Submitting Art for your CheerStix

Here at Cheerstix we use Adobe Illustrator
on Macintosh computers for art production.

For best results create your design with this software and save it as an Illustrator Document (.ai) .
Go here to find out more about Illustrator.

What we use more specifically are the vector drawing tools in Illustrator. This creates images with anchor points and lines between them. The calculations the computer uses to figure these lines are called vectors. When your image is selected in Illustrator it might look something like this:

One reason that we use this kind of drawing is that at any size you are sure to get crisp lines and well defined colors.

Another reason, is that, because of the printing process we use, very specific colors of ink must be defined, like this:

We sometimes can accept Bitmap images these are often found as computer documents with titles ending in .jpg .gif .tif .bmp etc. and are produced with software like Photoshop.

These images have 2 main limitations. One is that in order to define the color of ink they must be printed in all one color, like this example of black ink on an orange Cheerstik :

The other limitation is that these images are often designed for the internet. That means that when printed they just don't have the resolution (DPI or dots per inch) we require to produce a clear image. Here is an example of what a low resolution (Lo Rez) image might look like when printed on a printing press:
For a different explanation of Vector vs Bitmap click here.

Tips for a good result:

Get advice or assistance from a graphic artist or someone familiar with preparing files for printing presses.

We DO NOT print CMYK or RGB colors.

We use what are called spot colors for printing. That means that each color is a specially mixed color of ink. Define each color in your design as a Pantone color for printing on coated stock. We can do this for you, we design lots of Cheerstix and choose colors well. If precise colors are required to match team or sponsor colors find out the pantone colors. More on Pantone colors click here.

Illustrator is a great program and has many options. You can import bitmaps that look like they might be the right thing but may not be. Here are 2 ways to tell.

One: you can click to select the image and it has lines and anchor points inside it like the example at the top of this page. If it just has bounding box like the example below it is a bitmap and un useable:

Or you can go to the VIEW menu and choose OUTLINE if it is a bitmap it will just appear as an empty rectangle. If it is a vector image it will look something like this:

As a last step always convert your text to outlines.
Odds are we don't have your favorite font on file.

This is easy to do in Illustrator. Select All from the select menu, then select Create Outlines from the type menu, then save.

Warning: After doing this you will not be able to correct spelling or other text errors without re-typeing from scratch.

Macromedia FreeHand and Corel Draw also create images in vector format. If you use one of these or especially if you are using a Windows version be sure to save your drawings as an Illustrator document (.ai) for Mac. Occasionally this works. Sometimes .eps (encapsulated postscript) will work.

 If all else fails feel free to send us what you have.
Who knows, sometimes we can perform miracles.

We have many premade Team Mascots and Names see our online creation tool (click here) . We also have an extensive library of national and reigional sponsor logos, just ask we may have your sponsor's logo on file.

As time allows we are sometimes able to create or recreate your designs in Illustrator format for you. The fee for this is $25 for each very basic drawing $50 or more for more complex or creative.