Lenticular Design Guidelines

So you've decided to have us produce your lenticular? now what?

We encourage your to discuss your art and your goals with us.   We can help make sure you are moving in the right direction.  In the meantime, here are some general guidelines that will help you make your image as clear and impactful as possible.

The Basics
Files are usually supplied as Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign but for simple flip images TIFF or JPEG can also be used.

Resolution:      300dpi

Bleed:              Please be sure to include a 1/8” bleed (except for 3D images which require
                       1/8” bleed on top and bottom and 1” bleed on left and right)
Color:              Files should be supplied as CMYK.  If they are supplies as RGB there will
                        be a shift in color as they are converted.

File Transfer:  You can upload your artwork to our FTP site.  For access information,
                        please contact your account representative.

Hard Copy:     Whenever possible, please provide a hard copy of your artwork for our
                        reference.  This helps avoid any possible confusion or delay in processing
                        your job

Some General Tips

•  Avoid very thin lines at they tend to bread up and look pixilated underneath the
   lenticular lens.  Text should be at least 12 point San Serif font.

•  Whenever possible, avoid solid color backgrounds (especially white) and instead
    use textured backgrounds with color.

•  Avoid strong contrast between elements of the image that will change.  In other
    words, avoid having elements change from black to white as this will cause ghosting
    between the images.

•  Animations can either happen as the viewing angle changes left to right or up/down.
   The fact is that up/down images simply work better so unless you are using your
    lenticular as a display piece that people will be walking past, we recommend up/down
    animations.  This does not affect the artwork supplied.

All lenticular images can be classified into two types of effects: 3D and Animation.

Animation
    These  can be anything from a flip (an animation that simply changes between Image 1 
    and Image 2), a Zoom (an image that gets progressively larger in each frame) to a  
    motion image which animates through a large series of frames.   No need to distinguish  
    between these; they are all animations.

Tips For Animated Images

•  If possible, keep at least the background constant in each image.  The more that is the
   same in each frame, the more clearly the parts that change will stand out.

•  Less is more!  When choosing the number of frames to appear in the image keep in mind that the  more frames that are used, the less clearly you will see each one.   This can help with something fluid like a baseball swing but can hurt if the frames are meant to be completely distinct.  Just remember, more frames usually means more ghosting. 

3D

These images do not change.  They appear to show depth between the elements of the image and look the same from all viewing angles.

Tips for 3D images

•  Image must be supplied as layered Photoshop file with each element of the image on
   it’s own completed layer.

•  The more elements that appear in the image, the more “depth information” there will be
    for the viewer.  Depth is only relative between objects so make sure there are enough
    elements to compare.

•  Add texture to the background layer as this will also create depth information.