How the automatic builder works
How do you decide the layout?
We sort your pieces tallest-first and fill
the roll in rows, leaving a quarter inch between pieces so they can be separated. That
is usually within a few percent of the tightest possible nest, and it is predictable —
you can look at the preview and see exactly what you are buying.
What does "trim dead space" do?
A PNG exported from most design tools carries
a transparent margin around the artwork. On a gang sheet that margin is roll length you are
paying for. Trim finds the real edges of your art and crops to them, then rescales your size
so the artwork itself stays the size you asked for.
Can I mix vector and photo artwork?
Yes, on the same sheet. PDF and AI are
rasterised at 300 DPI when we print, so a vector logo and a photographic back print sit
together with no difference in quality.
Why is my sheet longer than the artwork adds up to?
Rows are as tall as their tallest piece, so a
row of 2" logos next to one 9" design wastes the difference. The preview shows the
utilization figure — if it is low, grouping similar heights or adding a few more of the
short pieces will use length you have already bought.
Do you cut them apart?
No. We print the roll as laid out and you
separate the designs yourself — that is why we leave 0.25" between every piece,
the same spacing our templates ask for on sheets you lay out yourself.