Guides How to supply files

Files

You can supply the following file types:

• PDF (supports multipage)
• JPG
• PNG

There are 2 types of files you can send to us to be printed on the product you are ordering:

• File which exists of "1 page". This is a PDF with 1 page, JPG or PNG.
• File which exists of 1 or more pages. This is a PDF with 1 or more pages.

As per documentation you send 1 or more file objects in a "files" array which is attached to the product you are ordering. The examples below will show a simplified version of the product and the file array. The objects within the files array will be called `file object` from here on.

Upload a single (page) file

If you want to upload one file, the files array contains a single file object. In this case you have a single-sided product with quantity 1. The selected file will be printed on the item. For example:

Upload a single (page) file example

{
  "files": [
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/yourfile.jpg"
    }  
  ]
}


     

Default properties of a file object

The reason why the previous example only contains the uri, is because there are some defaults in place. The following example contains all defaults written out to clarify which properties you can set on a file object:

Default properties of a _file object_

{
  "files": [
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/yourfile.jpg",
      "page": 1,
      "side": "front",
      "amount": 1,
      "rotation": 0,
      "fill": true,
      "tiling": "none",
      "mirror": false
    }  
  ]
}

     

File properties

Usage for shipping_method_preset

Upload a multi-page file

The minimal example to upload a multi-page file is the same as the example in Upload a single file. But this just means, print page 1 of this file and that is probably not of much use. Probably what you want to print is all pages or a set of pages. The following example will result in 2 files, so in this case you need to have a product amount of 2. Which will print an item with page 2 and an item with page 4 of the single-sided product. The following example shows how to print page 2 and 4 of a multi-page file:

Multipage PDF

{
  "files": [
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/your-multi-page-file.pdf",
      "pages": [
        {
          "page": 2
        },
        {
          "page": 4
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

     

Default properties of a page object

As noted in Default properties of a file object, a page object also has defaults in place, they are actually the same properties, except for the uri, which is already defined on the same level of the pages array.

The following example contains all defaults written out to clarify which properties you can set on a page object, the descriptions can be found in File properties. As you can see you can set all the properties on multi-page pages that can also be set on a single page file. See File properties for the property descriptions.

Default properties of a _page object_

{
  "files": [
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/your-multi-page-file.pdf",
      "pages": [
        {
          "page": 2,
          "side": "front",
          "amount": 1,
          "rotation": 0,
          "fill": true,
          "tiling": "none",
          "mirror": false
        },
        {
          "page": 4,
          "side": "front",
          "amount": 1,
          "rotation": 0,
          "fill": true,
          "tiling": "none",
          "mirror": false
        }
      ]
    }
  ]

     

Upload files for a double-sided product.

If you have single paged files (pdf with 1 page, jpg, png) and you want to print a double-sided product, a minimal example with two different files would be:

Double sided product.

{
  "files": [
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/front.jpg",
      "side": "front"
    },
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/back.jpg",
      "side": "back"
    }
  ]
}

     

In this case you have a product with quantity 1, with a "front" and a "back" side with 2 different files. The front.jpg which will be printed on 1 side and the back.jpg will be printed on the other side. It is also possible to print the same file on both sides, just define the uri twice. The example looks like this:

Double sided one file

{
  "files": [
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/both-sides.jpg",
      "side": "front"
    },
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/both-sides.jpg",
      "side": "back"
    }
  ]

     

This will print the same file on both sides. It is not necessary to add side: front in the first object, as it is the default value, but for readability it is documented in the example. We advise that you always add the side property for readability.

Print double-sided files multiple times

In case you want to print 1 double sided product 10 times. A restaurant menu for example. Then you can structure the files array like this:

Print double-sided files multiple times

{
  "files": [
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/menu.jpg",
      "side": "front",
      "amount": 10
    },
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/logo.jpg",
      "side": "back",
      "amount": 10
    }
  ]
}

     

If your product has quantity 10, this example will print the menu.jpg on one side and logo.jpg on the other side 10 times.

The amount of the "front" and "back" side need to correspond with each other. In this case both are 10. Also the total amount needs to equal the product quantity you have selected, in this case 10.

Note: because you supply amount 10 for both "front" and "back", this will not result in 20, because "front" and "back" are part of the same single final product, a restaurant menu.

Upload a multi-page PDF to print double-sided

There are useful use cases to use a multi-page for a double-sided print. For example, if you need to print the odd pages as front, and even pages as back, a example would be:

Upload a multi-page PDF to print double-sided

{
  "files": [
    {
      "uri": "http://link.to/multi-page.pdf",
      "pages": [
        {
          "page": 1,
          "side": "front"
        },
        {
          "page": 2,
          "side": "back"
        },
        {
          "page": 3,
          "side": "front"
        },
        {
          "page": 4,
          "side": "back"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

     

This will print 2 items. 1 item with page 1 and page 2 as sides, the other item with page 3 and 4 as sides.

Note: again the "front" and "back" sides should correspond in amount