How to Prepare Artwork Files for Printed Board Game Components

1. Build a production package, not a single file

No single format carries every instruction safely. An editable artwork file lets the prepress operator inspect paths, layers, colors and linked images. A PDF records the intended appearance. The component CAD or dimensioned drawing connects that image to a real print area.

Adobe's packaging guidance separates the working document, linked graphics, fonts and a package report because a design file can depend on assets stored elsewhere.^[1] The same risk exists in board game production. An AI file may open correctly on the designer's computer but show a missing portrait or substituted font after transfer.

Keep printing artwork separate from the 3D manufacturing model. The model may show a rendered label or texture, but that rendering is only a placement reference. Kingke's guide to CAD files for custom board game pieces explains what belongs in the mold-design package. The artwork package should reference the same part revision so geometry and decoration cannot drift apart.

The folder names are examples, not a required standard. The useful part is the relationship: every production file points to one component, one face and one revision.

2. Choose vector or raster artwork by image type

Vector graphics describe shapes with points, lines and curves. They can be resized without the pixelation that appears when a raster image is enlarged. Raster images are built from a fixed grid of pixels and are better suited to photographs, painted textures and continuous tonal detail.^[2]

A file extension does not prove that the content is editable. A PDF can contain vector paths, raster images or both.^[2] Saving a low-resolution screenshot as PDF does not turn it into vector artwork. Ask the prepress operator to inspect the objects at final print size.

Avoid inventing a universal resolution requirement. Effective raster resolution changes when the image is scaled. The printer also needs to consider output settings, viewing distance, artwork detail and the physical size of the component. Supply the original image at its native pixel dimensions and state the final printed dimensions. The supplier can then confirm whether it is suitable.

3. Separate spot colors, process colors and special layers

Pad printing and screen printing often treat each solid ink as a separate color separation. Adobe defines color separation as dividing artwork into the plates needed to reproduce the image. A custom spot color receives its own separation, while continuous-tone process artwork is commonly separated into cyan, magenta, yellow and black.^[3]

That distinction affects the production file. A two-color pad-printed pawn needs two clearly named spot colors and a registration plan. A full-color UV-printed token may use process colors plus separate white or clear layers. Do not leave the printer to decide which similar swatches should merge.

Name colors by function

Use names that connect the swatch to the specification, such as `Faction_Red`, `White_Underbase` or `Clear_Gloss`. If a Pantone reference is required, record the exact reference in the artwork matrix and sample approval. A monitor preview is not the final color standard. Adobe notes that the physical ink and printed substrate affect the appearance of a spot color, while the screen value only simulates it.^[4]

Give white ink its own layer

White ink may be used as visible artwork or as an underbase beneath color on dark, colored or transparent parts. Direct-to-object UV systems can also offer clear ink for selected gloss or texture effects.^[5] Keep each special ink on a separate, named layer and state the intended print order. The supplier should provide the exact swatch name or layer convention required by its RIP software.

4. Define placement on the actual 3D component

Artwork position needs a physical reference. "Centered on the token" may be clear to the designer but ambiguous to the fixture maker if the token has a raised rim, gate witness, asymmetric recess or two similar faces. Dimension the print from a datum that the manufacturer can locate consistently.

For every printed face, show:

• The component part number and CAD revision.
• The face ID and viewing orientation.
• The artwork center or another agreed locating point.
• The final printed width and height.
• The safe print boundary and non-print areas.
• Distance from raised edges, holes, ribs, texturing and other obstacles.
• Front, back, top and rotation direction when the shape can be loaded more than one way.

A flat PDF mockup is especially risky on curved plastic pawns. The image can distort as it follows the surface, and the fixture must return the piece to the same orientation for every color. Give the supplier the source artwork before compensating for curvature. The supplier should confirm whether distortion adjustment belongs in the art, plate or machine setup.

For plastic board game tokens, define the printable face inside any raised border or chamfer. The overall token diameter is not automatically the available image diameter. On printed game cubes, treat each side as a separate face and specify the orientation relationship between faces.

5. Confirm line, text, bleed and edge limits with the printer

Designers often ask for one minimum line width or one minimum font size. Those limits change with the process, plate, pad, ink, substrate, surface texture, print direction and required inspection distance. A number copied from an unrelated printing guide can create false confidence.

Ask the supplier to review a production-size test strip or the hardest area of the real artwork. The review should cover:

• Positive and reversed line width.
• Small text, counters and narrow gaps.
• Registration between adjacent colors.
• Gradient transitions and small tonal detail.
• Distance from the image to a rounded edge or raised feature.
• Ink coverage and opacity over the selected resin color.

Bleed works differently on a molded component than on a flat sheet that will be trimmed. If the graphic is meant to reach an edge, show exactly where it should stop and ask how the fixture and process handle overspray, wrap or edge transfer. Do not add a generic bleed and assume the printer will trim it away.

6. Control artwork versions across parts and SKUs

A board game may reuse one molded token in several colors, with different artwork on the front and back. That is efficient until the file names become `final`, `final2` and `final_new`. The factory needs a release matrix that identifies one approved file for every decorated item.

Use revision numbers inside the artwork, proof, matrix and approval record. When a file changes, state what changed. Do not overwrite an approved file without creating a new revision. Archive superseded files away from the active production folder so the operator has one release set to follow.

If the same image appears on several board game plastic components, keep one controlled master graphic and create separate production placements for each part. This prevents an edit to a curved pawn layout from silently changing the version approved for a flat token.

7. Move from screen proof to physical approval

Artwork approval should move through distinct stages. Each stage answers a different question.

1. Preflight review: Can the supplier open the editable file, find every link, identify colors and understand the layer instructions?
2. Placement proof: Is the correct artwork assigned to the correct part, face, size and orientation?
3. Decorated sample: Does the real process reproduce acceptable color, opacity, sharpness, position and registration on the production material?
4. Functional review: Does the print survive the agreed adhesion, handling, assembly and packing checks?
5. Golden sample release: Is the signed physical sample tied to the final artwork revision and purchase order?

Do not combine these approvals into an email that says "looks good." Name the approved file revision and sample ID. If color, material or print location is still under review, mark that item as open.

Kingke lists both UV digital printing and screen and pad printing services. The selected process should appear on the artwork release because the color build, layers and prepress requirements can differ.

8. Common file mistakes and their production effect

9. Artwork preflight checklist

Use this list before requesting a sample or final quotation:

• The editable master opens without missing links or unexpected substitutions.
• Every printed component has a part number, CAD revision and face ID.
• Logos, icons and small text are vector where the design permits.
• Raster images are supplied at original quality with final print dimensions.
• Spot colors, process colors, white ink and clear ink are named and separated.
• Non-printing guides cannot be mistaken for production artwork.
• Placement drawings include orientation, dimensions and a repeatable datum.
• The artwork matrix covers every part color, face, SKU and quantity.
• PDF proofs match the editable files and carry the same revision.
• The sample plan defines color, position, registration, opacity, adhesion and wear approval.
• The signed decorated sample is linked to the released production files.
• The purchase order defines how later artwork changes will be approved.

The DFM analysis and cost estimation service can review the print zone while the component geometry is still editable. That timing matters. Moving a raised rim, gate witness or locating feature before tooling is usually simpler than rebuilding the artwork and fixture after sampling.

10. Frequently asked questions