Plavidian Studio™ · new in your Plavidian account
Design it. Price it. Order it.
Plavidian Studio™ is a free online designer that feeds directly into your Plavidian order. Build production-ready artwork in the browser, with no software to download or license and nothing to hand off between designing the piece and printing it.
Studio builds postcards, flyers, door hangers and self-mailers the way prepress would: bleed and safe zone drawn for you, the permit and address area placed by USPS rules, photos checked at 300 dpi and color in CMYK. When you save, a press-ready PDF lands straight on your job.
Free with every order, and free to try without an account. One-page overview (PDF)
What you get when you save
- A real print file: vector PDF, true TrimBox and BleedBox, fonts embedded, CMYK
- Mailing panel with return address and permit imprint, placed by mail-class rules
- Color in CMYK throughout: press-profile canvas, exact eyedropper, RGB converted on placement
- 300 dpi checks and live bleed / safe-zone warnings before you save
- Saved to your job, your Art Library, or the order you were building
- Since 2008Producing print and mail in Vista, California
- USPS Full-ServiceCertified Mail Service Provider
- Piece-level verificationCamera-read add-on, not spot-checked
- AAPC memberAmerican Association of Political Consultants
- Vista ChamberChamber of Commerce member
-
PCC memberUSPS Postal Customer Council
Design tools
Tuned for print and mail
The tools you expect, with the print rules built in so the file that comes out is the file we can run.
Text and type
51 font families shown in themselves; bold, italic, underline; shadow, outline and background effects; letter and line spacing; bullet and numbered lists. Text boxes that wrap and mix fonts, sizes and styles in one block.
Shapes and lines
Rectangles, circles, ellipses, triangles, polygons and stars; straight lines and freehand drawing; fill, border, opacity and rotation.
CMYK color
Every color is a CMYK build, with swatches that carry real builds (Rich Black 60/40/40/100). The canvas shows each color through the shop's press profile, so the background you set matches the placed logo it was picked from. The eyedropper reads the exact CMYK build out of a placed PDF. RGB files convert to CMYK on placement, in place, and vectors stay vector.
Photos and PDFs
Drop images or print PDFs on the canvas. PDFs place as vector, trim-on-trim with crop marks removed, and can be erased or covered. Full photo editor: white balance, brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows, midtones, saturation, hue, sharpen, crop, flip, rotate, and up-conversion to 300 dpi - plus a free-for-print stock photo library.
QR codes
Type a link and get a vector QR code in any CMYK color, resizable, with a proper quiet zone - printed sharp at any size.
Permit and address area
One click places the mailing panel: your return address top-left, your permit imprint top-right, the mailing address added by Plavidian at production. Letters and flats follow their own rules automatically; door hangers show the die; folded pieces show fold lines and label each panel.
Preview, proof and 3D
Print preview and a full-screen high-resolution proof of the actual file, an emailed watermarked proof for approvals, and a 3D preview that turns, folds and flips the piece - with rotate, zoom and orientation controls - and shows round products as the finished circle.
How it works
Open, build, check, save
1
Open it
Workbench → Plavidian Studio, or "Design artwork online" on the Artwork step of the job builder - the size comes from your product.
2
Build it
Start from a template assigned to your account or a blank canvas. Add text, shapes, photos, PDFs, a QR code and the permit & address panel.
3
Check it
Live warnings for short bleed and text past the safe zone; low-resolution images called out; RGB converted on placement; Proof or 3D preview the real file.
4
Save it
Attach to the job, save to your Art Library, or hand it back to the order you were building. Plavidian receives a press-ready PDF.
Built for mail as well as print
The rules are in the tool
- Letters: address panel with return address and permit at the bottom-right, white carried through the bleed
- Flats: address in the top half in any orientation that reads correctly - portrait and landscape rules applied for you
- Several permits on your account? Pick the one for this mailing, or generate a permit imprint and it files itself
- Door hangers show the die (hang-hole and slit); folded pieces show fold lines and label each panel
- Mailable-size check, 300 dpi gate, and automatic RGB-to-CMYK conversion on placement that keeps vectors as vectors
- Circle stickers and buttons from 1.5 in, remit envelopes with window and flap guides, yard signs and banners at large-format bleed
Templates and brand control
Start from an approved layout every time
Ask Plavidian to load your master designs as templates assigned to your account - fully editable, or locked so only the variable parts change. Prepress can open any file in the designer to correct artwork, convert color or flatten for press without sending it back to you.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is Plavidian Studio free?
Yes. It is included with every free Plavidian account, alongside the free Plavidian Workbench tools. There is nothing to download or license.
What do I actually get when I save?
A vector PDF with a true TrimBox and BleedBox, embedded fonts and CMYK color - the same file our prepress team would build. It attaches to your job, saves to your Art Library, or hands back to the order you were building.
Can I use my own PDF or artwork?
Yes. Drop a print PDF, PNG, JPG or TIFF onto the canvas. A prepress PDF is placed as vector by its TrimBox with crop marks removed; you can erase or cover parts of it and add on top. Photos get a full editor: white balance, light, color, sharpen, crop, flip and rotate, and an up-conversion to 300 dpi.
How does color work?
In CMYK, start to finish. Every color is entered as a CMYK build, the canvas shows it through the same press profile the print preview uses, and the eyedropper reads the exact CMYK build out of a placed PDF - the numbers in the file, not a screen approximation. A file that arrives in RGB is converted to CMYK the moment it is placed, in place: a PDF keeps every vector.
How does it handle the mailing panel?
One click places the address area with your return address and permit imprint. Letters get the bottom-right panel with white carried through the bleed; flats follow the top-half rule in the orientations USPS allows; door hangers show the die; folded pieces show fold lines with each panel labeled. Accounts with several permits pick the one for the mailing.
What if my photo is too small?
The designer tells you before you save: images are checked at 300 dpi at the size they are placed, and a photo that falls short can be up-converted in the photo editor.
Can Plavidian set up templates for my organization?
Yes. We load your master designs as templates assigned to your account - fully editable, or locked so only the variable parts change.
What sizes are supported?
Business cards, postcards from 4x6 to 6x11, rack cards, door hangers, half pages, flyers, circle stickers from 1.5 in to 4 in and buttons, remit envelopes, yard signs, banners, and any custom size. Bleed and safe zone follow the product (0.125 in for print, 0.5 in for large format); folded pieces get half, tri-fold, z-fold and gate guides; round products preview as the finished circle.
Try it on your next job
Sign in at app.plavidianportal.com, open Plavidian Workbench and choose Plavidian Studio. The file is press-ready when you save.