion:

• BMP Windows Bitmap File
• PCX PC Paintbrush
• TIF Tagged Image Format (TIFF)
• GIF Graphics Interchange Format
• JPG Compressed Bitmap
• EPS Encapsulated Postscript (from Photoshop)

We recommend that all bitmap files for vinyl cutting be saved as 1-bit black and white line art at as high a resolution as possible (this minimizes the cleanup of the"jaggies" when we convert the bitmap to vectors). Continuous-tone (color or grayscale) images are very difficult to separate into objects for cutting vinyl and take a lot of time to prepare for vinyl cutting (resulting in more cost to you). If your bitmap layout has multiple solid colors, please separate the image and save each color as a separate black and white file. Be sure to let us know which files are to be cut in which colors.

Bitmap files work well for many simple logos. They do not work well for complex multi-colored logos and they are not suitable for text. Please use a vector file format (above) if you need to provide us with text or complex logos.

Macintosh, IBM-Compatible Files

All of the information above regarding bitmap and vector files applies equally to both PC and Macintosh files. We can read Macintosh- formatted high density floppy diskette files, and can read single or double density diskettes as well. Stuffit files can also be expanded and read (see note below).

File Naming

Please name your files with a name unique to your company. Instead of just Logo or Logo.eps, please consider naming your file with your company name so we can keep track of your graphics better. It's best to use alphanumeric (A-Z, 0-9) characters in the file name; spaces are o.k., more than eight characters are fine.

E-Mailing Files, File Compression

Files (typically up to 6 Megabytes) may be sent to our us via e-mail at graphics@mceversigns.com Larger files should be sent through our ftp site. Windows files should be compressed with WinZip or other Zip software. Macintosh files should be compressed with Stuffit. Please let us know (in your cover note) the compression format and actual file format you've used, and please fax us a copy of the layout and color specifications.

Proofing

Please provide us with a printed copy of the file that you give to us for vinyl cutting. Your print should show the colors to be cut and specifiy the colors themselves (subject to available vinyl colors). We will proof your project via fax or hard copy before we cut vinyl.

If you have any questions please call us at 706-216-0990