General FAQ

1. What is dye sublimation (dye-sub)?
2. What is the difference between Full Color and Solid Color?
3. What's the difference between hard plastic (Lexanr) top and soft or cloth top?
4. Is there a minimum order?
5. What if I want to make less than the minimum?

What is dye sublimation (dye-sub)?

Dye sublimation is the process that helps mousepads achieve the best possible resolution in printing. The process is the following: The graphics you send is digitized (or already in digital form), then film and plates are made from the graphics. The plates are mounted on an offset printing press (process is much like a catalog is being printed), then using sublimation inks, the graphics is printed on the paper. Once printed, the graphics is transferred to the top surface of the mousepad. The end result is a very close reproduction of the graphics on a cloth surface.

What is the difference between Full Color and Solid Color?

Full color is much like a picture where you shades of continous color, while the solid color mousepads would be like the colors on a business card where the name is in one color, the logo another and the address might be another. These are solid Pantone r PMS colors

What's the difference between hard plastic (Lexanr) top and soft or cloth top?

The hard plastic top is easier to clean and it is better if you are trying to print graphics with a (close to) photographic reproduction or tiny print and thin lines. The cloth top mousepads have been the more traditional choice with lower cost associated with them. With Dye sublimation we can get a close photo reproduction but of course it is not like printing on paper (as in the Lexanr top pads), THe ink gets absorbed by the cloth so fine detail is better achieve with the hard top.

Is there a minimum order?

Our minimums are 250 pieces on most mousepads, because there is film to be made and plates to be manufactured for each order and the cost is high enough that it will not make it very affordable to make less than 250 pieces. Frame pad has a higher minimum, and blank pads have a minimum of 25 pieces. Your alternative is to buy the "Make your own" pads.

What if I want to make less than the minimum?

You can buy the "Make your own" Kits in as little as 5 piece increments. There is a cloth top kit that comes with the blank pads, transfer paper and instructions. You basically print your graphics on an inkjet printer (in mirrored format) and then transfer it onto the mousepad using an Iron. This is very similar to the Iron-On T-Shirt process.

The hard top version of the make your own, lets you put two 4x6 pictures (or 8"x6" printed graphics) and make a mousepad out of it. The results are very professional because you get the clear plastic with a peel off adhesive already on the back side, as well as the bottom rubber with a peel off adhesive. You just supply the graphics (either printed on paper or ready made photos) and peel off the lining, position and stick. The end result is a very professional mousepad with a hard top.

1. Wat is a Cloth (Soft) Top Pad?
2. What's a Lexan top (Hard Top)
3. What's a Flip Top?
4. What's a Biz Pad?
5. What is a CD-Pad?
6. What's a notepaper pad?
7. What's a Make your own?

Wat is a Cloth (Soft) Top Pad?

This is the most traditional of mousepads, however the hard surface pads are closing in fast. It is the most economical mousepad. Pictures can be reproduced on it in fairly high resolution.

What's a Lexan top (Hard Top)

Hard surface which makes it impossible to get the graphics dirty. The top surface is easy to clean with a damp cloth, there is no lint to contend with. Also it prints in the highest resolution because it is printed on paper and sandwiched between the clear plastic and the rubber.

What's a Flip Top?

Flip top pads have a 1.5" top part that is glued, the rest of the top surface is free to be lifted up to allow inserts to be plced for viewing through the top surface. A good application for this is reference information such as pricing, shortcut cheat sheets, or the pictures. etc.

What's a Biz Pad?

The Biz Pad is the same as the Flip Top with the exception that it has a small pouch area on top where a business card can slide in. A great application for Real Estate brokerages where the brokerage can print the mousepads with the company name and the agents can give them away placing their cards for personalization. Same thing can apply to car dealerships, etc. Anywhere personalization is desirable.

What is a CD-Pad?

CD-Pad is great for companies that want to distribute a CD with the mousepad, wether it's a demo CD or the software you distribute. One of the advantages is the fact that you will not need to pay for additional packaging such as Jewelcase or Envelopes. It is a novelty that appeals to the user, so they tend to keep it longer.

What's a notepaper pad?

This is a mousepad that is like a Note Paper Pad, but it is glues on two sides so it doesn't move as easily. It is meant to give you a surface that you can use to write on and once the page is full, it is torn off and a new page comes through.

What's a Make your own?

The "Make Your Own" mousepad is primarily for those that are not ready to make 250 pieces. It is available in 5, 15, 50, 100 piece and other larger piece increments. We have two types of "Make Your Own" Soft top and Hard top.

• The soft top kit includes Blank Mousepads, transfer paper and can be made by the user by printing ton the transfer paper using an inkjet printer and then Ironing the graphics on, much like an Iron-On T-Shirt is made.



• The Hard top Kit includes the clear plastic with the peel off adhesive backing and the bottom rubber piece with the feel off top, so the user can just put the printout or just regular 4"x6" photographs and make a mousepad.

1. How do I submit Artwork?
2. How do I place an order?
3. What software do you have?
4. What resolution do the graphics need to be?
5. What size should the background be?
6. What ready or stock art do you have that we can use by just putting our logo or company name?

How do I submit Artwork?

You can submit art in 3 ways:

• You can use our upload page



• You can use your favorite FTP program and login anonymously (username "Anonymous" and Password Your email address) but be sure to email us to let us know you FTP-ed a file.



• You can email us the file (recommended only if it's 1 megabyte or less)



• Finally, you can send us the file on a CD or Zip disk.

How do I place an order?

You can place the order by filling out an order form "Click here". Once we receive your order, we will generate an invoice with approximate shipping and forward it to you. You will make payment for 50% and we will start the process. Once we are ready to ship, you will make the payment for the balance and you will receive the mousepads.

What software do you have?

We can use your file if you are using, Quark Express, Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop on the Mac. and Corel Draw (Saved as Ver 8) on the PC. If all else fails, We can always use a TIFF file.

What resolution do the graphics need to be?

Any scanned in images should be 300+DPI. We can print using graphics as low as 72DPI (Web Graphics) but the graphics will look pixelized and you might not like the results.

What size should the background be?

We need to have 1/8" bleed all around. This means you should have the background go 1/8" beyond what you want to show up on the mousepad, so a 7"x8.75" mousepad will have graphics 7.25"x9" to include the bleed. Also it is a good idea not to have text closer than 1/4" to the edge, this will look like the text is falling off the pad, it just won't look professional.

What ready or stock art do you have that we can use by just putting our logo or company name?

Check our Pre-Made Art section, you will find a wide variety of stock art you can specify for us to use by just putting your information on it. The only charge is $45 for putting it together.