Special Finishes line art & design recommendations
Have some cool line art you want to print in Gold Foil, Silver Foil, or Spot Gloss? Here are a few things to keep in mind when preparing your artwork.
Using our Special Finishes as an Enhancement
Special finishes work best as design accents. Avoid large, solid blocks of gold foil or spot gloss; try to find a balance of standard print and special finish. In total, each side of your design must contain less than 50% special finish.
Line weight 1pt or higher
Thicker lines print better. We recommend 1pt and above
Font size 10pt or higher
10pt and higher. Otherwise, the small gaps in typography will cause pooling
Vector graphics
Create your special finish in vector to ensure clean, crisp lines
Small gaps
Avoid small gaps less than 2pt wide to prevent pooling
Line Art
 Use **vector-based PDF** artwork for the element layer.
Low-quality artwork can make the Foils or Gloss come out jagged and vector PDFs will help prevent this.
 **Line weight 1pt or higher**
Thicker lines print better. We recommend 1pt and above.
**** **Small gaps**
Avoid small gaps less than 2pt wide to prevent pooling.
Gold Foil and Silver Foil
Your Design / Ink File
Your Element File
Printed Result
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This file will be printed first.
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The black areas are where the foil will be applied.
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This is too much Foil application.
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The black areas are where the foil will be applied.
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Yay! This is perfect.
Spot Gloss and Raised Spot Gloss
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This file will be printed first.
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The black areas are where the spot gloss will be applied.
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This is too much Gloss application.
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The black areas are where the spot gloss will be applied.
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Yay! This is perfect.