3D depth effect - design preparation.

• Prepare the 3D project in Adobe Photoshop (or an application similar to it) and save it in PSD format. 300 DPI resolution and CMYK colour palette is required. (Files prepared in RGB will be changed to CMYK which may result in slight colour changes).
• Basic rule for 3D is to use separate layers for graphical objects. According to the rule - reach object on separate layer.
• Thanks to layers we can create a 3D plan, where the bottom layer is a background.
• Background should not ba a plain colour. It should have a distinct and sharp texture.
• On the base of a bacground (usually its a first layer in PSD file) we add additional layers with graphical objects.
• It is good to create interaction among objects, placed between the background and front layer. For example objects from specific layers partialy cover each other.
• There can be unlimited amount of layers with distinct objects. It is good to make an additional description in a text file in which we can specify on what depths the objects are placed.
• One of the most important thngs is the colour project. Graphics should not be too dark.
• Logos and texts that we wish to be very sharp we should place on a "zero" plane. That kind of plane is an axis on which the illusionary 3D motion is happening. Objects below that plane will be heading towards the background and objects over that plane will be going out of the print area. In effect it allows to achieve illusionary depth of a lenticular foil sheet.
• Teksts placed on a project should not be too small. Minimal size of a font for a good  quality is 10pts. With such a small text we should avoid Itallic text.
• It is nessesary to add additional  width  to a base area. So called trapping. That value is variable and depends on the assumed 3D effect depth. For images of a postcard size we should add minimum of 1,5 centimetres for lefr and right side of the background so the graphic of the background fills the whole area compleatly.