Artwork Guidelines

FILE TYPES WE USE

To ensure your job looks as amazing as possible, and we are able to approve it for sale quickly, we appreciate artwork being supplied in the way below.

Our preferred file format is an 8 Bit PNG with transparency at the desired print size with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI, minimum Width of 3508 Pixels and a minimum Height of 2480 Pixels (A4 Resolution) is acceptable.

Any artwork submitted which is less than 300DPI or height/width will need to be expanded and can result in distortion and pixelation.

We are able to scale down anything too large, but blowing it up never ends well.

8 Bit vs 16 Bit mode are both acceptable but the file sizes and transfers times will take longer using 16 bit.

It is important when designing your artwork to design to have it formatted with CMYK colour rather than RGB. The Digital printer utilises CMYK inks so can not achieve certain colours or PANTONES, CMYK colour conversion and will modify RGB colours to the closest CMYK colour which will look slightly different.

We also request all PNG files are provided with Transparency enabled so a background isn't added to any designs. While we can remove these, occasionally small pockets of background in the art will go unnoticed and printed. To avoid this we request transparent backgrounds for all art.


COLOUR

As Direct To Garment (DTG) Printing continues to evolve there are still some limitations of the method. RGB colours/PANTONES will be effected by the CMYK colour conversion used by the DTG machines, specifically those colours that are fluorescent and neon which are unable to be printed, but also Deep Reds, Blues, Pinks and some Greys which will change how they look if not created in a CMYK format.

All efforts can be made to match colours and PANTONES, but not all colours are possible to be matched and adjustments of colour's may need to be made.
If your brand has a specific PANTONE colour set that can't be replicated in CMYK print, please talk to one of our staff about screen printing options to meet your needs.
Below is printed garment with CMYK ink showing the  RGB colour reference chart printed on black material. This shows you the RBG code to match the type of colour it outputs via the DTG printer.


UNDERBASE
When printing on a BLACK or COLOURED garment (anything other than white) all print designs will require a White UNDERBASE layer of ink. The UNDERBASE Print (as pictured below) ensures the darker colour of the garment doesn't migrate through the ink and muddy the colours of the main image.

It will ensure colours are uniform across all colours available for your garment. One thing to note is that you do not need to create the UNDERBASE as this is something that our DTG machine does automatically base off your design.


TRANSPARENCY
DTG printing allows for transparencies, BUT there can be issues with using transparencies as part of the artwork. Dark-coloured shirts will print with an under base which will cause the transparency to appear grey, lighter colour, washed out or not faded to the desired colour.

Transparencies that are 0-60% opacity are to be avoided, the reason for this being the transparent colour is mixing with the transparent white under base. We urge you to take this into consideration when designing your artwork.


SHADING
Similar to Transparencies, fading is difficult as any coloured garment will need an under base that means that slow graduation isn't possible. If you had an image with fading colour we suggest utilising a white garment or having the artwork Duo-Toned/Half toned to achieve the desired look (this isn't strictly shading but can provide the same visual result).


SETTING UP YOUR DESIGN
We suggest the below design settings in the design software you use OR you can download the below templates.

* Software options that we recommend: Photoshop, Illustrator, GIMP, Pixlr (web based) and Canva (web based). Please make sure to use similar exporting settings as explained above.
• 10.0 x10.0 cm Print ( Pocket Print )
• 21.0 x 29.7cm a4 Portrait
• 29.7 x 21.0cm a4 Landscape
• 29.7 x 29.7cm a3 Square print LARGE
• 29.7 x 42.0cm a3 Portrait



DISCLAIMER
All product visualisations are a DIGITAL VISUAL REPRESENTATION to the final product. Your final product may differ slightly in print size, placement and print colour from this visualisation.

To ensure the best results, please make sure that all the artwork guidelines are met to ensure your artwork will be printed correctly.

All products are Printed-On-Demand (POD) using quality garment brands and state of the art Epson DTG machines.

Imprint Merch takes pride in producing top quality garments but will not be held liable for the below circumstances:

• Client change of mind.

• Design Faults or Expectations - Where art has been supplied against artwork guidelines (SEE HERE) or includes Spelling, Punctuation or Grammatical errors.

• Shipment delays - While we strive to send everything out in a timely manner, we are unable to control the shipping companies we use.

For further details about their shipping policy, please check with the specific shipping company approved to be used for your products).

Please carefully read over the Terms and conditions for your product and double-check your products notes before submitting your garment for approval.