Artwork Guidelines

You do not need artwork to order. The puck, golf ball and accessory builders make the design for you, and most orders never send us a file at all. This page is for when you do have a logo or a crest.

What to send

Best: a vector file - .ai, .eps, .svg or a vector .pdf. These scale to any size with no loss, and they are what we work from.
Fine: a .png at 1000 pixels or more across, with a transparent background.
Usually not enough: a logo pulled off a website, a screenshot, or a photo of a jersey. We will tell you rather than print something that looks poor.

Send files to sales@printaballs.ca. If a file is too big to email, say so and we will sort it out.

How much room there is

Less than people expect, which is the single most useful thing on this page.

Hockey puck: the face is 76 mm across. We print inside a 70 mm circle, and anything that must not be clipped should sit inside about 63 mm.
Golf ball: a circle roughly 24 mm across - about the size of a thumbnail. We confirm the exact area on your proof.
Ball markers and golf tools: the whole 25 mm disc on the standard marker, the hat clip and both divot tools. On the 38 mm marker, about 32 mm inside the bevelled edge.

A logo that reads well on a jersey has a whole chest to live on. The same logo on a golf ball has a thumbnail. Detail that survives one does not survive the other.

What prints well

Bold shapes and solid colour. Simple beats detailed at this size, every time.
High contrast against the background. Every design prints over a white underbase, so colours stay true - but a pale colour on a white golf ball still disappears.
Type no smaller than about 2 mm tall. Below that it fills in and stops being readable.

What does not

Hairlines and fine outlines. They break up or disappear.
Photographs and faces on a golf ball. A dimpled surface is the hardest thing we print on, and a face smaller than about a third of the circle will not read. We will always proof these before running them.
Gradients and soft shadows. They band. Solid colour is better.
Long words in a small space. A surname past about eleven letters prints noticeably smaller; we flag it on the proof rather than shrinking it quietly.

Colour

We print UV ink over a primer coat. Printed colour varies slightly from what you see on screen, and the black rubber of a puck changes how lighter shades read. If you have brand colours, send us the Pantone or hex values and we will get as close as the process allows. The preview and the proof show layout and colour placement, not a colour match.

Logos, crests and other people's artwork

Your own logo, or your association's own crest: yes. You confirm you have the right to use it, so please check with your association before sending a team crest.

A sponsor's or partner's logo: yes, as long as they have agreed. A quick email from them is enough.

A crest based on a professional team's logo: we can't print it, even if your team has used it for years. Some local crests were drawn from an NHL or major-junior logo, and those are not the association's to give. We will put your team name on in our own lettering and match your colours instead, which tends to look better on a puck anyway.

We do not reproduce professional team marks or lettering systems. NHL crests, wordmarks and number fonts are off the table, and we will say no even if asked.

On golf balls, the ball maker's logo stays exactly as it is, and your design goes in its own space. Printing on a TaylorMade or Srixon ball does not connect your event or your business to either company.

If your artwork includes a photograph of a person, please make sure they are happy for it to be printed. If it shows a child, we need that to come from a parent or guardian.

When you approve your proof, you are confirming you have the right to use everything on it. Our terms of service have the full wording.

Not sure?

Send what you have to sales@printaballs.ca and we will tell you straight whether it will work, before you order.