Be Edge Aware: How to get the perfect prints from your Christmas fundraiser

One of the best parts about running a creative fundraising project at your school is the opportunity for your pupils to express their creativity and artistic talents.

At My Art Project, we want to make sure your pupils' amazing artwork looks its best on every single product their families buy.

To help ensure your pupils artwork looks just as fantastic printed as it does on paper, My Art Project has put together a few easy tips you can follow. 

Read our full guide on being 'Edge Aware' below. 

 

What does 'Edge Aware' mean?

Firstly, it is important to establish what 'Edge Aware' actually means. 

Being Edge Aware means following a few simple steps to ensure that all of your pupils' amazing artwork makes it onto the final printed product.

 

Tip 1 - Fill the background 

If your pupils are planning to have a background colour (having a plain background or leaving the background blank is absolutely fine), it is important to make sure the background is filled all the way to the very edge of the template.

This stops any plain, uncoloured borders from appearing around your pupil’s artwork, which makes a big difference when printed onto the final product. 

Tip 2 - Stay inside the 'Safe Zone' 

It is vital to ensure that all of the important parts of your pupils artwork (think hats, feet, noses, antlers, or any writing) are inside of the 'Safe Zone' to avoid being cut off when printed onto the final products.

The Safe Zone is everything inside of a 5mm border from the very edge of the artwork template (see image above). 

Tip 3 - Don't draw the border onto the artwork

To ensure the main parts of your pupil’s artwork is inside of the 'Safe Zone', you might think it's a good idea to draw the 5mm border onto the artwork for your pupils to work within, but please DON'T! 

These lines will show up on the final printed product (see image above) and we want the focus to be entirely on their wonderful artwork, not a guiding border.

 

And that's it! Three simple steps to make sure your pupils artwork is 'Edge Aware' and perfect for printing. 

 

To watch My Art Project's YouTube video about being 'Edge Aware', click here.

To learn more about My Art Project's range of school fundraising projects, click here.