Deli Paper Artwork Guide: Files, Line Weights and Proofs

What to send us, in order of preference

A vector file is the ideal, because it can be scaled to any sheet size and reduced to one color without losing its edges. If you do not have one, send the sharpest thing you have and we will tell you what it can become.

1. Vector PDF, AI or EPS with text converted to outlines. This is the file your designer or sign shop made the logo in.
2. A high-resolution PNG with a transparent background, for a one-color mark. It needs to be at least the width of the printed logo at full size.
3. A JPG of the logo on a plain background, for a simple one-color mark. We trace it and send the vector back in the proof.
4. A clear photo of your sign, menu or storefront. A simple wordmark can be redrawn from it at no charge.

Send fonts or font names if the logo uses live text, and a Pantone number or a printed swatch for each brand color.

Can you print from a photo of my sign?

Yes, for a simple wordmark or a plain symbol. A photo of a sign gives us the letterforms and the proportions, and we redraw the mark as a clean vector. That redraw is free and comes back in the proof for you to check against the sign.

What a photo cannot give us is a detailed illustration, a gradient or a logo with fine texture. Those need the original file. If the only version is a tiny web image, the redraw may simplify details, and we say so on the proof so you can decide.

A redraw also gives you a vector you can reuse elsewhere. Ask for the file after approval and we send it with the order confirmation.

Why do hairlines vanish on deli paper?

Deli paper absorbs ink. A line that is a hair wide on screen spreads slightly into the fiber and, at the same time, breaks where the surface is rougher. The result is a line that looks fatter in places and missing in others. On kraft the effect is stronger because the surface is less smooth.

The fix is thickness. Any line in the logo, including the strokes of letters, should be visibly thick at the printed size. If a stroke looks delicate when the logo is printed at two inches wide, it will be fainter on the sheet. The proof thickens hairlines for you, but a logo built entirely from thin strokes will change character when that happens, so it is better to send a bolder version.

Reversed lines, where a thin white line runs through a solid color, are the hardest case. The ink closes over them. Make reversed lines at least twice the weight of a positive line.

Type sizes that stay readable after the fold

A logo on a repeat is printed small, often two to three inches wide, and then folded, creased and handled hot. Text inside it needs to be bold enough to survive that. As a rule, if you cannot read the text when the logo is printed at two inches on an office printer, it is too small for the sheet.

Taglines are the usual casualty. A wordmark with a tagline underneath looks balanced on a sign, but on a repeat the tagline becomes a gray smear. Drop it, or send a version where the tagline is set in a heavier weight at a larger size relative to the mark.

Script fonts need the same care. Thin connecting strokes between letters break first. Pick the heaviest weight of the script, and avoid scripts with hairline flourishes.

Colors: Pantone numbers, printed samples and screens

Send a Pantone number for each spot color if you have one. If you do not, send a printed sample, such as a business card or a menu, and we match the ink to that. A color read from a screen is the least reliable reference, because every screen shows it differently.

Remember that the same color shifts by stock. On grease-resistant white the match is close. On kraft it prints darker and warmer. On black only white ink shows. The proof is rendered against the stock you chose so you see that shift before anything prints.

For a full-color file on a white stock, send it in CMYK rather than RGB. Bright screen greens and oranges that only exist in RGB will come out duller, and converting the file yourself lets you see that before we do.

Setting up a repeat pattern file

You do not need to build the repeat yourself. Send the single logo and tell us the spacing you want, or leave it to us. Most repeats place the mark every two to three inches in a staggered grid, so a fold in any direction lands on a whole logo.

If you do want to supply a repeat, build a single tile with the logo and its spacing, make sure the edges of the tile match when it is placed beside itself, and send the tile as a vector. Rotated marks, mixed sizes and a second small element between logos all work. The sandwich wrap paper page shows how a staggered repeat looks on a rolled sub.

Avoid a repeat so dense that the sheet reads as a solid color. Light coverage prints cleaner, keeps the paper soft and leaves room for the food to be the point.

What does the PDF proof show?

The proof is a PDF of your artwork placed on the sheet at final dimensions, rendered against the stock color. It arrives free after the written quote and before any printing. It is the last thing you will see before the real sheet, so it is worth a careful look.

• The sheet size, stated in inches, and the stock
• The layout: repeat, corner mark or centered, with the spacing shown
• Each spot color with its Pantone reference, or a full-color render on white stocks
• Any hairlines or small type we thickened, with a note saying so
• The unprinted food-contact side, stated for clarity
• A note on any redraw we made from a photo or a raster file

Changes are free. Ask for as many rounds as it takes, because the run starts only after your written approval.

Checking the proof before you approve it

Open the proof on a screen at full size, not on a phone. Then work through the points in the table. Most mistakes we see after delivery were visible in the proof and were approved from a thumbnail.

Artwork fixes we make without charging

Several fixes are routine and free. Redrawing a simple wordmark from a photo. Converting a four-color logo to a one-color version. Thickening hairlines and small type. Converting RGB to CMYK. Building the repeat tile from a single mark. Outlining fonts you cannot send.

What we cannot do is invent artwork. If the only logo is a blurry screenshot of a detailed illustration, the proof will show a simplified version and say so. At that point you can approve the simplified mark, send a better file, or have your designer rebuild it. Our guide to printing a logo covers which versions print cleanly on each stock.

What happens after written approval?

Once you reply to the proof with an approval, the run is locked and printing starts. It takes 4 to 6 business days. An invoice is issued at approval and the sheets ship by free tracked delivery to any US address in 2 to 3 business days after printing.

Approval is the cut-off for free changes. A spelling mistake caught the day after approval is a new run, which is why the checklist above is worth ten minutes. A run that arrives different from the approved proof, in color, size, stock or layout, is a misprint: send photos within 10 days and it is reprinted or refunded.

Keep the approved proof. A reorder reprints from it without new artwork, and a reorder quote request needs only the order reference and the quantity.