We’re always happy to give feedback and suggestions based on your designs, so if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’ll always provide a digital mock up to show what your bag will look like so that you can approve the scale and positioning of your artwork before we go to print.
Be bold
- Simple designs in strong colours work best.
- On jute, pastel shades can be hard to see (especially on natural beige jute) and because the material is coarsely woven, fine lines don’t print well.
- Fine detail prints much better on cotton, and the natural whiteness of the material form a good contrast to muted colours.
Simple, big lettering
- Your message should be short – people won’t spend hours reading a bag.
- Avoid fussy typefaces and choose a classic font.
- Sanserif fonts work better on jute.
- Minimum letter height: 1.5cm for jute, 0.5 cm for cotton (approx).
Screenprint is not process print
Conventional print involves the superimposition of four colours (cyan. Magenta, yellow and black) to create the whole rainbow of colours. Screenprinting means applying one solid colour at a time through a custom-made stencil.
- We can’t print full-colour images on jute.
- We can print full colour on cotton using the heat transfer process.
- We can’t render fine gradations, shading or drop shadows
- You need to specify all colours using the PANTONE® uncoated series
File format
- All graphics must be submitted as electronic files and must be hi-res – not copied off a website!
- For local print: vector .eps file with fonts outlined
- For Indian print: .eps file, .pdf or hi-res .jpg (at least 300dpi)
- If you can’t produce finished graphics files in these formats, we can do it for you – but you may have to pay a studio charge (usually around £30) for redrawing.
Colours to watch out for
Some colours don’t work very well on jute.
- Orange and paler browns don’t present a good contrast to the natural biscuit colour, so are best avoided.
- Large areas of pale colours or white don’t always look good. White screenprinting inks are thicker than the other colours and don’t print as sharply.
- When the bag is in use, large areas of white tend to look grubby fast – they show the dirt!
