Guide to Uploading files

This guide is written based on Adobe Illustrator but all formats and instructions are the same for other programs. If you are using Photoshop, click here.

1. Open Document

Open your document in Adobe Illustrator. This could be a .pdf, .eps or .ai (illustrator) document.

2. Missing Profile

If you get a ''Missing profile'' warning, click on ''Leave as is (don't color manage)'', then ''OK''.

3. Set the size of the document

The bleed area is included in the total area of the product.
For example, the final size of business cards on Optimalprint is 90x55 mm, and the document that will need to be uploaded should be 98x63 mm (4 mm added to each side).


To add the 4 mm bleed on each side:

Press ''File'' and then ''Document Setup''.
This will give you dialogue box. Here you enter the size for document. Enter 98 mm for width and 63 mm for height. If you want a vertical card, enter 63 mm for width and 98 mm for height.
Press ''OK''



The following sizes apply for the different product sizes - However, note the following:
a. Files for folded products are uploaded with the format when unfolded; e.g. an A5 folded into A6 is uploaded as an A5.
b. Do not add bleed on envelopes.
c. 2-sided products are uploaded as 2 separate files

Product	File size with bleed	Printed product size (bleeds are now removed)
Business Cards	98 x 63 mm	90 x 55 mm
A6	156 x 113 mm	148 x 105 mm
A5	156 x 218 mm	148 x 210 mm
A4	218 x 305 mm	210 x 297 mm
A3	305 x 428 mm	297 x 420 mm
E65 Envelopes	220 x 110 mm	220 x 110 mm
C6 Envelopes	162 x 114 mm	162 x 114 mm
C5 Envelopes	229 x 162 mm	229 x 162 mm
C4 Envelopes	324 x 229 mm	324 x 229 mm
EC4 Envelopes	229 x 312 mm	229 x 312 mm

4. Bleed

Make sure all elements close to the border of your design go across the border and into the 4mm bleed area. If your document has a background color, make sure the color covers the entire page/bleed area. If you have a frame inside your card, make sure this is at least 3mm inside the product area, i.e. at least 7mm from the borders of the design file.

5. Color

We only print CMYK colors, and you must convert all colors to CMYK if your file contains Pantone or other color codes. If an element contains a Pantone color, press the CMYK button in the ''Color'' window, shown on the picture by the orange circle.

6. Outline your fonts

If your document contains text, please outline the text:
Select all text elements, press ''Type'' and ''Create Outlines''.

7. Saving the file as PDF

Press ''File'', then ''Save As''.


Press ''Save''. This will give you a dialogue window with settings for the PDF-file.


Set ''Standard'' to ''PDF/X-1a:2003'' and ''Compability'' to ''Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3)

Press ''Compression'' in the left menu.


In ''Compression'', set everything to ''Do Not Downsample'', Compression to ''Automatic (JPEG)'' and ''Image quality'' and ''CCITT Group 4'' for ''Monochrome Bitmap Images''

Press ''Marks and Bleeds'' in the left menu.


Uncheck everything. Bleeds should be 0 mm, since the Bleed is included in the file already

Press ''Output'' in the left menu


For Color, set ''Color Conversion'' to ''Convert to Destination (Preserve Numbers)''
Set destination to ''U.S Web Coated (SWOP) v2''. In some versions of Illustrator this is displayed as “Working CMYK -U.S Web coated (SWOP)v2”, if this applies to your version of the program, please chose this option instead.
For PDF/X set ''Output Intent Profile Name'' to ''U.S Web Coated (SWOP v2)''. In some versions of Illustrator this is displayed as “Working CMYK -U.S Web coated (SWOP)v2”,  if this applies to your version of the program, please chose this option instead.

Press ''Save PDF''.

You are done and the file is ready for upload.

Guide to Uploading files

This guide is written based on Adobe Photoshop but all formats and instructions are the same for other programs. If you are using Adobe Illustrator, click here.

1. Open Document

Open your document in Adobe Photoshop. This could be a .Photoshop PDF, .Photoshop EPS or .PSD (Photosop) document.

2. Missing Profile

If you get a ''Missing profile'' warning, click on ''Leave as is (don't color manage)'', then ''OK''.

3. Set the size of the document

The bleed area is included in the total area of the product.
For example, the final size of business cards on Optimalprint is 90x55 mm, and the document that will need to be uploaded should be 98x63 mm (4 mm added to each side).


To add the 4 mm bleed on each side:

Press ''Image'' and then ''Canvas Size''.
This will give you dialogue box. Here you enter the size for document. Enter 98 mm for width and 63 mm for height. If you want a vertical card, enter 63 mm for width and 98 mm for height.
Press ''OK''



The following sizes apply for the different product sizes - However, note the following:
a. Files for folded products are uploaded with the format when unfolded; e.g. an A5 folded into A6 is uploaded as an A5.
b. Do not add bleed on envelopes.
c. 2-sided products are uploaded as 2 separate files

Product Format (unfolded)	File format (with bleed) width x height	Product format (after bleeds are cut) width x height
Business Cards	98 x 63 mm	90 x 55 mm
A6	156 x 113 mm	148 x 105 mm
A5	156 x 218 mm	148 x 210 mm
A4	218 x 305 mm	210 x 297 mm
A3	305 x 428 mm	297 x 420 mm
E65 Envelopes	220 x 110 mm	220 x 110 mm
C6 Envelopes	162 x 114 mm	162 x 114 mm
C5 Envelopes	229 x 162 mm	229 x 162 mm
C4 Envelopes	324 x 229 mm	324 x 229 mm
EC4 Envelopes (C4 with window)	229 x 312 mm	229 x 312 mm

4. Bleed

Make sure all elements close to the border of your design go across the border and into the 4mm bleed area. If your document has a background color, make sure the color covers the entire page/bleed area. If you have a frame inside your card, make sure this is at least 3mm inside the product area, i.e. at least 7mm from the borders of the design file.

5. Color

We only print CMYK colors, and you must convert all colors to CMYK. To make sure your colors are in CMYK, press ''Image'' and ''Mode''

6. Outline your fonts.

If your document contains text, please outline the text:
Select the text layer, press ''Layer'', ''Type'' and ''Convert to Shape''

7. Saving the file as PDF

Press ''File'', then ''Save As''. Choose Photoshop PDF from the drop down menu. Uncheck ''Embed Color Profile''


Press ''Save''. This will give you a message: ''The settings you choose in the Save Adobe PDF dialog can override the current settings in the Save AS dialog box''. Press OK This will give you a dialogue window with settings for the PDF-file.


Set ''Standard'' to ''PDF/X-1a:2003'' and ''Compability'' to ''Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3)

Press ''Compression'' in the left menu.


In ''Compression'', set Options to ''Do Not Downsample'', Compression to ''JPEG'' and ''Image quality'' to ''High''

Press ''Output' in the left menu.


For Color, set ''Color Conversion'' to ''Convert to Destination (Preserve Numbers)''
Set destination to ''U.S Web Coated (SWOP) v2''
For PDF/X set ''Output Intent Profile Name'' to ''U.S Web Coated (SWOP v2)''

Press ''Save PDF''.

You are done and the file is ready for upload.