Hems & Grommets

Get banners, flags and canvas prints ready for finishing in seconds. Hems & Grommets adds the hems and bleed, places the grommet marks, draws the cut and fold lines and writes the specs on the print, all from one panel.

See it in the shop · Version 2.8.4 · Needs PowerScripts 3.8.42 or later

The video shows an older version: the panel looks a little different, but it works the same way.

Open the PowerScripts panel (Window > Extensions > PowerScripts) and choose Create Hems & Grommets from the Tools scripts. The script has four tabs: Hems & Grommets, Grommets on Path, Grommet Specs and Options.

1. Place your artwork as a linked file in a new document, on an artboard the finished size of the banner.
2. On Hems & Grommets, set Apply to: Current Artboard and Crop to: Artboard Size.
3. Under Hems, set the size of each hem, for example 30 mm, and choose mirror.
4. Under Grommets, tick Add Grommets and set the spacing, for example 500 mm Spacing with a 25 mm Offset.
5. Press Create Hems and Grommets.

The artboard grows to take the hems, the grommet marks are placed, and the specs are written under the print.

• Apply to: the artwork on the Current Artboard, or the Current Selection.
• Crop to: the finished size. Artboard Size uses the artboard. Specified Size uses the Width and Height you type.
• Underlap: how far the hems tuck under the artwork, so there's never a hairline gap between them.
• Artwork Scale: if the job is drawn at a different scale (for example 10% for a big banner), enter it here so hems, grommets and marks come out the right size.
• Resize Artboard, and expand by: grow the artboard to the finished size including hems, plus a little extra.

For each side (Top, Bottom, Left, Right) set the size and the type:

• none: no hem on that side.
• bleed: use your own artwork for the hem. Your artwork must already run past the edge by the hem size.
• mirror: the edge of the artwork is mirrored into the hem. Great for canvas wraps and folded hems: the colour carries on round the fold.
• double mirror: mirrored twice (a zig-zag), for sewn hems on flags.
• solid color: a plain hem in Illustrator's current fill colour.

The lock boxes next to each pair link Top with Bottom and Left with Right, so changing one changes the other. Lock All Hem Inputs links all four.

• Rasterize Hems: turn the hems into an image at this resolution. Use it for complex artwork, to keep files small and fast to RIP.
• Expand beyond cut line by: extra bleed outside the cut line, so a hand or CNC cut is always clean.

• Add Grommets: place grommet marks.
• For each side, tick it to add grommets there, then set:
  • Spacing: exactly this far apart, centred along the side.
  • Approx Space: about this far apart, adjusted so they're evenly spread from corner to corner.
  • Number: this many grommets along the side, evenly spread.
  • Offset: how far in from the edge of the finished size.
• Style: Cross, Circle, Circle Cross or Filled Circle, and the mark's Size.
• Lock All Grommet Inputs: change all sides together. (The small lock boxes link top with bottom, and left with right.)
• Add grommet marks in corners: put a grommet in each corner too. With hems, the corner grommets sit where the folded hems meet.

• Add Specifications, Label: write the size, hems and grommets as text under the print for the finishing team, starting with your label (for example the job number).
• Add outline around the final shape: a line round the finished size, handy on white banners.
• Add cut contour line for CNC cutting: a cut line in a spot colour (CutContour by default) for your cutter.
• Add centre fold lines and Add corner fold lines: fold marks for the finishing team.

• Auto embed placed documents when completed: embed the linked artwork once the hems are made.
• Remove hidden contents of clipping paths: delete artwork hidden by clipping masks, to keep the file lighter.
• Create Hems and Grommets: does it.
• Embed Selected Artwork: embed the selected linked file, if you want to edit the result afterwards.

Place grommets along any path you draw, for example round a shaped sign.

• Spacing: the distance between grommets.
• Offset: how far inside the path to place them. An offset needs a closed path.
• Style and Size: as on the first tab.
• Fixed Spacing: keep the spacing exact. Untick to spread them evenly along each side.
• Add Corner Grommets: put one on every corner of the path.
• Treat as Single Path (Use for curved shapes): space the grommets along the whole path in one go, instead of side by side. Use it for circles and curves.
• Place Grommets on Selected Path: does it.

How the grommet marks look: Line width, Keyline width (the wider line behind, so marks show on any colour), and the Dark Color and Light Color of the two lines.

• Label: the font, size, offset and colour of the specifications text.
• Outline: the width, colour and dashes of the outline.
• Cut Contour Line: its width, spot colour name and colour. Match the name your cutter or RIP expects.
• Fold Line: width, dashes, colour and opacity.
• Warn if artwork is not placed: ask before working on artwork drawn in the document instead of a placed file.

1. Place the artwork, artboard at the finished size.
2. Hems: 40 mm all round, mirror (tick Lock All Hem Inputs).
3. Grommets: Approx Space 500 mm, Offset 20 mm, tick Add grommet marks in corners.
4. Marks: tick Add Specifications and type the job number as the label.
5. Press Create Hems and Grommets.

1. Hems: double mirror on the sides to be sewn, none on the others.
2. Tick Add centre fold lines under Marks.
3. Press Create Hems and Grommets.

1. Start with an empty artboard at the finished size.
2. Set up the hems and grommets, then press Create Hems and Grommets. When it says the artboard is blank, choose to continue.
3. Save the file and send it to your customer: the marks show exactly where the hems and grommets go.

• Place your artwork as a linked file: it's quicker and avoids errors. Embed it afterwards if you need to (Embed Selected Artwork).
• Save the sizes you make every day as presets (see Using Presets), for example “Banner 40 mm hem, 500 mm eyelets”.
• Undo (Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z) puts everything back.

• Grommets can't be placed on a compound path: release it first (Object > Compound Path > Release) or draw a simple path.
• With Number set to 2 and no corner marks, no grommets show on that side: the two grommets are the corner ones. Tick Add grommet marks in corners.
• If the spacing is bigger than the side, no grommets are made and the panel says so.

• 2.8.4
  • Fixed: grommets on a path include the end of an open path and keep the spacing you set.
  • Improved: corner grommets meet in the corner when the hems are folded.
  • Improved: general bug fixes, reliability and speed.
• 2.8.3: Updated for PowerScripts 3.8.32.
• 2.8.2: Updated for the new version of PowerScripts.
• Older changes: PowerScripts Release Notes