Stock Designs

Signs that use one of our stock sign designs will have their artwork created free of charge. See stock designs to the right.

Customer Supplied Art

There is no charge if you supply Scooter Promo with your own artwork.

Customer supplied art sized to fit the product ordered, e.g. a 22" x 14" sign should not be designed on an 8 1/2" x 11" page. Please contact your Scooter Promo rep for the proper specs on live, trim, and bleed areas for your product. Please include all necessary elements in your art including disclaimers, logos, etc. Don't forget your web URL!

If you would like to have a union bug imprinted on your item (if it is produced at a union shop), please place an oval where you would like the union bug (if app.) to go. We will insert the appropriate bug at no charge. Art which must be reformatted may incur an art charge at the shop rate.

Please supply artwork as an Adobe Illustrator 10 or lower file with spot (PMS) colors defined and type converted to paths. This is the easiest file format for us to work with.

We can accept any Illustrator (version CS or lower), FreeHand (version MX or lower), InDesign (version 2 or lower), QuarkXPress (version 4.1 or lower), PageMaker (version 6.5 or lower), or Corel Draw (version 11 or lower) file.

We can make usable art out of any Acrobat (PDF), Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), PostScript (PS/PRN), Adobe Photoshop (PSD, JPG, GIF, TIF), Microsoft Office (DOC, PPT, XLS), fax image, or crayon drawing on a piece of tissue. The above are all great programs and methods of communication, however, their utility as usuable page layout programs is very limited. Use of non-preferred art programs may incur an art charge at the shop rate.

If sending artwork created in a program other than an Illustrator file please include all linked files, all fonts (Mac or PC), and a PDF of the file (make sure you view the PDF before sending this to us). We have a font library of over 3,000 faces, but please don't assume we have your chosen typeface. Send it along with your art.

If you are sending us art that will be printed using two or more colors include a PDF of your color separations. If your file doesn't separate for you, it isn't going to separate for us. Placing an RGB image into Illustrator that uses just red and blue will not create a file that will magically separate into red and blue plates. If you need help making a file separate we will be happy to pre-flight your file for you, again at the shop rate.

If you cannot send us a PDF please fax a printout to 866-233-1811 so we can ensure the proper fidelity of your design.

How Big?

How big should your letters be to be easily readable?

Emailing Art

You may email your artwork by clicking one of the links at the bottom in the address section of this page. Please ZIP or Stuff your art files before sending them to us. We have an email file gateway of 3mb, so please use our YouSendIt gateway for anything larger.

Custom Design and Typesetting

Scooter Promo's art department can create your art for you. For a stock design or text only layout using our designer's choice of typeface there will be no charge. To design something cool or recreate art based on a customer supplied low-res image, drawing, or verbal description there will be a charge at the shop rate.

If Scooter Promo designed something for you, we will happily supply you the art file at your request.

Design Tips

Signs, stickers, and buttons are advertisements for you that should do two things. The first thing, of course, is to get your name out there so people remember you. When designing your art, start with that one element that you need your viewers to remember, YOUR NAME. Make that the dominant element. Most people will see your name for a few seconds at best, make sure they can see it, and most of all, REMEMBER it. The second thing your materials do is to advertise you, and forgetting your website address so that people can easily find, your address, phone number, or online catalog means you are wasting money.

Our Scooter Promo staff designers will be happy to make specific recommendations for making your artwork effective. Our designers will also happily complete your design for you at the shop rate.

Screens, Tints, and Gradients

Just because it it looks fabulous on your monitor doesn't mean that your art will work when printed. Scooter Promo cannot guarantee the consistency of tinted colors, especially with items that are screen or flexo printed. Tints are printed at the customer's risk.

Photographs

Scooter Promo has produced many great looking items that include a photograph. However in the case of political signs, even if you look like George Clooney or Halle Berry, it is a bad idea to have your photo get in the way of your name recognition, as voters cannot see your face inside the voting booth! We would advise you to think twice before preempting the four things potential voters need to remember: your name, your name (okay we cannot emphasize your name enough), your office, and your web URL.

Please note that use of photographs, even with the best customer artwork, will add time to the normal production of your item and that Scooter Promo cannot guarantee exact delivery times for signs using photographs.

Photographs cannot be reproduced on all items. We will let you know in advance if your art will not work on your selected medium.

Proofs

All artwork for all orders requires signed proof approval. Except in the case of super-rush items where proofs are not time practical, and the customer waives proof approval. Scooter Promo gives all customers the opportunity to review all artwork first. All custom promotional materials orders include pricing and full color proofs via email (PDF) prior to production. This type of color proof is not 100% color accurate, since different computer monitors display colors differently. Your proofs may also be sent in black & white via fax, if you prefer. You will have the chance to review all artwork first!

Proofing can delay your order. Production schedules and ship dates are based on the timely return of the proofs that have been sent to you. Proofs must be responded to quickly. Remember your order is on hold until we receive proof approval.

A proof is not to be confused with a pre-production sample. A pre-production sample is an actual sample item created at the factory before the bulk of your order is manufactured. Pre-production samples may add $$$ to your cost and delay delivery of your order by a week or more. Pre-production samples are not available for most signs and stickers.

Shop Rate

We charge $75 per hour for all design, art clean-up, conversions, and pre-flighting. Billing will be done in 12 minute increments. There is a minimum fee of $15.