How to Prepare Custom Hong Bao Artwork for Printing

Setting Up Your Document: The Foundation of a Clean File

With your specification confirmed, open your design application — Adobe Illustrator is the gold standard for hong bao artwork; Adobe InDesign is equally suitable for more typographically complex layouts. If you are working in Photoshop, be aware that it is a raster-based application and is less suited to print layouts that include vector elements (logos, text, geometric shapes) — use it only if your design is entirely photographic or texture-based.

Document dimensions — Set your artboard to the confirmed finished size. For a standard 90mm × 175mm hong bao, the artboard should be set to exactly those dimensions. Do not add the bleed to the artboard; bleed is added as a separate document setting.

Bleed setting — Set 3mm bleed on all sides. In Illustrator, this is set in the New Document dialogue (Bleed field) or in Document Setup. In InDesign, it is set in the New Document dialogue under Bleed and Slug. The bleed area will appear as a red border extending 3mm beyond your artboard on all sides — this is correct and expected.

Colour mode — Set the document to CMYK colour mode from the outset. In Illustrator: File > Document Colour Mode > CMYK. In InDesign, the document is CMYK by default but ensure all placed images and colour swatches are also in CMYK. Do not work in RGB and convert at the end — colours shifted in RGB-to-CMYK conversion can produce unexpected results that a simple mode change cannot reliably correct.

Resolution setting — For raster elements (photographs, textures, painted illustrations), ensure all assets are at 300 DPI at the intended print size. An image that is 300 DPI at 50% of its intended size will be 150 DPI when scaled to full size — insufficient for print. Place all raster assets at 100% scale and verify their effective resolution before finalising the document.

Colour: The Most Consequential Technical Decision in Hong Bao Artwork

Colour accuracy in custom hong bao artwork in Singapore is not a simple problem to solve, for one fundamental reason: screens display colour in RGB (red, green, blue light), and print produces colour in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black ink). These are fundamentally different colour reproduction systems with different gamuts — the range of colours each can produce.

Some RGB colours — particularly highly saturated blues, bright oranges, and vivid purples — cannot be accurately reproduced in CMYK. When an RGB file is converted to CMYK for print, these colours shift, sometimes significantly. The designer who approved a vibrant indigo blue on screen may be surprised to find a muted, greyer version on the printed hong bao.

For hong bao artwork specifically, the two most commercially critical colours are:

Red — The primary ground colour of a traditional hong bao is red, and the specific red matters. In CMYK, a typical Chinese New Year red is approximated at approximately C0 M95 Y90 K0 (a bright, saturated red) or C10 M100 Y100 K0 (a slightly deeper, warmer red). Moving toward C0 M100 Y100 K20 produces a darker, richer crimson. The right value depends on your design intention, your paper stock, and your lamination choice. Always review a physical proof before approving full production — a red that looks correct on a calibrated monitor may read differently on the specific paper stock and finish combination you have selected.

Gold — True metallic gold cannot be reproduced in CMYK print. A CMYK approximation of gold (typically in the range of C10 M25 Y70 K0, or adjusted to suit the specific warmth of tone desired) will produce a flat golden-yellow — adequate for some designs but not for applications where genuine metallic luminosity is required. For authentic metallic gold, the answer is gold foil stamping — a separate production process that delivers the genuine reflective quality of metallic foil, and which requires its own artwork layer prepared separately from the main print layer.

Brand-specific colours — If your brand has specific colour values that need to be reproduced accurately, specify them as Pantone references (for spot colour printing) or as carefully calibrated CMYK values (for four-colour process). Do not rely on screen appearance as a colour reference — it is not reliable.

The Bleed: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Apply It Correctly

Bleed is consistently the most misunderstood element of print artwork preparation, and the most common source of pre-press rejections.

When a printed sheet is trimmed to its final size, the cutting blade has a tolerance of approximately ±0.5–1mm. This means the cut may fall fractionally inside or outside the exact intended trim line. If a background colour extends only to the exact trim edge, a fractional cut outside that line will leave a white (unprinted) sliver along the edge of the finished piece. This is a production defect, and it is entirely preventable with correct bleed application.

Bleed is the extension of background colours and full-bleed design elements beyond the trim edge — into the 3mm bleed zone that surrounds the artboard. When the sheet is trimmed, even if the cut falls at the outermost tolerance, it cuts through colour rather than through a gap between colour and white.

