Artwork prep for branded merch in Cyprus
A working guide for marketing and HR teams in Limassol, Nicosia, Larnaca and Paphos who need print- and embroidery-ready files: which format to send, how to handle Pantone, what to watch out for in Greek and Cyrillic lock-ups.
Why artwork prep decides whether the order ships on time
Most delays on a corporate merch order do not come from the printing itself — they come from artwork that arrives in the wrong format, with the wrong colour space, or with text that needs to be retyped on the production side. A screen-printing setup with a low-resolution JPEG takes about an hour of prepress rework before the screens can be exposed; the same logo sent as a vector AI file moves directly to production. On a 200-unit polo order, that hour of rework translates into one extra working day, which often shifts the whole kit from the planned dispatch date by a day or two. On a partner-gift deadline tied to a Friday event at the Parklane Limassol or the Four Seasons, a single day can be the difference between landing the kit on time and missing the moment.
The reason it matters more in Cyprus than in some other markets is the typography mix. Most Limassol-based B2B brands have at least one Greek or Greek-and-English bilingual lock-up in the brand book, and several — particularly the ship-management firms along the Marina and the CySEC-regulated brokers around Spyros Kyprianou — also need Cyrillic or Arabic variants for CIS and MENA-facing communications. Each script adds a typography review that, if not done before the artwork is locked, produces visible quality issues that the supplier cannot quietly fix in production. Sending the right files once is the difference between a smooth order and a cycle of re-proofs.
The file format rules we ask every brief to follow
Six rules cover most of the rework we see on Cyprus orders. The first is the vector rule: send logos as AI, EPS or SVG, never as PNG or JPEG. Raster files are acceptable for photographic decoration (a beach scene on a tote, an event photo on a notebook), but never for logos or text. The second is the colour-system rule: spot-colour screen-printing uses Pantone PMS codes, each of which is a separate screen and a separate charge; full-colour digital print and sublimation use CMYK or RGB equivalents. The third is the print-area rule: every artwork file should indicate the print area in millimetres from the seam, with the centre-line marked, and the print method (screen, digital, embroidery, pad) named in the file name. The fourth is the text rule: outline all text before saving, or supply the font file alongside the artwork; outlined text is what travels cleanly between machines.
The fifth is the bleed rule: any print that wraps around the blank needs 3 mm bleed and 3 mm safe zone inside the cut edge. The sixth is the colour-separation rule: a Pantone PMS colour must be specified by its Pantone number (Pantone 286C, not "corporate blue"), and any custom spot colour must come with a CMYK or RGB build that the production team can use for proofing. Most re-proofs we see come from rules one or four — a JPEG labelled "high resolution" but actually 800 pixels wide, or a logo with text in a font the supplier does not have and cannot substitute without changing the look. The other four are less frequent but more expensive when missed.
Print method shapes the artwork, not the other way around
The artwork requirements differ by decoration method, and choosing the method first avoids most of the brief-stage rework. Screen printing works in spot Pantone colours, up to about six per design, and is most economical on cotton or cotton-blend apparel in runs of 50 units and up. Digital print works in full colour, has a lower setup cost and is the right method for small runs, photographic decoration, or names and numbers that vary per recipient. Embroidery requires a digitised file (.DST or .EMB) produced from the source logo by a digitiser; the setup fee is a one-time charge that we keep on file for repeat orders, so the second polo order with the same logo does not pay for digitising again. UV print and pad print handle hard goods — pens, power banks, keychains, ceramic mugs — and have their own artwork specs that we send with the quote.
For Cyprus-based briefs, the most common method-mismatch we see is a logo designed for screen print (flat Pantone colours, large solid areas) sent for digital print, where the colour shift on press is visible to the eye and the brief gets reissued. The reverse also happens: a photographic decoration sent for screen print, where the gradient has to be re-separated into halftones and the result looks coarse. The cleanest path is to tell the supplier the method at the brief stage and let the artwork be built for that method. Our guide on decoration method selection walks through the trade-offs in more detail, including the cost-per-unit and lead-time differences that decide which method is right for which audience.
Embroidery digitising is a separate workflow
Embroidery is the one decoration method where the artwork file is not the production file. The digitiser takes the source logo, traces it in stitches, and outputs a file that the embroidery machine reads directly. The digitising step decides how the logo will look on the garment: stitch direction, thread colour sequence, the underlay that prevents the fabric from showing through the letters, and the push/pull compensation that keeps a circle from coming out oval. A logo with fine details (under 1 mm line weight at embroidery size, gradients, more than four thread colours) is usually re-drawn at the digitising stage; the digitiser's job is to keep the recognisable shape while making the design stitchable.
For a Cyprus-based brand, the practical question is whether to centralise the embroidery artwork with one digitiser and reuse the digitised file across suppliers, or to let each supplier re-digitise from the source vector. Centralisation costs less across multiple orders (a one-time digitising fee of roughly €35 to €60 per logo, kept on file), and produces a consistent look across polos, hoodies, caps and totes. Letting each supplier re-digitise produces more accurate stitch counts per fabric but produces visual variation between orders. Most Cyprus brands with multi-apparel programmes centralise; brands with a single product line usually let the supplier digitise.
