Chemical Etch Artwork Guide

Correct artwork setup is essential for accurate and cost-effective chemical etching.

This guide covers the basic requirements for preparing artwork for PPD, including file setup, scale, colour conventions and general layout guidance. More detailed technical design recommendations are available in our customer-only Chemical Etching Design & Artwork Guide, please Contact Us to request a copy.

Artwork Setup Basics

Artwork should be supplied at 1:1 scale and created as vector artwork wherever possible.

Please include a 100 mm measure bar so we can confirm the artwork has imported at the correct scale.

All text should be converted to curves/outlines before the file is supplied, to avoid font substitution issues.

Artwork may be supplied in either positive or negative form, depending on your preferred drawing method and software.

Artwork may be supplied as separate front and back layouts or as a single layered file. We are happy to work with either approach.

Artwork Colours

Please use the exact colour values below when preparing chemical etching artwork.

• Black — full-thickness metal: RGB 0, 0, 0 or CMYK 0, 0, 0, 100
• Red — front half-etch: RGB 255, 0, 0 or CMYK 0, 100, 100, 0
• Blue — back half-etch: RGB 0, 0, 255 or CMYK 100, 100, 0, 0
• White / void — through-etched areas: RGB 255, 255, 255 or CMYK 0, 0, 0, 0

Important: Do not use rich black, greys, tints, gradients, transparency or mixed colour values, even if they appear correct on screen. Please check the actual RGB or CMYK values before submitting artwork.

How to Supply Your Artwork

You can supply artwork in one of two ways:

Individual Components
Send one of each component together with the quantity required. PPD will create the production layout for you. Please also check our File Format Guide before submitting your artwork.

Ready-to-Print Layout
If you prefer to create the complete sheet layout yourself, please follow our Sheet Size & Layout Guide and ensure the artwork is supplied at 1:1 scale.

If you are unsure which option is best for your project, please contact us before preparing the artwork.

Detailed Chemical Etching Design & Artwork Guide

Our customer-only Chemical Etching Design & Artwork Guide provides more detailed technical guidance for preparing artwork for production, including feature sizes, tags, tolerances, half-etching and production layout considerations.

Request the Detailed Guide

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