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Sign Design Guide

CDD Design Guide

CDD Design Guide

Welcome to the CDD Fulfillment Family! We are stoked to help you scale your brand. This guide is your source for creating designs that look amazing, stay strong, and ship safely.

1. The Golden Rule: Black & White Design

Our laser software is simple: it sees 1 color as a command. To ensure your sign is cut exactly as you intended, please follow this color code:

  • Solid Black Design (#000000): This is the metal. Anything black on your screen will be steel in real life.
  • Solid White Background: This is the "empty space." Anything white will be cut away.

Note on Final Product Color: Even if your customer orders a Red or Blue sign, your design file must be Solid Black. We use your order SKU to determine the final powder coat color.

Example of an all-black design on a solid white background

2. Image size 3600 x 3600 Px

We work off a universal scaling system to keep things simple:

  • Design at 3600 x3600 px
  • Maximize the Space: You don’t have to fill the whole square, but we recommend stretching your design to get close the edges either vertically or horizontally.
  • The Downscale: We take your 3600 x 3600 master file and scale it down proportionately to the 4", 6", 12", 18", 24", 30" or 36" sign your customer ordered.
Visual guide of scaling from a 3600px square template

3. Structural Integrity & "The Floating Rule"

Your sign is cut from a single, solid sheet of metal. This means every piece of your design must be physically connected to the main body.

  • No Floating Islands: If you have a "floating" element (like the center of an 'O' or a 'B' that isn't connected by a "bridge"), it will fall out during the cut and be lost.
  • Line Thickness: As we scale your design down (e.g., from 36" to 12"), your lines get 3x thinner. Keep your designs bold and simple. If lines are too fine, the sign becomes flimsy and may bend or break during shipping.
  • The "Structural" Refund Policy: We cannot offer refunds for signs that arrive damaged due to weak structural design. Error on the side of caution: stay bold.
A visual comparison of a bridged design text versus an unbridged design text resulting in missing elements

The CDD Human Touch: Don't panic! We review every design. If we see a "floating" island or a dangerously thin line, we’ll contact you one-on-one with tips on how to improve the file before we cut. We are here to help you!

4. Mounting & Hardware

To give you the most flexibility, our signs are "Hardware Neutral."

  • No Holes/Brackets: We do not automatically add mounting holes or brackets.
  • DIY Mounting: If you want specific mounting holes, you must draw them into your black-and-white art file yourself.
  • Pro-Tip: Many customers prefer no holes so they can hang the sign using the natural cut-outs in the design with simple nails or hooks.

5. File Formats & Quality

  • Vectors are King to create the initial design: If possible, build your files in vector software (Illustrator, Inkscape, etc.). They scale perfectly and make "bridging" gaps much easier.
  • High-Quality PNG: If you don't use vectors, a High-Resolution PNG with a solid white background works great. Just make sure it’s crisp—if the edges are blurry, the cut will be too.
  • What we need you to upload: A 3600 x 3600 px PNG design with the sign being black and the background solid white.