Creating your Clear Acrylic Standee using Photoshop

Creating your Clear Acrylic
Standee using Photoshop
This tutorial contains all of the information needed to create your
very own clear acrylic Standee using Adobe Photoshop.
1. Download our templates
To start submitting your custom printed, clear acrylic Standee designs,
you will need to download our design templates.
Templates are available in a range of sizes, from 1.5in right up to 6in.
You can download our templates by visiting
www.zapcreatives.com/templates
An example of our clear acrylic Standees
Each template comes with a working area where you will import or create your designs.
2. Understanding our layers
Once open, you will notice that there are 6 layers in your Layers palette. If you can't see the Layers palette, hit F7
to make it appear.
Please don't rename existing layers or create additional layers as this will confuse
our systems when processing your designs.
If you have used any effects / layer styles on any of your layers you MUST flatten
them before saving. To do this simply right click on the applicable layer and select
'Rasterize Layer Style' from the menu in Photoshop.
If you use any text elements please make sure that these are also rasterized.
www.zapcreatives.com | +44 (01642) 244422 | [email protected]
Page 1 of 8
'Office Use Only’ Layer
This layer contains information about the template you are using. This layer is locked and should not be used.
'White Layer
Adding a base layer of white to your Standee’s will make your colours crisper and more vivid. Use this layer to tell
us exactly where you would like this layer to go.
‘Artwork A’ Layer
Single Sided Printing - If you are creating single sided Standee then you should place your artwork on this layer.
We print your designs onto the 'back' of the clear acrylic and then add a layer of white ink followed by a layer of
varnish.
ALL ARTWORK ON THIS LAYER SHOULD BE FLIPPED HORIZONTALLY SO THAT IT IS A MIRROR IMAGE OF ITSELF.
PLEASE SEE STEP 3 FOR MORE INFORMATION.
When you turn the printed Standee, your design will be the correct way round and visible via the 'front' of the
acrylic, giving your Standee a super crisp look, with the added depth of our 3mm clear acrylic.
‘Artwork B’ Layer
Double Sided Printing - If you are creating a double sided Standee this is where you'll place the artwork for the
back of your Standee. We'll print this directly onto the top of your 'Artwork A’ layer and then add a layer of varnish
for added protection.
DO NOT FLIP/MIRROR THE ARTWORK ON THIS LAYER. THE ARTWORK ON THIS LAYER SHOULD SIT ON TOP AND LINE
UP PERFECTLY WITH THE ARTWORK ON YOUR 'ARTWORK A' LAYER SO THAT IT FULLY MASKS ARTWORK A. PLEASE
SEE STEP 3 FOR MORE INFORMATION.
‘Cut’ Layer
Use this layer to show us EXACTLY where you want your Standees to be cut. We'll use this information to create a
path which will then be used to create a cut line for our laser cutters.
‘Stand Tab’ Layer (on Stand Template only)
Use this layer to show us EXACTLY where you want your Standee tab to be placed. This is what will slot into the
base to keep your Standee upright. We'll use this information to create a path which will then be used to create a
cut line.
‘Base Hole’ Layer (on Base Template only)
Use this layer to show us EXACTLY where you want your hole tab to be placed. This is what the top of the Standee
will slot into. We'll use this information to create a path which will then be used to create a cut line.
www.zapcreatives.com | +44 (01642) 244422 | [email protected]
Page 2 of 8
3. Importing your Design
Select the 'Artwork' layer in your layers palette and either
draw your design directly into this layer or, simply copy
(CTRL+C) and paste (CTRL+V) previously saved artwork.
'Artwork A'
Create or paste the artwork that you would like to appear on
the 'front' of your Standee here. Once you are happy with it
FLIP IT HORIZONTALLY so that it is a mirror image of itself.
We will print this onto the 'back' of the clear acrylic before
adding a layer of white. Your design will then be visible, the
correct way around, via the 'front' of the acrylic.
'Artwork B'
This is where you will create or paste the artwork that you
would like to appear on the 'back' of your Standee for our
'B-Side' printing option. DO NOT FLIP THIS LAYER!
Artwork A - Flipped horizontally
We print your B-Side ('back') design directly on top of the A-Side ('front') design to create an awesome looking
double sided Standee.
4. Check your Alignment
If you're producing a double sided Standee it's important that your
A-Side and B-Side artwork lines up correctly.
A simple way of checking this is to select your 'Artwork B' layer and
lower the opacity to 50%
Now view your artwork and check that both A & B are the same size
and nicely aligned... Here is an example of how it should look.
Artwork B - 50% opacity to check alignment
www.zapcreatives.com | +44 (01642) 244422 | [email protected]
Page 3 of 8
5a. Adding a layer of white
To guarantee bright and crisp colours for your artwork, you will need to add a white base layer to your designs. This
white layer will sit behind your artwork and will ensure that the colours of your standee’s are consistent, regardless of what colour acrylic you choose.
