Custom Bag Artwork Resources for Business Stakeholders

Put your bag artwork in professional hands

Your bag artwork is no place for a DIY approach.

You may have built your business on a whole lot of sweat equity and the willingness to get in there and do what needs doing. We get it, and we admire the grit we see in all the entrepreneurs and small businesspeople we get to work with every day. But successfully creating, configuring, and submitting your bag artwork requires a certain level of skill. If you’re not a designer, and we mean a bona fide print designer who could (or does) do this for a living, your do-it- yourself inclinations could lead to a lot of painful cycles and a long, drawn-out project process. Find yourself a talented print designer, and you’ll be that much closer to putting your beautiful custom-printed bags in front of your target customers.

Find a designer.

What makes Roastar different is that we really care. You're not just another designer; it's not just another bag. You're trying to tell a story, and we want to help it come to life. No matter if this is your first time through the process, or if you're a seasoned pro, we're here for you.
I HAVE A DESIGNER.

If you have ready access to a print designer, you're one step ahead of the game. Send them to our artwork resources page specifically for designers, and they'll find all the specs, templates, FAQs and other resources they need to get started.

See designer resources
I NEED TO FIND A DESIGNER.

We’ve gotten to work with a lot of talented designers over many amazing bag projects, and, while we’re not directly associated or affiliated with any designers, we can help you get connected with someone great. Visit our designer directory, or go take a look at our custom bag design portfolio and reach out to someone whose design you particularly like.

Go to Designer Directory

Resources to give your designers

Artwork prep resources for your designer

We love working with designers and have compiled a sizeable toolkit to help your designer create, configure, and submit your custom bag artwork with a minimum of fuss. Here are just some of our designer resources:

Artwork Specifications

Covering topics from accepted file types to image resolution, color conversions to crop marks, this is your designer’s place to get the in-the-weeds details for setting your bag’s artwork up for success.

View Artwork Specifications

Artwork Templates

The template your designer should use is entirely determined by the bag type and configuration you’ve decided on for your project. We can point them to the correct one to download, but we’ve also got them all in one place for reference.

View Artwork Templates

Frequently Asked Questions

While your designer might come up with a truly unique question, it’s increasingly likely we’ve covered at least some of their topics of concern with other designers before. And, if our FAQs don’t answer their questions, we’re only a chat, phone call, or email away.

View Artwork FAQs
REVIEW ALL FAQs

Frequently asked questions about bag artwork

You and your designer may have a beautiful shorthand, and he or she may be excellent at taking your bag design ideas and turning them into something amazing. Even when the creativity is flowing, successfully configuring and submitting artwork doesn’t happen by accident. You and your designer will likely have some questions along the way. Good news is, we’ve been through this a few times, and likely have answers. If not, you can always contact us or fire up a chat with one of our customer service reps.

How do I save a file as a PDF?

Generally, from whatever program you are working in, you should be able to go to ‘File’ and choose ‘Save As’. From that window you can than choose the PDF file format to save it as. For more detailed instructions, see below.

InDesign

  1. Go to 'File' and select 'Export...'

    File Export Button

  2. Format should be Adobe PDF (Print)

    Format Adobe Pdf Print Image

  3. Choose the [Press Quality] Adobe PDF Preset

    Adobe Pdf Preset Press Quality

  4. Click 'Export'

    Cancel Export Button

Illustrator

  1. Go to 'File' and select 'Save As...'

    File Save As Button

  2. Format should be Adobe PDF (Print)

    Format Adobe Pdf Button

  3. Choose the [Press Quality] Adobe PDF Preset

    Adobe Pdf Preset Press Quality Dropdown

  4. Click 'Save PDF'

    Cancel Save Pdf Buttons

Photoshop

  1. Go to 'File' and select 'Save As...'

    File Save As Dropdown

  2. Format should be Photoshop PDF

    Format Photoshop Pdf Button

  3. Choose the [Press Quality] Adobe PDF Preset

    Adobe Pdf Preset Press Quality Dropdown

  4. Click 'Export'

    Cancel Save Pdf Buttons

How do I save each SKU's artwork separately?

