Artwork Department · goes to 13th Ave
ARTWORK
DEPARTMENT.
We make the file print-ready for whatever you're buying on this site. Not a logo contest, not a design agency — a print department that sets your art up for the exact job so it comes off the machine clean.
What are you making?
Every job wants a different file. Here's what "print-ready" means for each thing this shop sells.
White tees · DTG
300 dpi at the size it prints, real transparent PNG or a vector. No white box behind the art.
Colored apparel
Bold shapes hold up on colored fabric. Thin gradients and soft glows do not — knock them out.
DTF gang sheets
Transparent PNG at 300 dpi, background pulled, no drop shadows. Fabric has to show through.
Banners
Built at full size, 100–150 dpi, or vector. Do not add bleed — we handle hem and trim.
Rigid signs
Vector, or 150 dpi at full size. Keep type an inch off the edge so nothing gets cut.
Handheld & cards
Read close up: 300 dpi at size. Nothing important within an eighth of an inch of the cut.
The five things that ruin a print.
Not a textbook. Look at the picture, read the one rule, send us better files.
01 · Resolution
A logo pulled off a website or a screenshot. It looks fine on a phone and falls apart at 12 inches wide.
300 dpi at the size it actually prints — every edge stays an edge.
Ask for the file at print size, not screen size.
02 · Color
Screens glow. That electric neon green is light, not ink — fabric can't make light.
We pick the closest ink and tell you before you approve, so nobody is surprised at pickup.
Neon and bright cyan always print darker and flatter. Plan the design around it.
03 · Backgrounds
A PNG that still has a white box. On DTF that box prints — you get a white rectangle on the shirt.
Background pulled, so the fabric shows through and only the art lands.
DTF can't 'ignore' white. If it's in the file, it prints.
04 · See-through pixels
Soft shadows, glows and faded edges are semi-transparent pixels. DTF prints them milky white.
Knocked out to hard edges — clean ink, no haze.
No semi-transparent pixels on DTF. Ever.
05 · Vector vs pixels
A pixel file blown up to banner size turns to mush. There's no more detail to find.
Vector is math, not pixels — the same file works on a business card and a 20-foot banner.
For signs and cut vinyl, vector wins every time.
File types, in normal English.
AI · EPS · PDFbest
Vector. Scales forever with no quality loss. Send this if you have it.
PSDgood
Layered Photoshop. Great if it was built big — layers let us fix things fast.
PNGok
Only with REAL transparency. A grey checkerboard baked into the picture is still white.
JPGcareful
No transparency at all. Fine for banners and signs if it's sharp at full size.
Sizes, bleed and the cut
- Build banners and boards at full size — 2ft × 4ft art for a 2ft × 4ft banner.
- Do NOT add bleed or crop marks. We handle trim, hem and grommets in house.
- Keep type and logos at least 1 inch inside the edge so a hem never eats them.
- Business cards and handhelds: nothing important within an eighth of an inch of the cut.
- Vehicle magnetics: high contrast, thick strokes — it has to read at 40 mph.
The department's promise
Send it through the Artwork Department and the file is set up for that exact job before it hits a printer. Right size, right color mode, right transparency, right placement — or we tell you what it needs before you pay for a print run.
Pick what you need.
Honest prices. No free unlimited design, no surprises.