How to apply bleed correctly in your hong bao artwork:

1. Extend all background colour fills to the edge of the bleed area (3mm beyond the artboard on all sides), not to the edge of the artboard.
2. Extend any full-bleed images or textures to the bleed edge.
3. Do not extend text, logos, or any element that should not be cut to the bleed area.
4. Keep all critical design elements — text, logos, key motifs — at least 4–5mm inside the trim edge (the artboard boundary), in what is known as the live area or safety zone. Elements placed closer to the edge than this risk being partially cut off if the trim falls at tolerance.

A correctly set up artboard for a 90mm × 175mm hong bao, with 3mm bleed applied, will have background colour extending to a full 96mm × 181mm. This is correct.

Typography in Hong Bao Artwork: Common Errors and How to Prevent Them

Text in custom hong bao artwork introduces a specific set of pre-press requirements that relate both to technical file preparation and to the practical legibility of text at small print size.

Outline all fonts before saving your final file — When you submit artwork to a printer, the production system may not have the same fonts installed. If fonts are not outlined (converted to paths/curves), the text may reflow, substitute with a different typeface, or disappear entirely. In Illustrator: select all text layers, then Type > Create Outlines. In InDesign: use the Export to PDF function with “Subset Fonts” enabled, or flatten all text before submission. Check your final file in a fresh document session, or send it to a colleague to open on a different machine, to verify that all text renders correctly.

Minimum type sizes for print — Text that is legible at 10pt on screen may become difficult to read at actual print size on a small hong bao. As a general rule:

• Body text and fine print: minimum 6pt for standard roman weights; 7–8pt recommended for comfortable legibility
• Reversed text (white or light on dark background): add 1–2pt minimum to the size you would use for positive text, as reversed printing at very small sizes risks ink fill closing up in fine strokes
• Script and decorative typefaces: these typically require larger minimum sizes than roman text to maintain legibility — test at 100% print scale before finalising

Rich black vs. standard black for text — For large typographic elements (display headlines, big greeting text), a rich black (C60 M40 Y40 K100 or similar) produces a deeper, denser black than standard K100 alone. For body text and small type sizes, use K100 only — rich black at small sizes risks misregistration creating a coloured halo around the text.

Preparing Finish Layers: Foil, Emboss, and Spot UV

For custom hong bao artwork in Singapore that includes premium finishes, the most technically demanding element of the artwork is the preparation of the finish layers. These layers require specific preparation protocols that differ from standard print layer preparation.

The golden rule: every finish layer is its own document layer, in 100% black, showing only the elements that receive that finish

There are no exceptions to this rule. A foil layer that contains colour information, or a spot UV layer that contains grey instead of 100% black, will produce incorrect results at production.

Gold (or other colour) foil layer:

• Create a new layer in your document, clearly labelled “GOLD FOIL” (or the relevant foil colour: “SILVER FOIL”, “ROSE GOLD FOIL”, etc.)
• On this layer, draw or place only the elements that will receive foil — the logo, specific text, a motif, a border
• All elements on this layer should be filled with 100% black (K100) only — no CMYK mix, no RGB, no gradients
• The foil will be stamped exactly where the 100% black elements appear on this layer
• Minimum recommended stroke/element weight: 0.5pt. Finer lines may not foil cleanly on all stocks

Emboss/deboss layer:

• Same principle as the foil layer — a separate, clearly labelled layer (“EMBOSS” or “DEBOSS”)
• Elements in 100% black only, representing the areas to be embossed
• Embossed elements can overlap with printed or foiled elements, or they can stand alone as blind embossing on an unprinted area

Spot UV layer:

• A separate, clearly labelled layer (“SPOT UV”)
• Elements in 100% black only, representing the areas to receive the UV gloss coat
• Minimum element size: 2mm × 2mm for solid areas; fine lines may not hold UV gloss consistently

Overprint settings — Ensure that the finish layers are set to overprint in your document settings. Elements on finish layers should never knock out the layers below them — they must print on top of the existing design, not cut holes in it.

Exporting Your Final Artwork: The Right PDF Settings

A correctly prepared design document that is exported with the wrong PDF settings can still fail pre-press. Here is the correct export protocol for custom hong bao artwork in Singapore:

In Adobe Illustrator:

• File > Save a Copy > Adobe PDF
• PDF preset: PDF/X-4:2008 (preferred) or PDF/X-1a:2001 (widely accepted by Singapore printers)
• Marks and Bleeds: enable Crop Marks and check “Use Document Bleed Settings” (this exports the 3mm bleed you set up in your document)
• Output: Colour Conversion set to “No Conversion” if your document is already in CMYK; Profile Inclusion Policy set to “Don’t Include Profiles” if your printer has specified no embedded profiles
• Advanced: Flatten Transparency set to High Resolution
• Do not enable “Optimise for Fast Web View” — this can corrupt layer structure

