For designers
Artwork Guidelines
What we need to take a job to press without a revision round. None of it is unusual; it is collected here so nothing has to be discovered at proof stage.
Before you start
Ask us for the dieline first. Every job gets one drawn to your product, with the cut lines, crease lines, bleed, safe area and any aperture position marked. Designing onto it costs you nothing and removes the single most common cause of rework — artwork laid out to a size that does not exist.
File requirements
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Format | Press-ready PDF, AI or EPS. PSD or TIFF for raster imagery. |
| Color space | CMYK, or Pantone references for spot colors. Not RGB. |
| Bleed | 3 mm beyond every cut line, including apertures. |
| Safe area | 3 mm inside the cut line for anything that must not be trimmed. |
| Type | Outlined, or fonts supplied. Minimum around 5 pt for legibility. |
| Images | 300 dpi at final printed size, embedded or supplied as links. |
| Line weight | Minimum 0.25 pt printed; 0.4 mm for embossing; 0.3 mm for foil. |
| Dieline layer | Locked, on its own layer, and removed or set to a named spot channel in the output. |
Things that catch designers out on this format
- Nothing that must survive can sit on a crease — foil and heavy ink both crack there
- A window cannot cross into the curved tuck; it creases the film and tears the board
- White does not exist in CMYK. On kraft or a dark board it must be an opaque spot white
- Pale colors over a brown or dark ground need an opaque white base printed first
- The reverse of an emboss is visible, so it will show on a printed interior
- Barcodes need a flat area with quiet zones, away from the curve
Sending files
Attach files up to 12 MB to any form on this site, or email them to info@thepillowboxes.com with a note about the product. For larger files, send a download link. If you would rather have the dieline first, ask for it and we will send one drawn to your product.
What we check on receipt
Color space, bleed, resolution at final size, type outlines, line weights against the chosen process, and whether any element sits somewhere the format will not carry it. Anything we find is raised before the job runs, with a recommendation rather than just a rejection. The longer technical explanation is in our dieline and artwork guide.
Artwork questions
What file format should I send?
A press-ready PDF is safest. AI and EPS are equally fine for vector artwork. JPG and PNG are acceptable as reference only, never as final print artwork on packaging.
How much bleed do you need?
Three millimeters beyond every cut line, including any aperture. Anything that must not be trimmed should sit at least three millimeters inside the cut line.
Do I need to outline the type?
Yes, or supply the font files. A missing font substitutes silently and the first anyone notices is on the printed sheet.
What resolution do images need?
300 dpi at final printed size, in CMYK. An image at 300 dpi scaled up 200 per cent on the page is effectively 150 dpi, which shows at packaging scale.
Can you fix my artwork?
We will flag problems and make small technical corrections — bleed, color space, a missing outline. Redrawing a design is a separate piece of work and we will say so rather than quietly reinterpreting your file.
What if I do not have artwork yet?
Send what you have. We can quote from a description, and knowing what the artwork will do — photography, a single logo, a pale palette — is often enough to specify the board correctly.
Can foil or heavy ink sit on a pillow box crease?
No. Nothing that must survive should sit on a crease, because foil and heavy ink both crack there when the pillow box is folded. Keep logos, foil and solid ink areas clear of the crease lines marked on your dieline.
How should white be set up in pillow box artwork on kraft?
White does not exist in CMYK, so on kraft or a dark board it must be supplied as an opaque spot white. Pale colors over a brown or dark ground also need that opaque white base printed underneath them.
Where should a barcode go on pillow box artwork?
Barcodes need a flat area with clear quiet zones around them, placed away from the curve of the pillow box. A barcode set across the curved face can distort and fail to scan, so plan a flat panel for it.
How do I send pillow box artwork files larger than the upload limit?
Forms on the site accept attachments up to 12 MB. For anything bigger, send a download link with a short note about the product, and we will check the file against the dieline before the job goes to press.
Next step
Send us the file and we will check it
Send the product, the quantity and the date you need it on a shelf. We come back with a written quote, a specification and an honest view of anything in the brief that will not work.