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Prepare artwork that will reproduce well
Artwork is ready only when it fits the product, decoration method, placement, and finished size you plan to use.
Check the file at its final physical size. It needs enough resolution, a background you actually want, useful contrast, details the method can reproduce, and a placement surface that can be decorated. A green DPI message checks only one of those things.
Artwork is ready for a specific result
A file can work beautifully for one method and fail for another. Always name the product, method, placement, and final size when you ask whether art is ready.
A clean vector logo may be ideal for screen printing or engraving but still needs to be converted into a DST file for embroidery. A high-resolution photograph may work for DTG but contain soft transparency that DTF cannot reproduce as intended. “High resolution” is not the same as “ready for every product.”
Make five checks before you build
Resolution at the final size
For raster artwork, 300 pixels per inch at final size is the normal target. A 1,200-pixel-wide image is 300 PPI at 4 inches wide, but only 100 PPI at 12 inches.
What should print
Use a transparent background when the product should show around the design. Partial transparency inside the design only works with methods that support it, such as compatible DTG or sublimation. A white background in the file usually becomes a printed white rectangle.
Every product color
Light art can disappear on a light shirt; dark art can disappear on black. Preview every selected product color.
The smallest line, gap, and letter
Judge the artwork at its physical print size. Zooming in on a monitor can make details look usable when they will be too small to reproduce.
The actual placement area
Seams, zippers, pockets, curves, texture, and raised panels can make a technically clean file unsuitable for the chosen placement.
Raster and vector files solve different problems
Raster artwork is made from pixels. PNG, JPG, TIFF, and PSD files are common examples. A raster image can be excellent when it contains enough pixels for the finished size. Enlarging it does not create missing detail.
Vector artwork is built from paths. AI, EPS, and SVG files commonly contain vector art and can usually be resized cleanly. PDF can contain raster, vector, or both, so the filename alone does not prove the contents are vector.
Before handing off vector art, outline the fonts and remove hidden backgrounds, crop marks, registration marks, and stray objects that should not reproduce.
A screenshot, social-media download, or image copied from a website is usually smaller and more compressed than the source design. Ask the designer for the original whenever possible.
Match the artwork to the method
| Method | Prepare the artwork this way | Common reason to revise it |
|---|---|---|
| DTF | Use artwork on a transparent background, normally 300 PPI at final size. Fully opaque solid colors and color gradients can work. Avoid partial transparency, feathered alpha, translucent shadows, and semi-transparent fades: DTF uses an opaque underbase, so those pixels may not blend into the garment as intended. Positive lines must be at least 1 point on flat garments and 2 points on hats, canvas, textured, or other non-flat products. Negative spaces must be at least 2 points. | Partial transparency or feathering, an unwanted opaque underbase, a white box, hairline detail, or a large solid block that will feel heavy |
| DTG | High-resolution raster art can work well; soft edges, shadows, and continuous tone may be appropriate on compatible garments | Low resolution, poor garment compatibility, or art colors that lose contrast |
| Embroidery | Supply the source logo, then use a DST digitized for the product type, placement, and finished size | Tiny text, thin lines, gradients, distressed texture, or a DST built for another product |
| Screen print | Spot-color vector artwork is the cleanest starting point; identify the intended product colors, art colors, locations, and quantity | Gradients, photographs, shadows, and complex full-color artwork require art review and a process or simulated-process quote; the decorator creates the final production separations |
| Engraving | Use a deliberate one-color, one-layer mark. Vector artwork is preferred. A large monochrome raster image still requires review, and the exact product must support engraving. | Photographic tone, color-dependent meaning, multiple layers, or detail too small for the material |
| Sublimation | Use the exact product template and printable area at high resolution | Important art crossing a seam, handle, wrap edge, or unprintable area |
Check the product, placement, and color together
A full-front design has more room than a left-chest logo. Youth products offer less space than adult products. A sleeve, pocket, cap panel, bag seam, or drinkware wrap changes the usable area. Set the design at the real physical size before deciding whether the details work.
Then test contrast on every product color. If the design relies on a white outline, check it on white and light products. If it contains black text, check it on black and dark colors. Select fewer product colors when that makes the art easier to read and the store easier to shop.
Mockups are visual guides. Final ink, transfer, thread, dye, and engraved material will not exactly match a backlit screen.
A sponsor stack on an adult back print may fail on youth sizes
The adult product can have enough width for several small sponsor marks. The same artwork scaled down for a youth shirt may make the smallest names unreadable. The solution may be larger sponsor art, a shorter list, a separate youth version, or a different placement.
What the builder’s DPI message checks
The resolution indicator compares the pixel dimensions of a raster file with the size shown in the builder. If you make the design larger, the effective DPI falls. If you make it smaller, the effective DPI rises.
It does not check transparency, contrast, line weight, small lettering, product color, placement, seams, or whether the design suits the selected decoration method. Use the preview and the method-specific checklist in addition to the DPI message.
Choose the next action
The file fits the method and final size
Build the product, preview every color, and inspect the placement before saving.
The problem is specific
Remove the background, use the original file, increase contrast, simplify detail, or reduce the finished size.
The answer depends on the process
Ask us about embroidery digitizing, screen-print separation, difficult substrates, seams, specialty placements, or art that still looks wrong.
Last reviewed August 10, 2026.