#avomakiasks

[avomakiart]

Hi I hope it's okay if I ask, how do you make your standees? ;w; I just want to make one standee for myself of my OCs, but I get totally lost when it comes to sending/laying out the actual files to the manufacturer. Do I put the base design + upright designs all on one single file? Or do I make one file for the base, one for the upright, etc. and label them as such and then submit one at a time? Do you recommend any specific manufacturers? Thank you for reading!

Hi! 

It’s totally fine to ask! I’m happy to share. :) 

The manufacturer I used for my standees was Zap Creatives. They’re great with communication, and I’ve been very satisfied with their product’s print quality. They have options as well for small orders of 1 unit and 10 units. 

Vograce is an alternative, but I haven’t tried them and so can’t personally vouch for their print quality. Depending on how many units you order and where you live re: shipping fees (Zap is in the UK, though offers free shipping for orders large enough. Vograce is in China), you may want to weigh options.  

So! Here's how I make standees with Zap:

1. Go to the website , pick a standee size, find the "Artwork Setup" tab, and download the templates they have in your preferred format. There should be one template document for the uprights and one for the base. The size I chose for mine was 90mm x 125mm:

2. Paint your uprights. With the template’s dimensions, plan what goes where.  In a separate document (preferably) larger than the template and no less than 300dpi, make the artwork. Keep the edges of your shapes as clean as possible, so they will cut crisply and not show the white layer beneath when they’re printed. 

3. When the uprights are done, place them in the template doc. Place the tabs on each one. All of the uprights go in the same doc, on separate artwork layers. 

4. Once you’ve decided where the uprights will go, make the shape of the base in the base document and place the tab holes for your uprights accordingly. Paint the base art with the uprights’ placements in mind. 

5. Prepare both your template documents. Use the instructions they have in the Artwork Setup page on the website. Make your shapes for the white backing and acrylic cut lines on each piece. Don’t forget to flip all your shapes in the documents or they will be printed backward.  

6. Send in the docs with your order.

I hope that's helpful!👌