An additional benefit of creating your own white base layer is that you can let us know EXACTLY where you’d like us
to print your white areas. This allows customers to add additional features to their designs, such as transparencies
on our clear acrylics, as well as reducing any areas of white creeping around the edges of your artwork.
To create your white base layer simply hold down the 'CTRL' key and click on the thumbnail of your 'Artwork'
layer. This will select all of the elements of your artwork layer.
Inset your selection by 2 pixels using SELECT > MODIFY > CONTRACT and enter the value of 2 in the pop up
'Contract Selection' window.
Insetting your white layer by 2 pixels will prevent any areas of white from showing around the edge of your charms.
www.zapcreatives.com | +44 (01642) 244422 | [email protected]
Page 4 of 8
Now go to EDIT > FILL (Shift & F5) and select the 'Color' option from the first drop down menu.
Choose 100% Cyan as your colour (C:100 M:0 Y:0 K:0)
Click 'OK' and 'OK' again. You should now have a Cyan silhouette of your original artwork, placed on the 'White'
layer.
Be aware that contracting your selection in this manner can have an effect on the pixels selected. Always zoom in
on areas with fine details such as strands of hair or small point text and check that you are happy with the results.
You may decide to only contract your selection by 1 pixel if you have a lot of fine or intricate areas in your designs.
Please remember that we always recommend ordering samples before commiting to large print runs, so that you
can check that you are happy with the result. mistakes can not be rectified once your charms have been printed.
www.zapcreatives.com | +44 (01642) 244422 | [email protected]
Page 5 of 8
6. Add a border / cutline - IMPORTANT!
You can now decide on the thickness of your border, which will be used as a cut line. It is ESSENTIAL that you make
this border AT LEAST 1mm wider than your artwork. Failure to do so can cause your printed design to lift along the
cut edge as a result of the heat generated by the laser. A 1mm border will prevent this from happening.
It is essential that you have a border between your artwork and the cut line of your charm to ensure the printed
charms durability. Please use the 'Cut Line' layer to show us EXACTLY how wide you would like this border as we
WILL use this information to create your cut line and cut out your charm.
Failure to create a 1mm border between your artwork and cut line will result in your printed design lifting
along the cut edge due to the heat of the laser and is done so entirely at your own risk.
Remember that our lasers will remove approximately 0.15mm of acrylic from all sides of your charms when
cutting. This is called kerf (the thickness of the laser beam).
To do this go to SELECT > MODIFY > EXPAND and enter
your chosen width. You will see that your selected area
has grown by the amount of pixels you chose.
Use the 'Fill' command (SHIFT+F5) or EDIT > FILL and
fill this area black. This colour will not be printed, it's
simply for our designers to use as a guide when creating
your cut line.
TIP - Use the paintbrush to cover any areas missed by
the 'fill' command!
Now you need to follow the last 6 steps for the base of your stand. Please note that the
bases are single sided only!
www.zapcreatives.com | +44 (01642) 244422 | [email protected]
Page 6 of 8
7. Add your Stand Tab (or base hole)
You need to have one tab on your Stand design and one hole on your Base design, and you need to let us know
where you would like these by dragging and dropping the tab/hole template from the 'Stand Tab’ or ‘Base Hole’
Layer, into position on your design.
Please don't merge these templates with your design as we’ll need to remove this before printing so that it's not
visible on your finished Standees.
Please bear in mind the position of your hole on your base.
It might not necessarily work in the centre of your base.
As you can see we have moved the hole to the left to
compensate for the leaning rocket design. We wouldn’t
want our Standee toppling over!
If you are planning on ordering more than one Standee
design, we would advise on getting a sample first.
www.zapcreatives.com | +44 (01642) 244422 | [email protected]
Page 7 of 8
8. Submission Checklist
Congratulations, you've finished creating your custom Standee! All you have to do now is check the following
before submission...
- The artwork on your 'Artwork A’ layer has been flipped / mirrored
- The artwork on your 'Artwork B' layer has NOT been flipped & lines up perfectly with your 'ARTWORK A' layer
- You have created a 100% Cyan silhouette on the 'White' layer to show us where you would like white ink
- The tab/hole layers have NOT been grouped or merged with the rest of your design.
- Your acrylic cutting border is AT LEAST 1mm thick.
- Any layer styles or text has been rasterized.
- Your template contains 1 Standee design only. Additional designs will be sent separately.
10. Saving your work
To save your design follow these simple steps...
File > Save As > Photoshop (*Psd). Please make sure your file name includes your name, order number & Standee number ie. - ‘JoeBloggs_123456_standee1.Psd’
Please send your finished artwork to [email protected] along with your order number.
www.zapcreatives.com | +44 (01642) 244422 | [email protected]
Page 8 of 8