This guide explains how to supply artwork for items with Spot UV or Hot Stamping. Follow these steps to ensure we can produce your finishing accurately and achieve a premium print result.

Quick Summary

• Provide an extra page/layer showing where Spot UV or Hot Stamping applies.
• Spot UV/Hot Stamp area must be a vector with solid black shapes.
• Keep Spot UV/Hot Stamp at least 3mm inside the cutter guide (safe area) to avoid trimming and flaking.

Two Simple Rules

Preparing artwork for Spot UV or Hot Stamping is slightly different from normal printing. To recreate your design accurately, please:

• Supply an extra artwork page showing exactly where the Spot UV or Hot Stamping needs to be applied.
• Keep Spot UV/Hot Stamping areas away from edges, folds, and perforations to reduce the risk of flaking.

Extra artwork pages for Spot UV or Hot Stamping

For a single-side Spot UV or Hot Stamping job, prepare your file as multiple PDF pages as described below.

For single-side Spot UV (2 pages minimum):

• Page 1: CMYK artwork
• Page 2: Spot UV artwork (vector, solid black shapes indicate Spot UV areas)

Page 1 should include all artwork elements in CMYK.

Page 2 (Spot UV) must be supplied as a vector layer with solid black areas showing exactly where Spot UV should be applied.

If Spot UV is 1-sided but your product is 2-sided, supply a 3-page PDF:

• Place your order requesting Matt Lamination Front & Back with Spot UV (1 sided).
• Supply artwork as a 3-page PDF:
• Page 1: CMYK artwork for Side 1 (Front)
• Page 2: Spot UV artwork for Side 1 (Front)
• Page 3: CMYK artwork for Side 2 (Back)
• If you have separate PDFs, zip them together and upload to our server.

If Hot Stamping is required (1 sided), supply a 3-page PDF:

• Place your order requesting Matt Lamination Front & Back with Hot Stamping (1 sided).
• Supply artwork as a 3-page PDF:
• Page 1: CMYK artwork for Side 1 including the image/text to be stamped (Front)
• Page 2: CMYK artwork for Side 1 without the stamped image/text (Front)
• Page 3: Hot stamp artwork (vector, solid black shapes positioned accurately)
• If you have separate PDFs, zip them together and upload to our server.

Stay clear of edges, folds and perforations

Please ensure Spot UV / Hot Stamping stays within the safe area. The safe area boundary is 3mm inside the cutter guide on all sides. Any Spot UV or Hot Stamping that goes outside the safe area may be trimmed, causing unfinished edges and increasing the risk of flaking.

FAQ

• Why must Spot UV/Hot Stamp be vector? Vector ensures clean edges and accurate placement.
• Why use solid black? Solid black shapes are used as the mask to apply finishing areas.
• Why 3mm safe area? To avoid trimming into finishing areas and reduce flaking at edges.