The short version
PDF and AI preview live in the builder. Upload one and it renders on screen at true proportions, with its size and effective resolution read off the file. PNG, JPG and SVG preview too. EPS and PSD are PostScript and Photoshop formats that browsers cannot draw, so those still upload fine, we just rasterise them here.
DTF never gets a proof. DTF transfers and gang sheets are printed exactly as submitted, with no approval step. That is what makes same-day shipping possible, and it means the file on this page is the one that runs. Patches do get a proof you approve first.
| Product | Best format | Resolution | Color |
|---|
| DTF transfers | Transparent PNG | 300 DPI at final size | RGB |
| Patches | Vector — AI, EPS, SVG, PDF | Vector | N/A — single tone |
Build at final size. Nearly every resolution problem we see is a file built at 2" and ordered at 12". A 300 DPI file scaled up 6× is a 50 DPI file.
DTF transfers
- Build 22.5" wide. That is the roll. Anything wider gets scaled down or returned.
- Transparent PNG at 300 DPI, sized at final print dimensions, is ideal.
- Vector (AI, EPS, PDF) is accepted and rasterized at 300 DPI on our end.
- We do not cut DTF transfers. Leave at least 0.25" between designs so you can separate them yourself with scissors or a rotary cutter.
- A white background prints as white ink. If you want a knockout, send real transparency — not a white rectangle.
- Strokes hold reliably down to about 1 pt at final size. Text is safe at 6 pt and up.
- Drop shadows and soft glows against transparency print with a visible edge. Either commit to a hard edge or accept the halo.
Patches
- Vector art gives the sharpest engrave. AI, EPS, SVG or PDF.
- PNG and JPG are accepted. If yours needs redrawing (a photo, a screenshot, a low-resolution file), choose Redraw my artwork in the builder: we redraw it as vector for $35 and send you the proof to approve.
- Engraving is single-tone. Gradients, photographs and fine halftones do not reproduce. A logo with a gradient becomes a logo without one.
- Keep strokes at 0.5 pt or heavier so they hold at final size.
- Cut-to-logo needs a closed outer path with no open ends and no stray points.
- Very thin necks or spikes narrower than about 0.1" get softened so they do not tear off in handling.
Color
Your monitor is backlit and your substrate is not. Nothing printed will ever match a screen exactly, and any shop that promises otherwise is managing your expectations rather than your color.
- Send RGB for DTF. We convert either way, but starting in the right space means fewer surprises.
- We do not Pantone match. If a color matters, download our 22.5" × 30" color swatch sheet from the templates page and order it printed like any DTF sheet, then pick your colors from the real thing.
- Metallics, neons and Reflex Blue do not reproduce. Not here, not anywhere on a four-color process.
- Rich blacks: use C40 M30 Y30 K100 for large fills. Plain K100 across a big area looks washed out and shows banding.
The expensive mistakes
- Approving a proof on a phone. The single most common costly error in this trade. Zoom in on the text. Read the phone number out loud.
- A 72 DPI web logo scaled to 4 feet. If the customer emailed you a logo from their website, it is almost certainly not printable at size. Ask for the vector.
- Unembedded fonts. Outline everything before you send it.
- Art built at the wrong aspect ratio for the size ordered. Something has to give — either it stretches or it crops, and neither is what you wanted.
- No transparency on DTF. A white box around the logo prints as a white box around the logo.
