We recommend using Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator or ArtPro to create professional print-ready artwork. When exporting your file, save it as a PDF/X-1a:2003 (or High Quality Print PDF) and include a 2.5 mm bleed on all sides. To allow for production tolerances, all text, logos and other important design elements should be positioned at least 2 mm inside the cutting line. Registration marks, crop marks, colour bars and other printer’s marks are not required and should be omitted. All artwork layers, including special layers such as cutting lines, hot foil and HPI-White, must be included in the final PDF and should not be supplied as separate files.

Artwork must be created at the final label size, with an additional 2.5 mm bleed on all sides. The bleed does not need to be included in the dimensions entered during the ordering process, as it is automatically allowed for during production.

When exporting your PDF from Adobe Illustrator, make sure Use Document Bleed Settings is selected under Marks and Bleeds, so the bleed is included in the final file.

All important elements, such as text, logos and graphics, must be positioned within the cutting line and safety margin. Elements placed outside these areas may be trimmed during production or may not appear correctly on the finished label.

A 2.5 mm bleed must be added on all sides of the artwork. This extra area extends beyond the finished label size and helps prevent unwanted white edges caused by minor cutting tolerances during production. If the design is intended to extend to the edge of the label, all background colours, images and graphic elements must be extended into the bleed area. They should not stop at the cutting line, as slight production tolerances may result in unwanted white edges on the finished label.

All text, logos and other important design elements must be positioned at least 2 mm inside the cutting line. If the design includes a printed border, it should have a minimum thickness of 2 mm.

Failure to meet these requirements may result in important elements being cut off or borders appearing uneven due to normal production tolerances.

The cutting line must be created as a separate spot colour named “Cutter”, with a minimum line width of 0.2 mm and set to overprint.

Internal cut lines may be included in the artwork. However, only the waste material surrounding the label is removed during production; material within internal cut-outs remains attached to the liner.

Rectangular labels are produced with a standard corner radius of 0.5 mm. Any rectangular cutting line with a corner radius other than 0.5 mm is treated as a custom shape and must be ordered accordingly.

If artwork is supplied in the RGB colour space, it will be converted to CMYK before printing. As some RGB colours cannot be reproduced exactly in CMYK, this conversion may result in colour variations. For this reason, we cannot accept responsibility for any colour shifts caused by the conversion.

HPI-White is a white ink layer that can be used on transparent and metallic materials to create opaque colours and control the visibility of the underlying substrate.

When a white backing layer is applied beneath the artwork, colours appear solid and accurate. Without a white backing layer, colours printed on transparent materials may appear translucent, while colours printed on metallic materials will allow the metallic surface to show through, creating a metallic effect.

To define a white backing layer in your artwork, create a separate spot colour named “HPI-White” and set it to overprint.

Black should be created as 100% K and should not be set to overprint or enriched with additional CMYK colours.

For particularly deep, rich blacks, we recommend selecting Double-Hit Black, which applies the black ink twice to increase opacity and colour density.

Silver Ink can be used to create metallic effects and metallic colour variations within the artwork.
To specify areas printed with silver ink, create a separate spot colour named “Silver” and set it to overprint. CMYK colours printed over the Silver spot colour will allow metallic effects to be achieved across a wide range of colours.
With silver printing, you can create metallic-looking effects and metallic-looking colour variations within the design. This is an optical effect which, depending on the motif and the angle of view, makes for a metallic impression, but does not achieve the same effect as a metallic material or a metallic finish (e.g. hot foil stamping). To define the silver print areas, create a separate spot colour named ‘Silver’ and set it to overprint. When CMYK colours are printed over the ‘Silver’ spot colour, metallic-looking shades can be achieved in a wide range of nuances.

Alternating labels are two different label designs printed alternately on the same roll.
Both designs must be supplied within a single artwork file and arranged according to the required winding direction. The artwork should include both labels, the gap between them and all associated cutting lines.

For more information and artwork examples, please visit our Alternating Labels page.

Variable Data Printing (VDP) allows individual labels within the same print run to be personalised with unique information, such as sequential numbering, barcodes, QR codes and other variable content.

Artwork should be supplied according to the standard file requirements and include sufficient space for the variable data. All variable content will be added by our artwork team and does not need to be included in the supplied file.

VDP is available as an additional service and must be arranged through our Customer Service team before ordering.