Prepping Your File

Remember the old adage “Junk in and Junk Out”? Signs By Tomorrow will work with you to ensure your design files are the right sizes, formats and resolution to create your perfect sign.

Signs By Tomorrow of Chicago North understands that technology has made file preparation slightly more complicated than it once was. Below are the requirements your art files must match in order to produce the sign that meets your vision. As always, our experts are more than happy to assist you in creating the files to meet our standards. If you need assistance creating your art files, please Click Here to contact Signs By Tomorrow of Chicago North.

Media Supported

Flash Drives
CD (Standard, R/RW)
DVD (Standard, R/RW +/-)
E-Mail / Web File Transfer - Contact us to get user name and password

Software Packages Supported (versions vary by location)

Adobe Illustrator – .ai, .eps, .pdf (can also be made in other programs)
Adobe Photoshop – .psd
Adobe InDesign - indd
Generic raster image files. ex. .bmp .tif .pcx .jpg
-Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint (not recommended; additional charges may apply)

Preparation Notes

Be sure convert fonts to outlines.  By converting text to outlines, you can ensure accuracy on your sign. Also, include any linked images in the document. Please design your artwork to final size when possible, or include scaling information.  Staying with in proportion will ease in the getting your sign in the correct final size you are looking for,

Notes On Raster Images

Any raster images inside designs should be 100-150 dpi at full size, for closely viewed prints and 75 – 100 dpi for prints viewed from a distance. Keep in mind that the print will only be as good as the original. Be aware that if you copy your logo or image from your web site, it probably doesn’t have enough information to reproduce it any larger than the size that it is on your screen, without noticeable image quality loss.  Those dpi values are minimum please note that the higher the dpi the better the image will be.

If possible, include a color copy of the design for our soft proofing. A color proof of the final output is available upon request for an additional charge.


Ready to place an order? Click here or give us a call at 773-404-7446

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