How to prepare perfect visuals for printing
Preparing your visuals is a very important step that will ensure top quality printing.
As you know, we do not impose any constraints on the minimum quality of the visuals when sending them in our print on demand application.
However, you should know that we check (with our big, beautiful eyes) some important points before we start printing.
We are sure you don't particularly want to see your order as "pending" in your panel.
So, let's look at the important basics to prepare a top file from the start
Pre-requisites :
For the majority of garments, the printing area is 30 x 40 cm, but sometimes we have to adapt this area to the size of the garment.
File format:.png because it is the only format that supports transparency.
This format allows you to keep full transparency and only slightly compresses your visual.
.png is great.
Resolution: your visual must be exported with a minimum of 150 dpi (dots per inch), you may be disappointed with the print quality with a lower value.
When you create your visual, always think about how it will look on the product: we advise you to create a working area not in pixels but in cm.
Thus, by creating a 30 x 40 cm visual exported at a minimum of 150 dpi you can be sure that we will receive a suitable file.
Whatever you choose, export your visuals with at least 2000 pixels for the width.
What not to do:
Semi-transparency": it is not possible for a textile printer to create a semi-opacity and the result may not meet your expectations. The printer will deposit opaque ink by nature, it cannot deposit 'transparent' ink.
Always prefer total transparency (absence of color) and 100% opaque colors .
The background of the visual: always remove the uniform background of your visual.
If your visual is to be printed on a white t-shirt and the background is white, you should still remove it. The same goes for black: your background should ALWAYS be transparent / not have a color, unless of course it is part of your visual.
Avoid the colors not included in the space CMYK and fluorescent: these colors cannot be printed, it will be replaced by the most approximating nuance. Therefore, avoid colors which are outside the usual spectrum.
Similarly, do not artificially increase the resolution of a poor quality image: if the visual you wish to use has a native resolution of 800 x 600 px, saving it at 3200 x 2400 px 300 dpi will not change its final print quality.
Let's summarise:
- No semi-transparency
- Always remove the "background" from your visual if it is not part of the visual
- Do not use colors too bright / fluorescent
- Use .png
- Create your visual directly with a super resolution
If you comply with these conditions, you can be sure that we will do our best to print and ship your customer's order quickly.
Your client is happy, you are elected designer of the year and your brand is listed on the stock exchange, all thanks to a well prepared visual.
Isn't that great?