InDesign

You can either Export each page from your InDesign file separately, or export your multi-page PDF from InDesign, open that file in Acrobat, and Extract each page individually from there.

Illustrator

If you have built each SKU on a separate artboard in Illustrator:

  1. Go to 'File' and select 'Save As...'

    Format Adobe Illustrator Ai Dropdown

  2. Format should be Adobe Illustrator (ai)

    Format Adobe Illustrator Ai Dropdown

  3. Choose the [Press Quality] Adobe PDF Preset

    Illustrator Options Selection Options

How do I set my artwork color profile?

When you’re creating artwork files, you have a choice in color profiles for your design. RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is used for screen display, like websites. CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) is what’s generally used in physical printed objects, like the bags and pouches that come off our presses. It’s important your artwork files are set up in CMYK format at the beginning of your design process so what you see on screen most closely matches what will actually come off the press. Files produced in RGB mode may produce unwanted color shift and disappointing results, as many bright values seen on screen cannot be reproduced in print.

InDesign

Any color swatches you use should be set up in CMYK by selecting Process in the Color Type dropdown and CMYK in the Color Mode dropdown of the Swatch Options menu.

Illustrator

Go to File > Document Color Mode and select CMYK Color.

Photoshop

Go to Image > Mode and select CMYK Color.

All Spot colors need to be converted to Process

All Spot colors need to be converted to Process before submitting any artwork files. From InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop, you can convert a Spot color to Process by selecting Process in the Color Type dropdown.

Swatch Options Screenshot

How do I convert text to outlines?

InDesign

  1. Choose the Type tool
  2. Click inside the text frame you want to outline
  3. Do a Select All
  4. Go to the Type menu and choose Create Outlines Choose Type Tool Dropdown

Illustrator

  1. First, delete any elements of the design that you don’t want to print. For example, you might delete the template layer, or any elements of the design that are on a layer you’ve turned off or made invisible.
  2. Ensure all remaining layers are visible and unlocked. To do this, go to the Object menu and choose Unlock All and Show All.

    Object Unlock Show All Dropdown

  3. Do a Select All

    Select All Button

  4. Go to the Type menu and select Create Outlines.

    Create Outlines Dropdown Menu

Photoshop

  1. Right-click on the Type layer and select Rasterize Type

    Rasterize Type Dropdown

  2. NOTE: If there are any "Smart Objects" used in your file that contain text, you will need to rasterize those as well.

Check for remaining fonts

If you’ve properly converted all the text in the document to outlines, there should no longer be any font information in the file. In Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, you can confirm this by going to the Type menu and selecting Find Font…

You should see a resulting window that says there are zero (0) fonts in your document. If you get a list of one or more fonts, there is un-outlined text that needs to be addressed.

Type Find Font Dropdown

INCORRECT:
This document still shows there are fonts in use.

Find Font Incorrect Box

CORRECT:
This document still shows there are NO fonts in use.

Find Font Correct Box

How do I include bleed?

Bleed is the area outside of the trim line that will get cut off. While it ultimately gets removed, it plays a critical role in the final presentation of your product. Designing for bleed makes sure your design, whether photo, graphic, or solid color, reaches all the way to the edge of your bag when it’s trimmed, avoiding unintended white edges.

A minimum of .0625” (1/16”) of bleed is required. We require you use our templates for your artwork, as they already include the required amount of bleed.

See all FAQs

We're here to help you and your designer create awesome artwork.

Whether we’re working with you or your designer, what makes Roastar different is that we really care. You’re not just another customer, and your project is not just another bag. You’re trying to tell a story and build your brand, and we’re glad to be a part of that. No matter if this is your first time through the process, or if you’re a seasoned pro, we’re here for you
Need some help? Talk to us.

If you're not finding the answers you need, or aren't sure you're asking the right questions, we're only a phone call, email or live chat away. We want to help you knock your bag artwork out of the park. Don't hesitate to reach out.

Contact us