Gobo Proof Studio (early access): from a customer's logo to an approved gobo and a print-ready file

The New gobo job box takes the logo file (drop it on the box or click to choose it), a Job name (for example Front window logo; left empty, the file name is used), the Client (pick one you used before or type a new name), and the Gobo size: 37.5 mm (the most common size, and the default), 53 mm, 54 mm, 86 mm, or Another size in millimeters. PNG, JPG, HEIC, WebP, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PSD, SVG, PDF, AI, and EPS files up to 60 MB are accepted. Press Upload and check: the file goes straight from your browser to the gobo engine and the job page opens.

Before anything else is done to the file, it is graded against the gobo size. A gobo is printed at 600 dots per inch with the art filling 96% of the disc, so a 37.5 mm gobo needs about 850 pixels across. The check compares that with the short side of your file and gives a grade: High, Good, Marginal, Low but usable, or Low. Vector files (SVG, PDF, AI, EPS made of shapes) are graded Vector, sharp at any size. The grade and the numbers stay on the job and on the customer proof.

When a file would be enlarged more than 2 times, the job stops and nothing is processed until you choose: Go ahead with this file (often fine for a bold, simple design), Redraw it as clean shapes (the logo is traced, and the redraw is used only if it matches the original closely; otherwise you get a smooth enlargement and a note saying so), Ask the client for a better file (the job is marked Waiting on a better file), or Upload a better file now. A better file never replaces the first one: both stay on the job.

Black does not project: on a gobo it is the part that blocks the light. So the background is removed based on what it is. A flat black background becomes the gobo's dark area, judged pixel by pixel, and every color in the art is left exactly as sent. A white background is cleared from the edges inward; a small white area walled in by dark ink (the middle of an O) is cleared too, while white inside colored ink (white words on a red banner) is kept as white light, and a large white area inside the art (the inside of a ring) is treated as background. A file that already has a transparent background is placed as it is. A photo with no plain background is kept whole and fitted inside the circle.

Black ink in the logo itself is changed to dark gray (#646464) so it still shows when projected, and the job says how much of the art that was. Dark real colors such as navy, dark green, or maroon project as color and are never changed or flagged. Every version lists what was done in plain words.

A finished job shows the version on screen with three views: Customer proof (the gobo with its red outside-edge line, the logo projected as light on a wall, the sizes, and four rules: black does not project, white and colors project as light, only art inside the red line is made, and colors look lighter on a wall than on a screen), On the wall (the projection on its own), and Print file (the art on its flat black disc).

Downloads: Print-ready PDF (CMYK) is the file for the gobo maker: CMYK color, a flat black background (never transparent), and a page exactly the gobo's outside diameter (37.5 mm square for a 37.5 mm gobo), made at 600 dpi, or 1200 dpi when the source is vector or very sharp. Proof PDF and Proof image are for the customer. Client's original is the file they sent. Whole job (ZIP) is the job's folder: Client name / Job name / the original, then each version's print-ready PDF and proof, named like Front-window-PrintReady-37.5mm-CMYK-v2.pdf. The proof and the print file are drawn from the same master image, so the art is exactly the same size in both.

Enter the Mounting distance (from the projector lens to the wall or floor), the Projected size you want (across the round image), and the Lens, in feet or meters. Lenses are listed the way they are sold, like 1:0.33, where the number is the image size divided by the distance: a 1:0.33 lens makes a 3.3 ft image from 10 ft. The list covers the common gobo lenses from 1:0.15 to 1:1.3, including the standard 1:0.33 and the long lens, 1:1.1. If yours isn't listed, choose Another lens and enter its number either way it is written: 1:0.33 style, or as a throw ratio like 3.0:1 (distance divided by image).

The result says what it projects and how big the art sits on the gobo, with a side-view drawing of the projector, the beam, and the wall. When the size you want is smaller than the lens's biggest image at that distance, the art is shrunk on the gobo by exactly that factor so the projection lands at your size. When it is bigger, the calculator says the lens tops out at a smaller size and offers two fixes as buttons: the smallest common lens that reaches it, and the distance that works with your lens. When a narrower lens would also reach your size with the art bigger on the gobo (sharper detail), it says that too. Show the math lists each step.

On a job, the calculator also checks the art's thinnest line: under 0.15 mm on the glass, or under about a quarter inch on the wall, you get a warning with what to change. Both are rules of thumb; your gobo maker has the final word. Press Make a version sized this way to make a new version with the art at that size. The Gobo size menu at the top of the panel remakes the job at another size. On its own, the calculator is at /tools/gobo-proofs/calculator for quoting before there's any art. The lens number sizes the full art area of the gobo, and lens numbers vary a little by maker: if a real projection comes out a different size, measure it once and enter that number as another lens.

Under Change it in plain words, type what you'd tell a designer, or press an example: Make the text thicker, Invert it (the art goes dark and the space around it projects light), One color white, Make the black parts white, Make it 10% bigger, Keep the white inside. Other changes it makes: thinner lines, one color in any color, change one color to another, remove the white, turn or flip it, keep the whole picture background included, and a different gobo size. A request it doesn't make is answered in plain words and nothing changes.

Every change, resize, and new file makes a new version from the version on screen. Versions lists them all, newest first, with what changed; Show this one brings an earlier version back on screen, and the next change starts from it. Each version has its own address (?v=2), so it can be bookmarked.

Under Customer proof, press Make the proof link to get a private link for the version on screen. Copy it into your own email or text: aiKit doesn't email it for you. Your customer opens it without an account, sees the proof and the sizes, and presses Approve or Request changes with a note. One answer per link. The answer shows on the job and in the jobs list, and aiKit emails your account when it arrives. Sending a different version, or sending again after an answer, makes a fresh link, so an earlier answer is never read as approving newer art. The customer sees only the proof, never the print-ready file.

The jobs list shows every gobo job with its disc, client, gobo size, version, start date, file grade, and where it stands: Needs your choice, Waiting on a better file, Working, Ready to send, Sent, waiting, Changes requested, Approved, or Stopped. The count tiles at the top filter the list when pressed; a Showing bar says what is shown, with Show all to go back. Search finds a job or client by name, and the Client, status, and date menus narrow it further. Group by client puts each client's jobs together; a client's name opens just their jobs. Every filter is part of the page address, so a filtered view can be bookmarked or shared, and each job has its own address. On a job, the pencil next to the name renames it or changes its client.

Gobo jobs are not counted against any monthly allowance during early access.