Creating the perfect print file is about to get a whole lot easier.
Hey it’s Wes from Printful.
In this video I’ll share with you ten easy tips to perfect your design print file that
you can start using right now.
If you stay until the very end of this video, you’ll see a very important tutorial about
a unique feature that will help you improve your designs and we have timestamps for each
segment of this video down in the comments.
With that said, let’s start with the first tip.
Avoid fade and glow effects.
Try to avoid using drop shadow and fade effects
or anything else that's transparent for DTG prints,
as it can have unexpected results.
On colored and black t-shirts, the semi-transparent parts can look very pale, grainy and discolored.
If you still want to go with this look, we recommend applying halftone fades—
it’s a pattern of solid color dots.
I’ll show you how to do this at the end of the video.
Simplify your embroidery designs.
The embroidery area for our products, especially hats, is very small,
so when it comes to embroidery, think big.
Small, detailed, or complicated designs are incompatible with our guidelines
and don't work well with embroidery.
We don't recommend using distressed textures that have a weathered look,
gradients, transparencies or photographic images.
It’s physically not possible to embroider such elements with threads.
If your artwork has negative spaces, empty areas in the design showing the fabric,
we recommend filling them with another color or the one that matches the product.
You need to adopt the concept that you're thinking of things in terms of shapes
instead of drawings or any kind of outline.
Everything has a certain thickness requirement.
Letters have a certain thickness and height requirement.
You want to think of everything in terms of thickness and spacing
more than a drawing of a logo.
That even applies to an outline.
If you were to outline elements in your design,
we recommend that you do think of it as if it's a shape.
The outline in itself is something that's measured in terms of the thickness
and its spacing from other elements of the design.
That's why we see that as a shape.
Don’t increase the size of low-resolution files.
When you change the file dimensions and dpi of an image,
you’re adding or reducing the number of its pixels.
This process is called resampling.
If you increase the dimensions of a low resolution image,
additional pixels are added to the image based on an algorithm.
But the algorithm isn't precise, so you just end up with a larger and heavier image,
which is still blurry.
Please note that if you adjust the DPI of a low resolution file to meet our required
standards of 150 DPI and then upload it to our mockup generator,
it will detect the DPI and rate the quality as “good.”
However, the print result might not meet your expectations,
because you uploaded a blurry image.
When you only have a low-resolution version of your image, your best option is to recreate
a high resolution version of the image where all the details are intact
and remain sharp and clear.
Our Design Services team can help you with that.
Be careful with bright neon colors.
80s aesthetics are in, and we're seeing more and more bright neons popping up in designs.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, but be prepared that the print
might look duller than it looks on screen.
These colors are mostly for use on displays and tend to be out of the printable range,
which means they simply can’t be printed as brightly.
Also, please remember that everything looks a bit brighter on screen
than it does on the product, because screens are backlit.
If neon colors are the only way to go for your design, you can still use them,
just make sure to order samples to check if you’re satisfied with the result.
Use the right file dimensions and DPI.
Your print file should be at least 150 DPI and at original size.
What we mean by this, is that you can’t create a single print file of your design
and then use it for a variety of different products.
You need to consider that each product type has different fabric,
texture, size and a specific safe print area.
This may require rearrangement of certain elements of your design to meet those conditions.
That speaks to the larger concept that you should always be thinking about
what the final destination is for these graphics, for your designs.
Something that make sense on a tote might not make sense for a phone case or a sweater.
There's no way that your products will look a hundred percent exactly the same
across the board for every single product.
Especially when you're printing on a variety of different fabrics and textures.
That would be the case for this tote bag, which is very thick it's very textured
and it's a completely different color as well.
We always recommend using our templates, which already have a set DPI and size.
You can make the DPI higher, but it's not a good idea to go over 600.
The reason behind that is, there's no visible difference between a 300 DPI print
and one that has a higher resolution.
The only difference is in the slow processing speed of a larger file.
We suggest trying this tip from our design team.
They usually create illustrations between 450 and 600 DPI,
and export the print file to 300 DPI.
That way you keep the quality high, and the file size as low as possible.
Use full-bleed images.
We use the term full-bleed when talking about an image
that goes over the edges of the work area—
or the safe print area— and doesn’t leave any blank margins.
When uploading such an image for an all-over product, you want to make sure
the image fills in the entire safe print area and meets the required size and DPI.
Otherwise the area that isn't covered by the graphic will show bare product
when it gets printed and sewn together.
You need to make sure all the important elements of your design
are contained within the safe print area.
This will prevent the important design elements being sewn into the seams.
The same applies to pattern designs— you want to make sure the important elements
are not placed close to the edge of the safe print area.
This helps prevent misalignment, which can happen
due to the fabric moving while being hand-sewn together.
Remember that while designing your all-over products in our mockup generator,
you get a preview of a medium size product.
Remove backgrounds properly.
If something is visible on the screen, it will be printed.
So after you remove a background from the image,
make sure that no stray pixels are left around the graphic.
You can check this by adding a brightly colored background layer behind the graphic
or copying the layer with the design several times.
The semi-transparencies will then become more visible and you can erase them.
We cover this in one of our tutorials, make sure to check it out after this video.
Steer clear of tiny text.
As we mentioned with embroidery earlier, small designs (especially tiny text)
don't meet our guidelines and often compromise product quality.
The same rule applies to DTG and other product designs.
Even if tiny text looks good while creating the design on your computer,
when printed, the final result might end up looking too busy or difficult to read.
Add more contrast.