In Adobe InDesign:

• File > Export > Adobe PDF (Print)
• Same PDF preset and bleed settings as above
• Marks and Bleeds: enable All Printer’s Marks, confirm bleed settings match the 3mm document setting

File naming — Name your final file clearly and unambiguously. Include: project name, face (FRONT / REVERSE), version number, and the date of the final version. Example: “ClientName_HongBao_FRONT_v4_15Nov.pdf”

Separate files for separate layers — Supply the main print artwork as one PDF and each finish layer (foil, emboss, spot UV) as a separate, clearly named PDF. Do not combine all layers into a single export unless your printer has specifically requested this.

A Final Pre-Submission Checklist

Before sending your custom hong bao artwork in Singapore to production, run through this checklist:

✔ Document set up at correct finished size (e.g. 90mm × 175mm) ✔ 3mm bleed applied on all sides; background extends to bleed edge ✔ All critical elements within 4–5mm safety margin from trim edge ✔ Document in CMYK colour mode; no RGB swatches or embedded RGB images ✔ All raster images at 300 DPI at 100% placement scale ✔ All fonts outlined (Illustrator) or embedded (PDF export) ✔ Rich black used for large display text; K100 only for body text ✔ Separate layers prepared for each finish (foil, emboss, spot UV) in 100% black ✔ Overprint set correctly for finish layers ✔ Exported as print-quality PDF with bleed marks included ✔ File named clearly with version number and date ✔ Physical proof requested before approving full production

Extending Your Artwork Investment to the Full Print Suite

Once your hong bao artwork system is established — with the brand colours correctly calibrated for CMYK, the logo correctly prepared in vector format, and the design language defined — extending the same system to other printed materials in your festive programme becomes significantly more efficient.

The hard work of colour calibration and brand preparation done for the hong bao translates directly into faster, more accurate production for every other item in your festive suite:

• Custom-printed paper bags produced using the same CMYK colour values and design motifs as your hong bao create a visually cohesive gifting presentation — and the artwork setup time is minimal when the brand colour system is already correctly defined.
• Full-colour flyers for your Chinese New Year promotions or campaigns benefit directly from the same CMYK colour calibration work done for the hong bao — ensuring that every piece of print material produced for the same campaign is colour-consistent across the full range.
• Branded stickers produced as part of the same artwork suite — using the same design motifs, CMYK values, and brand elements — are simpler and faster to prepare when the master artwork system is already correctly set up for print.
• Custom tote bags using the same festive artwork as your hong bao extend the brand’s visual identity into a reusable daily item, with the artwork preparation effort significantly reduced because the brand colour and design system has already been correctly prepared.
• L-shape folders produced in the same festive colour palette as your hong bao complete a professional, branded gifting presentation for corporate clients — and the CMYK values established for the hong bao apply directly to the folder artwork.
• Non-woven bags and cup sleeves produced as part of a consolidated festive print order benefit from the same artwork efficiency — the brand elements and colour values are already print-ready, reducing both production time and the risk of colour inconsistency across the full suite.

Submit Your Custom Hong Bao Artwork in Singapore — or Ask Us to Help

If your artwork is ready and meets the technical specifications outlined in this guide, we are ready to take your order and get your hong baos into production. If your artwork is not yet at that stage — or if you do not have an in-house designer and need support getting there — our pre-press team is available to assist.

We offer artwork review, file correction, and basic layout support for clients who need help preparing custom hong bao artwork in Singapore for print. We would rather spend fifteen minutes helping you get the file right than have both parties deal with the delays and costs of a production problem.

Request your free, no-obligation quote — or submit your artwork for review:

📧 Email us at hi@sgprintz.com with the following:

• Your artwork files: AI or PDF format, 300 DPI, CMYK, 3mm bleed, fonts outlined, separate layers for foil/emboss/spot UV elements (labelled in 100% black)
• Quantity required and desired delivery date
• Full specification: paper stock, finish requirements (lamination type, foil colour, embossing, spot UV, or combination)
• If artwork is not yet ready: share your brief, brand guidelines, or design direction and request an artwork support consultation
• Any additional print items (paper bags, flyers, stickers, folders, tote bags, cup sleeves) to be quoted as part of the same order

💬 WhatsApp us at 90878988 for a fast response. Send us your artwork file or your brief — wherever you are in the process — and our pre-press team will advise on file readiness, specification, and the fastest path from where you are now to a finished hong bao you are proud of.

Getting the artwork right is 50% of getting the result right. Let us help you nail both halves.