Lenticular Printing Guidelines — Lenticular Planet

Lenticular Planet · Knowledge

Lenticular Printing Guidelines

Everything you need to design and prepare artwork for lenticular print — the effects we produce, the lenses we use, our maximum formats, and how to hand over files that print beautifully.

01 What lenticular printing is

A lenticular print shows different images depending on the viewing angle. Two or more images are interlaced into a single graphic and bonded to a sheet of plastic lenses. Each lens reveals a slice of the image beneath it, and as the angle shifts the picture changes — creating an impression of motion or depth.

02 The effects

Choose the effect to suit the idea, not the other way around. Lenticular delivers two families: depth (3D) and movement (flip and animation).

3D Depth

Objects layered to create a real sense of space. Strongest on detailed scenes; weak on large flat areas of solid colour.

Flip

A clean switch between 2–3 completely different images — ideal for before/after, on/off, day/night. Two images give the cleanest result.

Animation

A sequence of similar frames that read as motion — typically 5–10 frames, up to 25 when the frames are very alike.

Mixed

3D combined with a flip is possible when the lenses run perpendicular to the viewer’s eyes.

03 Our lens options (LPI)

LPI	Series	Thickness	Viewing angle	Effect	Best for
20	KDX Fine-Art	6 / 10 mm	3D 11.95° Flip 18.3°	3D + Flip	Strongest, deepest 3D; large formats, museum installations, mid-to-long viewing distance
22	Standard · Flip	1.6 mm	65°	2D Flip + animation (no 3D · max 5 images)	Ultra-wide angle, dramatic flips, large flip & animation artworks; viewing 1.0–2.0 m
30	Standard · Hybrid	3.0 mm	32°	3D + Flip	Strong flip with good depth; versatile medium–large work; viewing 1.5–1.8 m
35	Standard · High-Detail	3.0 mm	17°	3D + Flip	Refined, controlled 3D with detail close to 40 LPI; gallery-quality work; viewing 1.5–1.8 m
40	KDX Fine-Art	2 / 3 mm	3D 18.04° Flip 26°	3D + Flip	Ultra-high detail, portraits, deep 3D and the cleanest flips; premium installations
75	Offset Print	0.5 mm	57°	3D + Flip	High-volume small formats produced by offset printing — cards, postcards and similar short-run pieces

Rule of thumb: the wider the viewing angle, the better the flip and animation; the narrower the angle, the better the 3D.

04 Maximum print formats

Our largest available lenticular formats (width × height, landscape).

3 × 1.5 m

Landscape (w × h)

1.5 × 2.1 m

Landscape (w × h)

05 Design tips

Flips: keep changing areas low in contrast to avoid “ghosting” — a faint trace of one image showing through the next. Sans-serif fonts read best.
Animation: keep part of the image stable; the more similar your frames, the more you can use.
3D: avoid large solid-colour areas, build in detail and object interaction, and keep key subjects near the focal point so they stay sharp.

06 File preparation

All artwork — regardless of format — should be supplied at 1:1 scale and at least 300 DPI. Accepted formats: PSD, TIFF, PDF, JPG and others.

Layered 3D

Supply as a layered PSD with effects rendered and hidden layers deleted. Add 15% extra width split left and right (trimmed in processing), put the nearest object on top, and name the focal object “middle”.

Flips & Animation

Equal-sized, numbered frames in correct order. If a specific image should appear head-on, mark it as the “center view” in the file or layer name.

Custom cuts

For any non-rectangular shape, supply a vector cut line (AI, CDR, PDF or PSD) matched exactly to the image dimensions, with a placement preview.

Colour & bleed

CMYK only, no spot colours. Include a 3 mm bleed on every side so nothing important sits at the trim edge.

07 Good to know

A few limits come from optics and perception rather than the print process.

The 3D effect isn’t perceptible beyond about 8 m, and the more depth you apply, the more the nearest and farthest objects blur. Backlighting noticeably enhances any effect. Talk to us early — one small change at the concept stage often makes the difference between a good lenticular and an outstanding one.