Cyprus-specific typography review
Greek characters are typically 10 to 15 percent wider than the Latin equivalent at the same point size, which means a Greek-and-English bilingual lock-up needs extra kerning and a wider tracking than the English-only version. The Greek capitals (Α, Β, Γ, Δ) sit at different optical heights than the Latin capitals, and the lowercase descenders dip further on letters like γ and φ. A logo that looks balanced in English can look cramped in Greek if the spacing is not adjusted. Cyrillic has its own conventions: the Bulgarian and Russian Cyrillic differ in three letters, and the Serbian Cyrillic differs from both. A Limassol-based brand serving both CIS markets and EU markets often needs both scripts in the lock-up; the artwork review has to be done by a native copywriter, not by an automated font-substitution tool.
Arabic adds a third layer: right-to-left reading, contextual letterforms (each Arabic letter has up to four shapes depending on position), and a baseline alignment that does not match Latin or Greek. For bilingual Greek-Arabic or English-Arabic lock-ups, the typographer usually mirrors the layout around the vertical axis, with the Arabic on the left and the Latin on the right of the lock-up. The most common production-side error on Arabic lock-ups is the ligature break — Arabic letters that should join in cursive form coming out separated because the font file did not have the contextual forms activated. We work with a native Arabic typographer in Limassol for these reviews; the cost is small relative to the visible quality difference.
What to send at the brief stage
A clean brief for a Cyprus merch order includes the source logo in vector format (AI or EPS), a Pantone PMS specification for spot-colour work, a print-area diagram in millimetres, a list of SKUs and decoration positions (left-chest, full-front, sleeve, back), and the preferred font file if any text is not outlined. For multilingual orders, the Greek, Cyrillic or Arabic lock-ups should be sent as separate vector files, not as flattened text inside the main logo file — flattened text cannot be edited for kerning or character spacing without re-typing the whole lock-up. For photography decoration, a 300 dpi raster at the final print size is the minimum; lower-resolution images come out visibly soft at the production stage.
Two pieces of brief-stage paperwork shorten the production timeline. The first is a Pantone chip book or a digital Pantone reference (the PantoneConnect app or a printed Pantone Solid Coated guide), so the supplier and the client are looking at the same colour reference under the same lighting. The second is a printed proof on the actual garment or blank, not a digital mock-up on a white screen — printed proofs catch colour shifts that the screen hides. We send a pre-production proof on every order before serial production starts, and the client signs off in writing on that proof. The proof approval is the moment the production schedule locks; revisions after the proof approval reset the schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between vector and raster, and which do I need?
Vector files (AI, EPS, SVG) describe shapes mathematically and scale to any size without losing quality — they are the right format for logos and text. Raster files (PNG, JPEG) are pixel-based and lose quality when scaled up — they are the right format for photographic decoration. Most rework on Cyprus orders comes from logos sent as raster; the fix is to redraw the logo as vector or to request a vectorisation from the original designer.
How do I convert a logo to vector if I only have a PNG?
You can redraw it in Adobe Illustrator or use a vectorisation service. For simple logos, this takes 30 to 60 minutes; for complex logos with gradients or fine details, expect two to four hours of design work. The cost is typically in the range of €60 to €150 depending on complexity. We offer vectorisation as part of the brief if the source file is missing.
What is the smallest text size that reproduces cleanly on a polo or hoodie?
Screen print: about 8 pt at the final print size. Embroidery: about 5 mm capital height. Below those sizes, text blurs on press or piles up in the embroidery. We flag any text-below-threshold on the quote so the brief can be revised before production starts.
Do you handle Greek and Cyrillic typography reviews?
Yes. We work with native Greek, Russian and Arabic copywriters in Limassol for the typography review. Greek characters are 10 to 15 percent wider than the Latin equivalent and need adjusted kerning; Cyrillic and Arabic need a native review before the production file is locked. The cost is included in the standard brief setup.
What is the cost of an embroidery digitising setup?
The setup is a one-time cost of roughly €35 to €60 per logo, depending on stitch count and detail. The digitised file stays on file for repeat orders. For a 200-unit polo order the per-unit cost of digitising is around €0.20 to €0.30; for a 30-unit partner gift it is around €1.00 to €2.00 per unit, which is sometimes enough to make screen print the cheaper option.
Is Corp-Merch a partner or official sponsor of any brands or events covered here?
No. Corp-Merch is an independent external merchandise coordinator. It is not a partner, sponsor, affiliate or official supplier of any brand, certification body, trade show or venue discussed on this page.
Corp-Merch is an independent external merchandise coordinator. The artwork guidance above reflects standard B2B merch production practice for screen print, embroidery and digital print in the Cyprus market; it does not represent a guarantee of outcome or a fixed cost figure for any specific programme.