Our screens are usually capable of displaying even the slightest color nuances and,
while digital printers are constantly developing, they're still a few steps behind.
If you use colors in your design that are very similar,
they might print looking the same and you’ll lose detail.
This is especially true for darker shades like dark grey and dark blue.
To avoid this, add more contrast to one of the similar colors
and order a sample to check the print.
This is more common in DTG, but should also be considered for sublimation printing.
Center the design in the file.
Our generator has a button for centering the design automatically,
but it won't help if the graphic is not centered within the file.
It can be very frustrating trying to center each design by hand,
so we recommend centering the design before exporting the print file.
All graphic editing software has the option to do this automatically.
To centrally align your design within the print file in photoshop,
you need to select all the layers with the elements of your design
and group them by pressing on the folder icon.
It's located under the layer panel.
This way, you won’t move the elements from their original design placement.
Next, select the group you just created from the layer panel and in Select, choose All.
Now, pick the move tool from the toolbar or press V on your keyboard.
A panel with alignment options will appear at the very top.
Here, press on these two icons to align horizontal and vertical centers to complete the process.
Remember that slight discrepancies in print placement are possible with DTG.
Now that we've gone through our 10 pro tips, let’s proceed to the surprise content.
But before that make sure to leave a like and subscribe to our channel!
This helps us create great content like this video.
How to create a halftone effect
As we mentioned earlier, neon colors
have become one of the biggest trends in today's fashion.
Very often to achieve the aesthetic neon look, you need to add various glow effects.
This can cause the semi-transparencies in the image that we need to avoid.
That's where the halftone effect comes in handy .
For this tutorial, I’ll be using this design that has a glow effect
placed on a separate layer.
I’ll create a copy of the original project file,
where we’ll recreate the halftone effect.
I’ll rename the created copy and open it.
In this project file, we’ll be working with the silhouette of the original design.
We’ll need the original file later on.
I’ll start by making all the layers black and white.
I’ll select the glow layer, then go to Image, Adjustments and choose Desaturate.
You can also achieve this effect by selecting Black and White in the Adjustments panel.
Let’s do this on the design layer.
A new window will open up where I’ll set all the digits to maximum 300%.
Since we’ll be applying the halftone effect to the semi- transparent areas, we want the
area where letters are to remain untouched.
In order to remain opaque, it needs to have a solid white color, just like we see here.
Press OK to apply this effect.
Once that’s done, go to Image, select Mode and choose Grayscale.
You’ll be asked to merge the layers in the new pop up window.
Press Merge.
Then another message will appear where you’ll be asked to discard the color information,
press Discard.
Next I’ll reduce the radius of the fading part that is left from glow layer by adjusting
the contrast using Levels.
Press Control L and play around with the settings until you get the desired result.
Now we're going to convert the image to Bitmap mode.
Go to Image, Mode and select Bitmap.
You will be asked to Flatten Layers.
Press OK.
A new pop-up window will appear.
Make sure you set at least 1000/1500/2000 ppi in the Output field.
This controls the resolution and will ensure smoother edges of the halftones.
Then under Method choose Halftone Screen and click OK.
In the next window you can control the Frequency, Angle, and a Shape for the halftone.
With lower frequency numbers you will create larger “spots.”
You can experiment with 6 shapes – round, diamond, elipse, line, square, and cross.
You may want to avoid higher frequencies as they will create very small dots which will
cause trouble later in the editing process and can also lower the quality of the print.
Since I’ll be using a round shape, the angle degree won’t matter.
I’ll set the frequency to 20 and press OK.
When we zoom in, we see that the dots do not cross the solid white area
where our design should be located.
If you have a different result,
back up until the part where you adjusted the contrast in the levels window,
before converting to Bitmap mode.
Next, I’ll change the image mode back to Grayscale
and adjust the DPI to what it originally was.
Go to Image and Select Image Size.
There, in the Resolution window,
change it from 1000 back to its original digit,
in my case that’s 300.
Next, I’ll unlock the layer by pressing on the lock icon in the Layers panel
and rename the layer as Halftone.
Select the halftone layer, then press Control A and Control C to copy everything.
Next open up the original project file and duplicate the design and glow layers.
Select both of them by holding down the Control key and then drag them on the Create a new
layer icon, located under the Layers Panel.
Now I’ll merge the duplicates by right-clicking on them and choosing Merge Layers.
Next, hide the original layers by pressing on the eye icon located here.
Now, select the merged duplicate and create a layer mask by pressing here.
Next, hold down ALT and click on the layer mask thumbnail.
This will allow you to edit the mask directly.
Now I’ll paste the halftone shape into the mask by pressing Control V.
To view the finished result, click back on the artwork thumbnail.
If the original file doesn’t have a background, it is crucial to add one and merge with the design.
If you apply this effect onto a semi-transparent graphic, it won't fix the transparency issue.
You can see that when we switch off the background layer the dots are still semi-transparent.
To fix this, hold the Control key and click on the mask thumbnail.
Now add a solid color layer by pressing here.
Choose a color that is slightly darker than the one used for the glow effect.
You want to make sure that the design doesn’t blend in with the selected color as well,
and press OK.
All that’s left is to drag the color fill layer under the shape layer.
As you can see, it will only work with printing on dark shirts.
If you’re looking for a file to print on lighter or various color shirts, merge the
original graphic with a different color background.
Sometimes multiple versions need to be created
for the best results on a wide variety of shirts.
If you find this video useful let us know by hitting that like button and replying to
this comment of the week:
What designs trends are you following this year?